Sade's Theatre: Pleasure, Vision, Masochism by Thomas Wynn

Abstract

542 Reviews to reproduce in context any contributions that had since been published elsewhere, but the introduction to thepresent edition shows that it isdefective inotherways too. Hence, amodern critical edition is long overdue, and the team of collaborators in this project promises much by including a number of researchers, among them thegeneral editor herself,Ulla Kolving, who have already done importantwork on the collection. Nevertheless, the title-page brings with ita surprise by attributing thework only toGrimm. The early editions are unaware of the contribution ofMeister, who iscre dited for the firsttimebyTourneux, but all name-check Grimm's friend and regular contributor,Diderot, whose collaboration was an important selling point forGrimm and amajor reason for the continued subsequent interest in this above other similar literarycorrespondences. The absence of Meister's name iseasily explained: given the scope of theCorrespondance litteraire, thedecision has been taken to limit thepresent edition to the years ofGrimm's authorship, that isup to the end of February 1773. Understandable as this is, it is a disappointment, and it is tobe hoped thata new phase of theproject will be undertaken when thepresent one iscompleted-it may be true that Meister's style is less engaging than that ofGrimm, but surely the importance of thework continues to be undeniable at least foras long asDiderot's contributions continued. The absence ofDiderot's own name from the title-page isnot specifically tackled by the editors, but their introductions make itclear that,despite his impor tance, he was only a contributor to a project that is, for them, verymuch Grimm's. Perhaps there are timeswhen, moving fromRoland Mortier's preface, to the ge neral introduction, to the introductions to the individual volumes and on to the text of theCorrespondance itself,one feels one is reading evermore elaborate versions of the samematerial, but in all other senses thepresentation isexemplary-in any event, apart from reviewers, how many readers read all the introductorymaterial ofworks of reference like this inquite such detail? It is to thevery helpful individual volume introductions thatmost will turn, and these adopt a pattern thatwill be common to all thevolumes of the edition, dealing with Grimm's personal situation in theperiod covered, thepolitical context, an overview of themain events in thevarious branches of the arts, comparisons with the content of theCorrespondance and what was being dealt with in similar works both printed and manuscript, practical details relating to matters such as subscribers and copyists, and, finally,any editorial issues specific to the particular period in hand, general principals having, of course, been discussed in themain introduction. The work is copiously footnoted, and itsusefulness as a research tool isenhanced by the inclusion in each volume of not only a general index, but also indexes of titlesofworks and of firstlines of poems. The editors recognize that this isverymuch an ongoing project, and promise a round-up in the finalvolume of discoveries and developments thatemerge from the researches carried out during the course of thepublication-I forone cannot wait. SWANSEAUNIVERSITY DEREK CONNON Sade's Theatre: Pleasure, Vision,Masochism. By THOMASWYNN. (SVEC, 2007:02) Oxford: Voltaire Foundation. 2007. x+224 pP. 55. ISBN 978-o-7294-0903 2. The texton the inside cover of this studybegins with the remark: 'Sade's rehabilitation as amajor Enlightenment writer has hitherto not extended to a re-evaluation of his dramatic works'. In hismonograph, Thomas Wynn bravely steps up to fillthis gap. In order to do so, he draws on a variety of approaches and theories ranging from traditional scholarship to recent theorizations ofmasochism and even to film theory. This framework allows Wynn to cast fresh light on Sade's practice as a playwright. MLR, I03.2, 2008 543 Chapter i draws on Reik and Deleuze to argue that the (virtual) spectator's position in relation toSade's plays involves a kind ofmasochism avant la lettre,as the spectator is rendered 'impotent yet attentivewithin the safe illusion' (p. 3 I). This claim, along with the idea thatSade's theatre isproperly viewed in themind's eye rather than on stage, provides a connecting thread for thework as awhole. Chapter 2 examines what theSadean aesthetic of tout montrer, normally associated with thenovels,might mean in relation to theplays. Chapter 3 suggests...