[Writer's Name]

[Supervisor's Name]

[Subject]

[Date]

Marat/Sade

Introduction

The play Marat/Sade is written by Peter Weiss. He wrote this play during the French Revolution. He has portrayed two completely different characters in this play; Marat and Sade. Marat is the revolutionist, whereas, Sade represents the doomed way of Western life. The structure of the play combines a philosophical discourse and a sequence of semi-historical scenes from the French Revolution illustrating the philosophical argument. The setting is the Charenton insane asylum's therapeutic bath. Charenton was an institution for those people whose behavior had made them socially unacceptable, whether they were insane or not.

About the Play

Jean Paul Marat (1743-1793) and the Marquis de Sade (1740-1814) visibly are the protagonists of the play. From 1801 until his death in 1814, Sade was a prisoner in the asylum of Charenton, his imprisonment a result of sexual offenses, where he produced plays among the patients.

The plot is difficult to summarize because the action switches back and forth into one of the following three historical phases: 1793, the French Revolution and the assassination of Marat; 1808, Sade's production in Charenton; and 20th century, the hour of the performance. These lines present the situation of those times ((Young, pp. 11), para 1, lines 1-8):

These lies they tell about the ideal state The rich will never give away their property of their own free will And If by force of circumstance they have to give up just a little here and there they do it only because they know they'll soon win It back again

Clearly, Weiss wrote Marat/Sade in accordance with his playwrighting "creed." His intentions in writing the play were to present two political points of view. The setting, an insane asylum, and the form, a play within the play, served to enhance these political ideas, to immerse the audience in them while allowing them to remain emotionally uninvolved. Weiss intended for Marat's side of the debate, the side of revolution, to be the stronger of the two sides, and thus for Marat to win in the end. Although Weiss favored Marat, he does not appear to be saying that revolution, or indeed any political action, can be the only answer to end suffering and oppression. Indeed, Marat himself admits the shortcomings of the Revolution, admits that he does not know where the Revolution will lead. He also admits to not knowing how to even run the Revolution. All that Marat, and Weiss, are sure of is that people must take a second look at this world in which we live, at the things we have for so long accepted and tolerated, to look at the world with new eyes. And if we are truly honest in that look, then we will realize that man, because of his nature, must act, must fight, must if necessary die, to modify those conditions that are causing the suffering and oppression, rather than just sit back and accept them, as Sade would do. For only when we stop being concerned with our private loves ...