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ICcode for "Story of O"

""'Histoire d'O"[b] (English title: [/b]"Story of O""' ) is a [about=sadomasochism]sadomasochistic[/about] novel by French author [about=Pauline Réage]Pauline Réage[/about], revealed a few years before her death as being the pen name of Anne Desclos (1907-1998), who also wrote under the name of Dominique Aury.

Published 1954 in French, it is a fantasy of female [about=submission]submission[/about] about a Parisian fashion photographer who is [about=Blindfold]blindfolded[/about], [about=Bondage]chained[/about], [about=Whip]whipped[/about], [about=Scarification]branded[/about], made to wear a [about=Mask]mask[/about], and taught to be "constantly available" for [about=Oral sex]oral[/about], [about=Vagina]vaginal[/about], and/or [about=Anal sex]anal[/about] [about=Sexual intercourse]intercourse[/about]. In February 1955, it won the French literature prize Prix des Deux Magots, although this did not prevent the French authorities bringing obscenity charges against the publisher. The proceedings were eventually halted by the Minister of Justice, but a publicity ban was imposed for a number of years.

A very poor English translation appeared in France simultaneously with the first French edition. The first American edition was published in 1965, in a new translation by "Sabine d'Estrée", now known to be a pseudonym of the literary translator [about=Wikipedia:Richard Seaver]Richard Seaver[/about]. Eliot Fremont-Smith (of the "New York Times") called its publishing "a significant event."

A sequel, "Retour * Roissy" ("Return to Roissy," but often translated as "Return to the Chateau"), was published in 1967.



One view of the novel is that it is about the ultimate [about=objectification]objectification[/about] of a woman. The heroine of the novel has the shortest possible name, consisting solely of the letter O. Although this is in fact a shortening of the name Odile, it could also stand for "[about=objectification]object[/about]" or "orifice," an O being a symbolic representation of any "hole."

The book has been the source of  various terms that are used in the [about=BDSM]BDSM[/about] subculture such as [about=SAMOIS]SAMOIS[/about], the name of the estate belonging to the character Anne-Marie, who brands O.

A film, "[b]The Story of O[/b]", was made in 1975 by director Just Jaeckin, starring Corinne Clery. The film met with far less acclaim than the book.  It was banned in the United Kingdom by the British Board of Film Censors until February 2000.

A Brazilian miniseries in ten episodes with Claudia Cepeda was made in 1992 by director Eric Rochat, who was the producer of the original 1975 movie.


[heading]Further Reading



[item] Story of O by Pauline Réage ISBN 0552089303 

[item] Return to Roissy by Pauline Réage


[heading]See also


[item][about=Sadism and masochism in fiction]Sadism and masochism in fiction[/about]

[item]Compare with "[about=Venus in Furs]Venus in Furs[/about]"


[heading]External links


[item] [url=http://www.angelfire.com/in2/lasoldeleo/O1.html]The complete text of the Story of O[/url]

[item] [url=http://www.storyofo.co.uk/Auryobit.html]An obituary of Dominique Aury[/url]

[item] [url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A651070]BBC article on the "Story of O" and its author[/url]

[item] [url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,1268403,00.html]Observer article about Dominique Aury and the "Story of O"[/url]



(This entry in the BDSM Dictionary incorporates text from the [url=http://www.londonfetishscene.com/wipi/index.php/Story_of_O]Story of O[/url] article in Wipipedia.)

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