Venus in Furs

Venus in furs is the story of a man who loves one woman so much that he chooses to become her slave in order to not lose her. Severin meets his Venus in furs one night in a garden near his home; a red-headed woman with pale white skin and piercing green eyes. The first time he sees her, he runs away from her, but the second time, on his balcony, they make their acquaintances. She says that she was made curious about him from a picture he left in one of the books he lent her. So they discuss their differences in views of love and marriage and the relationship between men and women. She is of the opinion that the Christian viewpoint of marriage is flawed. One cannot expect a woman to stay in love with one man forever and ever. Severin expresses his opinion that in any relationship either the man or the woman will take the reins in a relationship. If the man does not quickly establish his place over the woman, then it is in her innate nature to take the reins and subjugate him. They continue their dialogue over time and he becomes more and more in love with her. She is resistant to his quest for marriage because she does not know yet if he is the man she can respect and therefore have a lasting relationship with. She asks to live with him for a year and then if the love is true she would marry him. In order not to lose her and to satisfy his desire to be controlled by his Venus, he asks that he may become her slave. At first she is resistant; she doesn’t think she has the predilection to be so cruel. But as the story unfolds she agrees to it with the warning to him that he may incite such cruelty that he may not want or expect from her.

The Venus makes up a contract for Severin to sign regarding their arrangement. Then they travel to Italy, to be away from the people they know and to be in a place where slavery is not abhorrent to the general populace. Once in Italy, she finds a Villa to stay in so no one thinks oddly of her behavior as she associates with him. Once in the Italian villa she has him sign the contract that they agreed upon. She also has him sign a suicide note in the event that their agreed upon terms result in his death. Throughout the time they are in Italy she treats him as her slave, whips him, orders him around, and occasionally gives him relief with her intimate kisses. Throughout the experience he questions her love for him until she pays attention to him; then it’s his obsession renewed. At one point he looks at one of the black servants she has employed during her stay there and she has him hogtied and locks him in a cold basement for a while.

The ultimate cruelty for Severin is when she starts to court other men in front of him and makes him fetch her information on them. There is one man in particular who she courts, a young, rich, greek man, who she falls in love with. Severin can see this man easily subjugating his Venus. She spends time with this young man, ignoring Severin, until he finally leaves. Severin comes into her room and begs to know what she will do, and if she still loves him. She admits that she loves this man and will marry him if he has her. This sets Severin off—he begs and pleads with his Venus that he loves her and cannot live without her. She ignores him and then sends him away as if he is nothing more than a nuisance. At this he resolves to flee his indifferent captor. He writes her a note and leaves under the cover of night. It’s not until he gets to the train that he realizes he has no money to go anywhere. He goes down to the river and contemplates killing himself with the dagger he stole from her, but he can’t do it to himself. He loves his Venus too much. So he returns the next morning to meet her wrath and see if she will do it for him. When he returns, she’s surprised that he is still alive, then gives