Les Diaboliques
1874
Les Diaboliques, published in 1874 by Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, is a collection of six short stories that explore the darker aspects of human relationships, particularly through the lens of women who defy societal norms. Each tale features a female character who engages in acts of violence or revenge, reflecting the complexities of morality and desire in a decadent society. This work is notable for its critical examination of virtue and vice, as well as its innovative narrative structure, making it a significant piece of 19th-century French literature.
Editions
X-Ray
“For in Paris, whenever God puts a pretty woman there (the streets), the Devil, in reply, immediately puts a fool to keep her.””
— J. Barbey d'Aurevilly
“Extreme civilization robs crime of its frightful poetry, and prevents the writer from restoring it. That would be too dreadful, say those good souls who want everything to be prettified, even the horrible. In the name of philanthropy, imbecile criminologists reduce the punishment, and inept moralists the crime, and what is more they reduce the crime only in order to reduce the punishment. Yet the crimes of extreme civilization are undoubtedly more atrocious than those of extreme barbarism, by virtue of their refinement, of the corruption they imply and of their superior degree of intellectualism. ("A Woman's Vengeance")””
— J. Barbey d'Aurevilly
“They had...finished their lives before their death – which is not always the end of life and often comes long before the end.””
— J. Barbey d'Aurevilly
“Men are all the same. Novelty amongst themselves displeases and upsets them – but if the novelty is wearing a skirt, they go crazy for it.()””
— J. Barbey d'Aurevilly
“Yet, whether to the glory or to the shame of human nature, in what we call pleasure (with an excess of scorn, perhaps) there are abysses as deep as those of love.””
— J. Barbey d'Aurevilly
“Beauty is single. Only ugliness is multiple, and even then its multiplicity is soon exhausted.””
— J. Barbey d'Aurevilly
“Fools – in other words most people – imagine that it would be a wonderful achievement to be able to recover our youth; but those who know life are aware how little it would profit us. ("A Woman's Vengeance")””
— J. Barbey d'Aurevilly
“He was terrified by the sublime horror of it, for intensity of feeling, carried to this degree, is sublime. ("A Woman's Vengeance")””
— J. Barbey d'Aurevilly
“My good fellow,” said Mesnil, stopping, “ever since the creation of the world there have been men like me specially intended to astonish men...men like you.””
— J. Barbey d'Aurevilly
