Power, Pleasure, and Pain: A Study of Abuse Through Time

Introduction:

Setting the Stage for Abuse Through History

Throughout history, sexual violence has been a disturbingly persistent element of power dynamics, manifesting in different forms across various societies and eras. The abuse of power, particularly in the context of sexual control, has played out in royal courts, religious institutions, households, and workplaces. From ancient civilizations that viewed sexual dominance as a form of conquest to modern-day scandals involving some of the most powerful figures in media and business, the connection between power, pleasure, and pain has remained tragically consistent.

Overview of Sexual Violence, Power, and Abuse Across Historical Eras

Sexual violence, at its core, has always been rooted in the exploitation of imbalance of power. In the ancient world, rape and sexual conquest were often seen as expressions of victory and dominance. In Ancient Rome, for example, sexual violence was frequently used as a weapon of war and as a means of reinforcing a patriarchal structure. Enslaved women and men had little control over their bodies, and consent was a concept that barely existed for those without social status.

As societies evolved, so did the forms of control, but the underlying themes of dominance, exploitation, and dehumanization persisted. The Enlightenment era—while introducing ideas of liberty and human rights—also gave rise to philosophical discussions about libertinism, where figures like Marquis de Sade pushed the boundaries of sexual exploitation through their writings.

In many ways, sexual violence has been tied to the perception of ownership over bodies, particularly women’s bodies, reinforced by cultural, legal, and religious systems. The feudal system in medieval Europe allowed lords and rulers access to their subjects' bodies under practices like droit du seigneur, and well into the 20th century, many legal systems failed to recognize spousal rape, assuming that marriage implied blanket consent.

Why It Matters Today: Societal and Legal Implications

In the modern era, despite advances in human rights, sexual violence remains a pervasive issue that permeates all levels of society. The #MeToo movement, which emerged in the late 2010s, revealed the scope of sexual violence, particularly in industries like entertainment, politics, and business. It shed light on how men in positions of power—whether it’s Harvey Weinstein in Hollywood, Dominique Pelicot in the corporate world, or Jeffrey Epstein in the financial elite—used their influence to control, manipulate, and silence victims.

The legal and societal implications of these cases have been monumental. They’ve exposed how legal systems often protect the powerful, while survivors face immense challenges in seeking justice. In many jurisdictions, laws around sexual violence remain insufficient, outdated, or poorly enforced, perpetuating cycles of abuse. Furthermore, the institutional structures—whether corporate, judicial, or social—that allow abuse to continue have only started to be dismantled. Cases like Weinstein's conviction and the Epstein trial highlight how deeply entrenched these systems of silence are, revealing the necessity for continued activism and legal reform.

The Enduring Relevance of Sade’s The 120 Days of Sodom in Modern Power and Abuse

The works of Marquis de Sade, particularly The 120 Days of Sodom, continue to resonate with scholars studying power and sexual violence. Written in the late 18th century, Sade’s novel is an unflinching exploration of sadism, domination, and the commodification of human bodies. In the text, Sade’s libertines exert absolute power over their victims, deriving pleasure from their suffering and annihilating any notion of consent.

While Sade’s work is often regarded as extreme and transgressive fiction, its themes have chilling parallels to modern-day cases of systematic abuse. The libertine philosophy, in which pleasure is pursued without regard to the autonomy or dignity of others, mirrors the actions of powerful figures like Dominique Pelicot and Weinstein, who treated their victims as objects to be controlled and violated. In these real-world cases, the abusers' wealth, status, and influence created environments where victims were silenced, either through threats, payoffs, or complicity.

Sade’s influence on modern conceptions of sexual violence forces us to reckon with how little has changed. The institutionalized silencing of victims, the manipulation of legal systems, and the societal glorification of powerful men who exploit their influence for sexual gain all find echoes in Sade’s libertine characters.

The ongoing discussions around sexual violence, and the systemic changes being pursued today—both legally and culturally—are attempts to dismantle this libertine framework and create a world where power cannot be weaponized against the vulnerable.

Bridging Historical and Modern Abuses

The historical legacy of sexual violence, from ancient times to the Enlightenment, still reverberates in today’s world. Whether in literary works like Sade’s or in the legal battles fought by survivors of modern predators, the link between power and abuse remains potent. Society’s failure to confront and reform these structures has allowed them to persist, but recent global movements for accountability suggest that a reckoning is underway.

As we explore cases like Dominique Pelicot, Harvey Weinstein, and R. Kelly, this book will examine the systems of abuse that have historically protected the powerful, while also considering the steps being taken to dismantle these structures and promote justice for survivors.

​Chapter 1:

​The Libertine's Legacy

​Marquis de Sade and the Birth of the Libertine

In the late 18th century , Donatien Alphonse François , better known as the Marquis de Sade , introduced a radical and transgressive vision of sexuality, violence, and power that continues to shock readers and scholars today. His most infamous work, The 120 Days of Sodom , stands as a testament to libertinism —an extreme ideology in which pleasure , particularly sexual pleasure, is pursued without regard for morality, law, or the well-being of others. Through his writings, de Sade created a philosophical framework that justified and even glorified the most brutal forms of sexual exploitation, often at the expense of the powerless.

But de Sade was not just a literary provocateur. His works reflect the power dynamics of his time—where those in positions of nobility and privilege often acted with impunity, protected by their status and wealth. In The 120 Days of Sodom, de Sade’s libertines wield total control over their victims, taking pleasure in their suffering and annihilating any concept of consent or personal autonomy. This philosophical outlook, while extreme, foreshadows the behaviors seen in modern-day figures like Dominique Pelicot, Harvey Weinstein, and Jeffrey Epstein, who also used their power and influence to manipulate and exploit others.

​Libertinism Defined: A Rejection of Morality

AT ITS CORE, libertinism is a rejection of traditional moral codes and societal laws. For the libertine, life is about the pursuit of pleasure, and any restrictions—whether legal, ethical, or religious—are seen as unjust limits on the individual’s right to fulfill their desires. De Sade’s libertines operate with a sense of entitlement to the bodies and lives of others, viewing them merely as tools for their own satisfaction.

In The 120 Days of Sodom, this is made brutally clear. The libertines, wealthy aristocrats isolated in a remote castle, indulge in acts of rape, torture, and murder without consequence. Their victims are dehumanized, treated as objects for the libertines' amusement. For de Sade, these libertines represent the ultimate expression of power—men who are free from societal constraints and able to dominate others without remorse.

This complete abandonment of moral responsibility and empathy resonates strongly with the actions of modern abusers like Pelicot, Weinstein, and Epstein. Each of these men created environments in which their power shielded them from accountability, allowing them to control and degrade their victims over extended periods. The systemic nature of their abuses—whether through manipulation, coercion, or the complicity of those around them—echoes de Sade’s libertine philosophy, where the suffering of others is not just permitted, but celebrated as a source of pleasure.

​The Philosophical Justification for Abuse

DE SADE’S WORK DOESN’T just depict violence and exploitation for shock value; it justifies it through a philosophical lens. In his writings, de Sade argues that nature itself is indifferent to human suffering and that the pursuit of pleasure—no matter how violent or depraved—is a natural expression of human instincts. For de Sade, the laws of society are arbitrary constructs designed to suppress the true nature of mankind, which is inherently selfish, predatory, and desirous of control over others.

In The 120 Days of Sodom, this philosophy is articulated through the libertines, who believe that their wealth and status grant them the natural right to do as they please. The victims in the story have no autonomy, no power to resist, and no legal recourse—mirroring the experiences of many survivors of sexual violence in the modern world. Whether it’s Gisèle Pelicot in France, the young women manipulated by Epstein, or the aspiring actresses victimized by Weinstein, these figures operated within systems that allowed them to exploit their victims while maintaining their public reputations.

What’s disturbing about de Sade’s philosophy is that it places blame on society itself for creating environments where abuse can thrive. By stifling the natural instincts of domination, society breeds hypocrisy, de Sade argues. In contrast, the libertine represents the ultimate truth—one who accepts and embraces the violent, self-serving nature of humanity.

​The Libertine Legacy in Modern Abuse Cases

THE INFLUENCE OF DE Sade’s libertinism can be traced through centuries of sexual abuse, particularly among the elite and powerful. The same arrogance and sense of entitlement exhibited by de Sade’s fictional characters can be found in real-world figures like Pelicot, Weinstein, and Epstein. Each of these men constructed systems of manipulation and coercion that allowed them to prey on the vulnerable while avoiding scrutiny or punishment.

In the case of Dominique Pelicot, we see a man who, like de Sade’s libertines, used his social status and wealth to exert absolute control over his victims. Pelicot’s methodical drugging and manipulation of his wife over years, allowing multiple men to sexually assault her while she was unconscious, eerily mirrors the way de Sade’s characters orchestrate their victims’ suffering for their own pleasure. Like de Sade’s libertines, Pelicot’s lack of empathy and total disregard for his wife’s autonomy exemplify the power dynamics at play.

Similarly, in the cases of Weinstein and Epstein, we see how these men built networks of influence that insulated them from consequences. They operated in worlds where their wealth and connections allowed them to commit atrocities behind closed doors, just as de Sade’s libertines isolated themselves in their castle to commit unspeakable acts. The manipulation of victims, the exploitation of silence, and the complicity of those around them were key elements in enabling their abuses to continue for years—much like the libertine world Sade envisioned.

​The Enduring Influence of the Libertine Archetype

AS WE DELVE DEEPER into this book, we will see how de Sade’s libertine philosophy continues to influence the way power, sexuality, and violence are intertwined in the real world. The sexual violence perpetrated by powerful figures like Pelicot, Weinstein, Epstein, and others is not a series of isolated incidents but part of a larger historical pattern where those with power feel entitled to control and exploit those beneath them.

Understanding the legacy of the libertine is crucial for recognizing the mechanisms of abuse that continue to exist today. The ruthlessness of de Sade’s characters may seem extreme, but their actions reflect a dark truth about the relationship between power and violence—a truth that we must confront if we are ever to dismantle the systems that allow abuse to thrive.

​Historical Background of The 120 Days of Sodom

MARQUIS DE SADE’S The 120 Days of Sodom (Les 120 Journées de Sodome) is one of the most controversial and notorious works of literature ever written. It was penned in 1785 while de Sade was imprisoned in the Bastille, one of the most infamous prisons in French history. The novel, incomplete at the time of de Sade’s death, is a brutal exploration of libertinage, extreme sexual violence, and the limits of human cruelty.

​Setting: The Bastille and the Circumstances of Its Creation

WHILE IMPRISONED IN the Bastille (a symbol of oppressive monarchical power in France), de Sade wrote The 120 Days of Sodom on a continuous roll of paper, meticulously crafting the novel over 37 days. The manuscript, measuring 12 meters long, was hidden in his prison cell and was considered lost when the Bastille was stormed during the French Revolution in 1789. De Sade believed it was destroyed in the chaos, but it resurfaced many years later, finally being published in full in the early 20th century.

The Bastille itself was a notorious prison where political prisoners, intellectual dissidents, and criminals were detained without trial. De Sade was jailed under the orders of the French monarchy for his sexual scandals, considered deeply perverse and threatening to the moral fabric of society at the time. The themes in The 120 Days of Sodom—extreme perversion, libertine excess, and the absolute domination of the weak—may have been influenced by de Sade’s personal experiences of imprisonment and his hatred for societal constraints.

​Themes and Libertinism in The 120 Days of Sodom

AT ITS CORE, The 120 Days of Sodom is a philosophical and literary exploration of libertinism, a philosophy that rejects conventional morality in favor of total personal freedom, particularly in the pursuit of sexual gratification. Libertinism, as practiced by de Sade’s characters, involves the complete rejection of societal laws and ethical principles, especially in the realm of sexual behavior. The novel depicts four wealthy and powerful libertines who retreat to a secluded castle with a group of young victims, systematically subjecting them to torture, rape, and murder over the course of four months.

The libertines’ motivations are rooted in the belief that their wealth and status grant them the right to act without moral restraint. Their victims are dehumanized, and the violence they endure is treated as a form of entertainment, much like a theater of cruelty. De Sade used this excess to critique religion, law, and social mores, suggesting that underneath the veneer of civility, society is just as violent and exploitative as the libertines’ depraved world.

​The Influence of Enlightenment Philosophy

DE SADE WROTE The 120 Days of Sodom during the Enlightenment, an intellectual movement that championed reason, individualism, and the pursuit of human progress. Ironically, de Sade’s work can be seen as a perverse counterpoint to Enlightenment ideals. While many Enlightenment thinkers, such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Voltaire, advocated for the betterment of society and the rights of individuals, de Sade’s characters embody the complete negation of empathy and the pursuit of pleasure at any cost.

De Sade was