Sadism and masochism in fiction
In general, the depiction of sadism and masochism in fiction tends to be portrayed from the viewpoint of masochistic fantasy. Note: the lists in this article are sorted in chronological order.
Novels
The Marquis de Sade's works, including Justine (1791) and Juliette (1797) are written from an extreme sadistic viewpoint.
Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's novel Venus in Furs (1870) is essentially one long masochistic fantasy, where the male principal character encourages his mistress to mistreat him.
The Story of O (1954) is another classic masochistic novel, this time written by a woman, Pauline Réage. In this novel, the female principal character is kept in a chateau and mistreated by a group of men.
L'Image (1956) is another classic sadomasochistic novel, written by another French woman, Catherine Robbe-Grillet, under the pseudonym Jean de Berg. It was made into a 1975 film, The Image, also known as The Punishment of Anne.
The writer Anne Rice has produced a number of examples of well-written sado-masochistic fiction, including Exit to Eden and Belinda as well as The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty and its sequels,
Beauty's Punishment and
Beauty's Release.
As of 2003, sado-masochistic themes are now common in mainstream erotic fiction, to the point of cliché.
More literary sado-masochistic fiction includes the works of authors such as
- Laura Antoniou, including the Marketplace series of novels
- Pat Califia's works including Macho Sluts
The novel Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey and its sequels belong both in the fantasy fiction and BDSM fiction genres.
To do: gay and lesbian sadomasochistic fiction
Specialist publishers of S/M fiction:
Mainstream films
Consensual BDSM is not generally depicted accurately or sympathetically in mainstream films, to say the least. However, film-makers often find some way to incorporate The Whip and The Body (La Frusta e il Corpo) (1965) (starring Chritopher Lee and Daliah Lavi)
- Belle de jour (1967) (starring Catherine Deneuve)
- The Libertine, (La Matriarca) (1969)
- The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, (Die Bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant) (1972) directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
- The Night Porter, (Il Portiere di notte) (1974) (starring Dirk Bogarde and Charlotte Rampling)
- The Story of O, (Histoire d'O) (1975)
- The Image, (The Punishment of Anne) (1975)
- Maîtresse, (1976) starring Gérard Depardieu and Bulle Ogier
- A Woman in Flames, (Die Flambierte Frau) (1983)
- Crimes of Passion, (1984)
- Seduction: The Cruel Woman, (Verführung: Die grausame Frau) (1985)
- Blue Velvet (1986)
- Nine and a Half Weeks, (1986)
- Tokyo Decadence, (Topâzu) (1991)
- Bitter Moon (1992) (starring Hugh Grant, Kristin Scott Thomas, Emmanuelle Seigner, and Peter Coyote)
- Spanking Love (1994)
- Venus in Furs (1994)
- The Bondage Master (1996) (Japanese indie film directed by Keisuke Konishi)
- Of Freaks and Men, (Pro urodov i lyudej) (1998)
- Lies, (Gojitmal) (1999)
- Moonlight Whispers, (Sasayaki) (1999)
- Romance, (Romance X) (1999)
- The Piano Teacher, (La Pianiste) (2001) (starring Isabelle Huppert and Benoît Magimel)
- Secretary (2002) (starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader)
- Bettie Page: Dark Angel (2004)
Comedy:
Thrillers:
