Last week I taught my lesson plan on Sade’s Justine and Juliette and Angela Carter‘s Sadeian Woman. Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of undergrads, but they all seemed decently comfortable talking about pornographic material (ah, the libertinage) and I got no objections to our/Carter’s/my ultimate conclusion that the Divine Marquis was a surprisingly progressive guy. This, I feel in my feeling place, is an accomplishment.
As one of the readings from my Pedagogy class recently reminded me though (yes, this is a course in which we get taught about teaching), even those of us who encourage “risky” readings make our readings stale and “safe” by presenting them as predetermined conclusions. I’m not sure how to win on that one. So Sade isn’t a feminist? Or I shouldn’t say it? Or I shouldn’t think it? Can I just love him in the deep dark recesses of my literary heart if I never tell?
