I believe that the Marquis De Sade based most of the writing of 120 Days of Sodom on his real life and events that happened around him. He was involved in multiple different sexual scandals, including the “little girls affair” which took place between 1772 and 1777 when he was at a cabin with his wife and multiple servants that were age 15 at the time. Sade was also convicted of assault and partook in an orgy in Marseille. These acts that he participated in shaped his ideals that he seems to relay in the book. Upon reading 120 Days of Sodom, one may think at first that the book is satirical because of the insane amount of smut and snuff that is in it, but upon looking deeper into Sade’s life, we see now that these may have just been his deep thoughts relayed into essentially a diary. Over his lifetime, Marquis De Sade spent 32 years in both prisons and mental hospitals. He was sent to be executed because of the publishings of his other books that were found. I very much wonder what would have happened if 120 Days was published in this era. What I find most interesting is the addition of homosexuality in 120 days. When I read the book, i figured that he included it in there because homosexuality was considered a sin at that time. Diving into his life, however, there was a point in time where he slept with one of his male servants. I believe that the inclusion of homosexuality in his story is really just a projection of his own sexual fantasies. Overall, I believe that the Marquis De Sade’s 120 Days was shaped because of his own life experiences and was not a satirical writing.