Marat/Sade

Peter Weiss's play The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade (known more briefly as Marat/Sade) draws upon a number of theater traditions in order to convey its central theme of freedom through revolutionary and even anarchic action. The play is based on two historical figures and certain facts about those figures. The Marquis de Sade did spend time in the asylum at Charenton, and an important moment in the history of the French Revolution and its aftermath came when Charlotte Corday assassinated Jean-Paul Marat while he was taking a bath. A direct link is made between the action of the play-within-a-play and the external world of the play itself as the patients are turned into a revolutionary band by the story they see until they turn on the guards at the asylum and try to institute their own rule. The Marquis de Sade, synonymous with cruelty through the word "sadism," derived from his name, takes delight in both the cruelty of the play he presents and in the agitation he causes.

The subject of the play is revolutionary change, and the play is firmly for that sort of reshaping of society. However, the issues are not that simple, for the playwright presents arguments on both sides and challenges everything and everyone, including the audience. Above all else, the play is theatrical and revels in the drama of every situation. Weiss uses the Shakespearian devi

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Category: Literature - M