FABLE

The play opens with the Dr Royer-Collard discussing plans with his architect for his new home. He has just moved to the area because he has been appointed in charge of the asylum Charenton. He has commissioned the architect to build him a fine home to keep his wife happy and secure her fidelity as she has a wandering eye. He is interrupted by Renee the Marquis wife who pleads with the Doctor to stop her husband from writing his lewd stories since as long as he writes new stories his infamy goes on and she is ostracized because of it. The Doctor agrees to cure the Marquis of his writing in return for a large sum of money. We then meet the Abbe he is a kind priest who runs the asylum with compassion, the Doctor does not agree with his methods and goes behind the Abbes back searching the Marquis room. He finds a lewd story the Marquis has written and reads it to the Abbe. The Abbe is distraught at the graphic subject matter and goes to confront the Marquis. Before arriving at his quarters Madeline the seamstress enters fixing a button for the Marquis she ask for payment and he gives her some coins, he makes a remark wishing that the money could purchase other things from her of a sexual nature. She rebukes him but asks for one of his stories so she may read it to her mother he consents but with a price, a kiss for every page, he asks her to sit on his lap but then gets carried away whispering obscenities to her at which point she pulls way from him snatching the rest of the story. It is at this moment that the Abbe enters to confront the Marquis about continuing to publish his stories the talk does not go well and the Abbe decides to remove all of the Marquis quills and ink so he can no longer write. This only forces the Marquis to become creative he uses a chicken bone and wine to write his prose but is found out when the linens are washed staining the sheets. The Doctor is alerted to the discolored sheets and presses Madeline for information threatening her, she finally tells the truth that the Marquis wrote the story for her and her mother. The Abbe then removes all of the comforts in the Marquis room stripping it to a mattress on the floor, but the Marquis comes up with another way to write he uses his own blood to write a story on his clothing bragging to the rest of the inmates who become excited by it. The Abbe is enraged and tells the Marquis to strip taking all his clothes from him. Madeline goes to the Marquis to apologize but he says it okay for she only did what man is expected to do , survive. She begs for one more story he tell her that he will by setting up an elaborate game of telephone, Madeline is a little nervous because Bucheon is the last in the chain, and he might become excited by the story and try to escape, after all he has tried to rape her before. The Marquis tells her this is the best he can come up with so deal with her fear of Bucheon or no story. She decides its worth it for the story. So the game starts and the Marquis tells the tale of a surgeon who goes to a brothel but instead of making love to the prostitute he carves new holes in her with which to pleasure himself. The story excites the inmates so that many of them escape causing havoc including Bucheon. Renee goes to the Doctor upon hearing of how one of her husbands stories incited a riot. She is upset because her money has not been spent on equipment to cure her husband and he has noticed how large the house is that the Doctor is building. She accuses him of embezzling with threats that if her husband is not cured she will send her lawyer after him. The Doctor then tells the Abbe of Madeline’s gruesome death, that was a reenactment of the Marquis story, the Doctor hastens to add that its not Bucheon that’s to blame but the Marquis. The Abbe then decides to have the Marquis tongue removed but then the Marquis writes on the walls with his own feces. The Doctor records the story and tells it to the Abbe. It is a harmless romantic tale, but the two using their own minds end up making innuendos out of nothing, the Doctor is seeing these due to his wife leaving him for the architect. He still manages to convince the Abbe that there is pornographic innuendos and the Abbe begins to see it and join in. The Doctor comes to the conclusion that the Marquis must have his hands cut off a long with his manhood. He admits to the Doctor that he almost enjoyed the process. Then the Doctor pressures the Abbe to go ahead and kill the Marquis, at first he refuses but eventually he gives in and beheads the Marquis. The Abbe is haunted by a pornographic delusion but he is not sure if its him or the Marquis. The beheading and other cruelties get out to the public and restoring Renee to society again, but the consequences are dire for the Abbe. The Doctor has passed the buck blaming the cruel treatment on the Abbe and that he (the Doctor) had nothing to do with it and was not aware of what was going on. Since the asylum hasn’t received funds because of the scandal the Doctor has decided to anonymously publish the Marquis novel so that the asylum and he might be saved. The Abbe is disgusted for that was the very thing they were trying to prevent from happening but then the Doctor informs him that the Abbe is to be locked up in the asylum for his actions. The play ends with the Marquis coming back to life in the Doctor’s office writing the story of the Abbe, while the Abbe screams for quills, ink, and parchment.




Summary

Act I
In the opening scene, Dr. Royer-Collard, the chief physician of the Charenton Asylum, is in the midst of a meeting with Monsieur Prioux, a well-regarded architect. Royer-Collard states his desire to have a house built and decorated according to his wife’s preferences. Prioux points out the extreme cost of such an undertaking, but the doctor brushes this aside. He explains that his wife has an adulterous nature, and he hopes a home designed to her every whim will keep her from straying again.

In the second scene Renee Pelagie bursts into the office demanding to speak with the doctor. After Prioux politely steps out, Pelagie bemoans the many hardships she encounters due to her estranged husband, the Marquis de Sade. She informs the doctor that the marquis still writes from his cell at Charenton, and the dispersal of these writings outside the asylum continues to blemish her reputation. The doctor counters that he will require additional funds to pay for the marquis’s tightened security. Reluctantly, Madame Pelagie obliges.

Scene 3 finds the doctor calling Abbe de Coulmier before him to interrogate him about his methods of disciplining the patients. Coulmier balks at torture and beatings, instead praising kindness as a means to rehabilitation. The doctor then shows Coulmier a manuscript the marquis wrote and surreptitiously smuggled out of the asylum while under Coulmier’s watch. At this point, we meet the marquis, who recites selections from the work, a tome about pedophilia amongst clergy. Coulmier is shocked and vows to work harder at restraining the marquis.

Scene 4 shifts to the cell of the marquis, as a laundress named Madeleine LeClerc begs the author for a new story. He agrees to provide it at the cost of one kiss per page. She agrees and earns quite a few pages. When the marquis pushes for more substantial rewards, she slaps him and leaves as Coulmier enters to talk to him. Scene 5 continues with Coulmier chastising de Sade for writing behind his back. He debates the marquis on both the literary merits and moral content of his writings. When the marquis refuses to relent, Coulmier orders his quills and paper to be removed.

In scene 6, Monsieur Prioux meets briefly with the doctor for an update on the progress of his house. Prioux extols not only the house’s attributes but those of the doctor’s wife as well. Prioux is hurriedly dismissed by the doctor as Coulmier arrives.

In the seventh scene, the doctor relays more misdeeds by Sade. Intercut with his conversation with Coulmier is the confession of Madeleine and another writing sample from the marquis. With Madeleine’s help, the marquis wrote on his bed linens using wine. The doctor again urges Coulmier to use force to tame the marquis.

In scene 8, Coulmier informs the marquis that his wine will be removed as well as anything that might be fashioned into a makeshift quill. The marquis begs, accuses Coulmier of being the doctor’s toady, and ultimately vows to continue his work. Scene 9 shows how the marquis honored his promise as Coulmier and Madeleine are again confronted by the doctor. As the marquis unveils his latest composition, the doctor reveals that the marquis has been writing his latest stories on his clothing using his own blood as ink.

In scene 10, Coulmier confronts the marquis and demands that he strip himself of his clothing and wig. The marquis agrees, taunting Coulmier sexually as he does so. Left bare, he still promises to persevere in his writing. Scene 11 finds Madeleine secretly meeting with the marquis to devise a plan to continue his writing. He decides to whisper his tale to the lunatic in the next cell, who in turn will tell it to the inmate next to him. The chain will continue cell by cell until it reaches the laundry room, where Madeleine will transcribe it. As prepayment, Madeleine bestows a host of kisses upon the marquis.

The last scene of the first act culminates in the marquis relating his story to an unseen lunatic in the next cell. In the midst of the escalating violence of the story, screams ring out. A brief glimpse of the mangled, lifeless body of Madeleine is revealed in the laundry. The marquis is anguished.

Act II
The second act begins with Madame Pelagie meeting with the doctor, rebuking him for the riot at Charenton, accusing him of using her money to build his new house, and threatening legal action unless he stops the marquis. In scene 2, the doctor admonishes Coulmier for Madeleine’s death, revealing that an inmate burst through the wall to the laundry room, presumably inspired by the marquis’s dark tale. The doctor urges Coulmier to unlock a torture chamber and use its devices on the marquis. Reluctantly, Coulmier agrees.

In the third scene, Coulmier meets with the marquis and confronts him about Madeleine’s death. Uncharacteristically, the marquis breaks down and shows true remorse. Coulmier informs the marquis that his tongue will be cut out. The very brief fourth scene shows the doctor reading a letter from Monsieur Prioux in which the latter reveals that he has run away with the doctor’s wife.

In scene 5, Coulmier delivers the marquis’s tongue to the doctor only to find out that the writer has been using his own excrement to write stories on the wall of his cell. Though the tale is relatively tame by Sade’s standards, the two read into it for more disturbing metaphors. The doctor recommends further discipline. This leads to the sixth scene, a brief confrontation between Coulmier and the still-defiant marquis, followed by offstage sounds of torture and pain. Scene 7 has Coulmier delivering boxes containing the marquis’s hands, feet, and penis to the doctor, who urges Coulmier to go further and deliver the marquis to the afterlife.

In scene 8, while Coulmier is praying over her body, Madeleine suddenly comes to life and details her sexual exploits with the devil. Coulmier states his repulsion, but eventually begins to force himself on Madeleine only to discover that she is once again a lifeless body. As a counterpoint, scene 9 depicts Coulmier praying in front of the marquis and announcing his intention to behead the writer.

In the tenth scene, Madame Pelagie meets with the doctor and denies that she ever implied that the doctor should have the marquis executed. She vows not to sue, and instead revels in her glittering social life. In scene 11, as Coulmier announces his intent to resign, the doctor reveals that Coulmier has been implicated in the torture and death of the marquis and denies ever approving it. He then states his intent to publish the marquis’s works to earn money desperately needed by the asylum. The twelfth scene finds Coulmier, now incarcerated in the marquis’s cell, begging for writing supplies to tell his story. In the final scene, the boxes of the marquis’s head and hands break open and the marquis himself begins writing Coulmier’s story. The play ends with Coulmier still begging for a quill.
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