The words sadism and sadist are derived in reference to the works of fiction he wrote which portrayed numerous acts of sexual cruelty. He was a proponent of absolute freedom, unrestrained by morality, religion, or law. Sade is best known for his erotic works, which combined philosophical discourse with pornography, depicting sexual fantasies with an emphasis on violence, suffering, anal sex (which he calls sodomy), crime, and blasphemy against Christianity. In his lifetime some of these were published under his own name while others, which Sade denied having written, appeared anonymously. His works include novels, short stories, plays, dialogues, and political tracts.
