...for although we may fully respect our social conventions...it may unfortunately happen that , through the perversity of others we encounter only the thorns of life, whilst the wicked gather nothing but roses. will it not be said that virtue, however fair she may be, becomes the worst cause one can espouse... when she has grown so weak that she cannot struggle against vice? ” - La Nouvelle Justine ou les Malheurs de la vertu, suivie de l'histoire de Juliette

Alternating title usage indicates that titular hierarchy (below duc et pair) was notional; theoretically the marquis title was granted to noblemen owning several countships but its use by men of dubious lineage caused its disrepute. He was arrested there and imprisoned in the Château de Vincennes. Similarly Camille Paglia argued that Sade can be best understood as a satirist responding "point by point" to Rousseau's claims that society inhibits and corrupts mankind's innate goodness: Sade wrote in the aftermath of the French Revolution when Rousseauist Jacobins instituted the bloody Reign of Terror.

Donatien Alphonse François Marquis de Sade (French: [maʁki də sad]; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814) was a French aristocrat revolutionary politician philosopher and writer famous for his libertine sexuality and lifestyle. He was a proponent of extreme freedom unrestrained by morality religion or law. During the French Revolution he was an elected delegate to the National Convention.