Marquis de Sade: السيرة الذاتية والإنجازات والإرث الدائم

His major works include The 120 Days of Sodom, Justine, Juliette and Philosophy in the Bedroom, which combine graphic descriptions of sex acts, rape, torture, murder, and child abuse with discourses on religion, politics, sexuality, and philosophy. The word sadism derives from his fictional characters who take pleasure in inflicting pain on others.

There is debate over the extent to which Sade's behavior was criminal and sadistic. Peter Marshall states that Sade's "known behaviour (which includes only the beating of a housemaid and an orgy with several prostitutes) departs greatly from the clinical picture of active sadism". Andrea Dworkin, however, argues that the issue is whether one believes Sade or the women who accused him of sexual assault.

Interest in his work increased in the 20th century, with various authors considering him a precursor to Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, surrealism, totalitarianism, and anarchism. Many prominent intellectuals, including Angela Carter, Simone de Beauvoir, and Roland Barthes, published studies of his work, and numerous biographies have also been produced. Cultural depictions of his life and work include the play Marat/Sade by Peter Weiss and the film Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Dworkin and Roger Shattuck have criticized the rehabilitation of Sade's reputation, arguing that it promotes violent pornography likely to cause harm to women, the young and "unformed minds".