O enigma da Marquesa de Sade: realidade e ideal no teatro de Mishima

Abstract

The writer Yukio Mishima is known in the Occident mostly for his novels, but he also wrote many plays for the theatre inspired in oriental and western themes. In Madame de Sade, from 1965, the main role is given to the wife of Donatien Alphonse François de Sade, the 18th century libertine and writer. In this paper, we examine Mishima’s reasons for his choice of protagonist. We also try to show how some of the subjects raised in the play reflect ideas that are dear to the author.