Juliette is Justine’s elder sister. They were both bankers’ daughters, brought up in a convent. They were orphaned and poor when they were about sixteen. They both follow the same path, that of vice. The younger daughter by compulsion, the elder of her own free will. So Justine encounters nothing but difficulties, while Juliette picks nothing but roses. Justine’s story forms the first part. Stripped of all her possessions and hunted by the law, one day she meets a wealthy lady, Juliette, who tells her of her adventures. At the end, Justine is punished.
Juliette is perhaps the Marquis de Sade‘s best novel. The Marquis de Sade himself wrote in praise of his work. He was convinced that he had combined the most cynical language with the most audacious system and the most blasphemous ideas. ‘Only fools will take offence. True virtue is not frightened by paintings of vice. Once the hypocrites had railed against Tartuffe, now the debauchees will attack this book. Nothing like it had ever been written before. No doubt this book is bound to last.’
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