46 pages • 1 hour read
Leopold von Sacher-MasochVenus in Furs
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1870A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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Literary Context: The Decadent Movement
Decadence, usually used to mean luxurious, indulgent, or rich, comes from the French term meaning “decay,” and it is often used to discuss the decline of the morals or culture of a civilization. The Decadent movement, in literature and fine art, occurred in the late 19th century. Though the Decadent movement is often linked specifically to France, with the term originating in the 18th-century philosopher Montesquieu’s analysis of the decline of ancient Rome, it influenced writing and art across Western Europe, including Britain, Spain, Italy, and Germany.
The movement featured an aesthetic of excess, grandeur, and sensuality, reveling in the supposed decline of morality through sacrificing rationality and pragmatism for human fantasy and pleasure. Decadent writers often transgressed boundaries set by society on what is allowed for pleasure, including elements of sexuality that would have been considered “deviant.” Notable Decadent writers include Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891), Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), and Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863-1938). Decadent writers frequently promoted the idea of “art for art’s sake,” denying that their art should serve any wider ethical or political purpose.
Venus in Furs is firmly rooted in the Decadent movement by many characteristics, such as the frequent allusions to Rome, Greece, and the Renaissance; the attention to details of color, cloth, and art; and the focus of the work on expressions of sexuality that were controversial at the time. Severin’s emphasis on biblical, Roman, and Greek figures, such as Judith, Holofernes, Samson, Delilah, Eros, and Venus, are fitting for a Decadent character, as he sexualizes these figures to augment and enhance his own fantasies.
Sociohistorical Context: The Development of Sadomasochism
Sadomasochism is a term used to describe sexual interests that align with hurting others, being hurt, or, specifically, a combination of both desires. Richard von Krafft-Ebing coined the terms “masochism” and “sadism” from the last names of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, the author of Venus in Furs, and the Marquis de Sade, a French writer known for his violent, sexual works, such as La Philosophie dans le Boudoir. Noted psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud then combined these terms in 1905 as “sadomasochism,” thinking that any person who derives pleasure from giving pain would also enjoy receiving pain. The predominant criticism of these early developers of the terms is that each was used to describe psychopathology, or problematic elements of a person’s psychology and development. Contemporarily, sadism and masochism are usually addressed separately when discussing an individual, but they are combined in the acronym BDSM, which combines the pairs bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sadism and masochism (or sadomasochism).
Gilles Deleuze, a French philosopher, clarified the distinction between sadism and masochism in 1967, using Venus in Furs to note the differences between the two interests. The sadist, Deleuze argues, thrives on a hierarchical dominance over their partner, in which they maintain total control. The masochist, on the other hand, requires the protection of their own “law” or “contract,” in which they set boundaries on the actions of the sadist, subverting the sadist’s desire for almost chaotic control. In Venus in Furs, this distinction is brought to light by Wanda’s rejection of Severin’s condition that Wanda will not allow other men to abuse him, which she breaks by allowing Alexis to whip Severin.
It is also important to note that in Venus in Furs, the terms “master” and “slave” refer to the roleplaying within the voluntary BDSM dynamic between Wanda and Severin respectively; these terms should not be confused with the involuntary and exploitative dynamics of enslaver/enslaved practiced during historical phenomena such as the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
