Justine, erotic novel by the Marquis de Sade, originally published in French as Justine, ou les malheurs de la vertu. He wrote an early version of the work, entitled Les Infortunes de la vertu, while imprisoned in the Bastille in 1787 and completed the novel in 1791 while free. Featuring graphically described sexual encounters, it is his most famous work.
In de Sade’s philosophy, God is evil, wickedness is the source of human activity, and the misfortunes suffered by the heroine result from her failure to recognize these truths. By contrast Justine’s sister Juliette delights in evil and therefore thrives in the sequel, Juliette, ou Les Prospérités du vice (1798).