See Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom for the film adaptation.
Provides examples of:
- Abusive Parents: The Libertines. Curval stands out for hospitalizing his daughter after she saved a little girl from being forced to please Curval.
- Asshole Victim: The libertines end up torturing the evil old women who they have been collaborating with. When one of them thwarts a girl's escape attempt to save her own ass, Blangis tortures her anyway and laughs off her screaming that it is unjust. Normally this would be cruel, except the four women are monsters themselves who have gleefully helped torture innocent people. Now they are essentially getting their just deserts.
- Author Appeal: It's sometimes hard to tell what parts are Sade's fetishes and what parts are him just including every fetish he could think of. It's pretty clear he has an ass-fetish, though.
- Author Filibuster: Or Character Filibuster, depending on how much you believe Sade agreed with his characters
- Card-Carrying Villain: The Libertines are all well-aware of their shaky moral status.
- For the Evulz: Blangis actually tells one of his victims "If it were just it would fail to give us an erection."
- Gorn: This is probably the goriest of all of Sade's work, particularly toward the end.
- Hollywood Atheist: All four of the libertines are atheists, and have tremendous amounts of scorn towards religion and the very concept of God and a benevolent universe. Yes, even the Bishop.
- The Ingenue: The kidnapped children and three out of four of the wives. Julie, the President's wife is a bit more libertine. Which is why she survives
- Karma Houdini: The villains walk away free.
- Meaningful Name: Bum Cleaver. Three guesses as to why he's called that, and the first two don't count.
- Parental Incest: Every one of the libertines has had sex with his daughters.
