De Sade's works are filled with violent and sexual excess, but what are his motives for producing such provocative material? Shock, or something more?

Re-assessing the Marquis de Sade - Audio

Normalising the abnormal

Donatien Alphonse François, better known as The Marquis de Sade, is infamous throughout literature and popular culture for a life and body of work that pushed boundaries. Literally synonymous with sexual and violent excess, his reputation as a writer is often clouded by the extreme nature of his work. In a series of lively and engaging discussions, Alex Barber, Angelica Goodden and Timo Airaksinen re-assess both the man and his writing in social, historical and literary contexts, providing an insight into an often-misunderstood figure with much to say about the culture that produced him. This material forms part of The Open University course A207 From Enlightenment to Romanticism c.1780-1830.

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Re-assessing the Marquis de Sade - Audio