Was La Comtesse de Ségur a sadist, as many critics have suggested? True, there are as many whips in her novels as in a torture chamber. The pages are filled with illustrations befitting of sado-masochistic fantasies: cruel parents and guardians flagellating half-naked children. This in-depth study is a defense of this misunderstood and misrepresented nineteenth-century French author. It explores specific accusations of sadism against Ségur and reinterprets the violent scenes in her novels against the backdrop of these accusations.
Mary K. Lisette Luton
Comtesse fantasies Luton Marquise Sade? sadism Ségur torture chamber