Virtue

This is a theme that runs throughout the works. The way that it does, is a bit strange. In many ways, the virtues are probed in relation to their negation, and through concerted efforts to do away with them. At the same time, they are shown as models for what the opposition is really up against. It is also true that the Marquis has written in a way that does include some limits on behavior, even as he often mocks so many rules there are at least a few which he upholds very strongly.

The question of what the good is and how it is produced or guarded is discovered throughout the novella and novel. It is shown against its opposite or reverse. The main types of good that the Marquis advocates is a state of consensuality with respect to sexual matters and pleasure. While pleasure can 'fall'...