Story of O (14)

For what it's worth, I always saw this as a sign of Rene's recognition that he himself was unable to take O as far as she needed to go and consequently, he handed her over to someone who could.

Admittedly, that may seem harsh, if submission is seen only as an act of love - after all, Rene was the one O loved so why would she wish to submit to, let alone be given away to, someone else? If, on the other hand, submission is seen as a deep-held need in itself, perhaps Rene was really only helping O along in her own journey of self-discovery...

*If it's not rough... it isn't fun...*

Of course, I have only read it in English translation, and it may lose something in translation. But the structure of the book is poor - there's a sense of 'oh, I haven't written enough, I must write another episode; oh, I must increase the tension, my new episode must be more brutal than what has gone before'. The narrative simply does not engage me. It reads, in fact, like wank fiction - on Literotica I might give it three stars.

Yet the reason I read it is that three separate submissives with whom I have played had found it a life-changing read - had helped them to accept themselves as submissives. For each of them it clearly was both highly erotic and highly engaging.

In this it's similar to Anne Rice's 'Claiming of Sleeping Beauty', which I find silly, poorly written and unreadable, but which clearly appeals very strongly to some submissives.

I think The Story of O earns some of its iconic status from 'being first' - the first explicitly female, not just of a woman but written by a woman - account of submission and of submission to sadism (since, as others have said, O is no masochist, but both Rene and Sir Stephen are clearly to some extent sadists) in modern literature. It has a status, then, somewhat like Beowulf - a poem few English speakers have read, but which all English speakers know of as a founding literary text.

I think, in the end, the reason the story doesn't work for me is partly that I'm not persuaded by either Rene's or Sir Stephen's engagement with and commitment to O. O clearly loves Rene and comes to love Sir Stephen, but they seem to use her simply as a convenient sexual plaything; shareable, interchangeable, ultimately disposable. My understanding of a 'good' or 'healthy' BDSM relationship involves commitment both ways.

;; Semper in faecibus sumus, sole profundum variat.
Some of my stories are here. Others are here.

Yes, i completely see where you are coming from and in what i would view as a utopian world, that would work for me. However, my submission is to the man i love, i am not submissive to any other. If therefore, He decided that it would be best for me to be permanently given to someone else to further my education...well let's just say that would turn me into a Domme so fast Their arses wouldn't hit the ground lol! i think O's submission to Sir Stephen initially comes out of obedience to, and love for, Rene. If my Master told me to submit to another man temporarily, of course i would do it (He just better not leave me alone lol!)

i think, in my fantasies, O's life is perfect. Not having to think beyond pleasing the men... Now, please don't see me as a wimpy, doormat, can't think for myself sub. It's just that sometimes a more simple life does appeal!

"There is no such thing as liberty. You only change one sort of domination for another. All we can do is to choose our master." D. H. Lawrence
~ www.greenwichmunch.co.uk ~ www.wonkycircle.co.uk ~

angel

His angel, well most of the time!