Monday, July 29, 2013

The Elegance of Submission


I think I'm not alone in thinking The Story of O is a sort of bible to this genre of writing. Even outside of this genre, it's one of the most elegant books I've ever read. The words are pure sensuality and their meaning so much more than what you gather at first glance. The book sits on my bedside table, its simple white cover with the title in black block letters, and every now and again I pick it up to re-read. Every time, I feel like it's my first time.

One of the most erotic scenes from The Story of O is toward the beginning when O's lover brings her to Sir Stephen's apartments. He has her undress then displays her over the ottoman to present her to Sir Stephen. I still remember O's thoughts as she submits, her feelings as the men discuss her as if she weren't there. Then when she is told to stay as she is while Sir Stephen shows her lover out and she does, remaining exposed and vulnerable without being bound but choosing to submit, it is just incredible, beautiful, highly arousing but so much more. In this short scene, so elegantly written, I felt sensation upon sensation. It was so well done that I even remember the tiny detail of the ash of Sir Stephen's cigarette falling on O's breast a few moments later.

I write about submission an awful lot because it's so completely erotic for me. It's more than an orgasm could ever be, it's more than the act of spanking or any other act, it's somehow, simply, complete. Does that make sense at all?

I leave you with this beautiful piece of pure sensuality from The Story of O...

“Keep me rather in this cage, and feed me sparingly, if you dare. Anything that brings me closer to illness and the edge of death makes me more faithful. It is only when you make me suffer that I feel safe and secure. You should never have agreed to be a god for me if you were afraid to assume the duties of a god, and we know that they are not as tender as all that. You have already seen me cry. Now you must learn to relish my tears.”

                                                                                                                       -Pauline Reage

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