Sade's Interior Motives: The Importance of the Unseen in the Château de Silling

Despite Sade's continuous refrain of "il faut tout dire," his chef-d'oeuvre contains numerous moments of accepted silence and secret activities, seemingly in direct contrast with the copious details presented in other sections of the work. Given that none of the characters is Sade's intended student, it is clear that he plans to instruct his readers, using Les Cent vingt journées as a libertine primer.\n In the former case, Sade has fulfilled his goals; in the latter, the reader is induced to learn more or to use the previously disclosed activities to formulate a Sadean hypothesis explaining the gaps.