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Sade, between the Bastille and Charenton: from creative rebellion to moral theatre Volume 94, issue 7, Août-Septembre 2018

Author
Psychiatre honoraire des hôpitaux,
36 rue des Blandats,
33440 Ambarès, France
* Correspondance

The Marquis de Sade (1740-1814) whose Romanesque work was rediscovered by H. Heine, Apollinaire and the Surrealists is much less known for his theater despite twenty-five plays published during his lifetime. He ended his existence at the Charenton asylum (1802-1814) where he was entrusted by the director to play the role of master of declamations. He had to write and direct plays with actors who were psychiatrically ill and were at liberty to roam about among the Parisian public. In this article, the link between Sade's work and his 27 years in prison is discussed, as well as, more generally the possible role of a deprivation of liberty with a need for expression. Question: What about “sadism” today, from the clinical point of view and the DSM classification? I end with an evocation of the difficult but exciting relationship that can exist between psychiatry and the theater.

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