Venus in Furs 1870 is a novella by Austrian writer Leopold von SacherMasoch Intended as an installment in his Legacy of Cain cycle Venus in Furs has far surpassed the authors other works in cementing his reputation The work which inspired KraftEbing to define quotmasochismquot is notable for its exploration of female dominance and male sexual submission The frame narrative begins with an unnamed man who develops a strong sexual desire after having a vivid dream Disturbed he tells a friend about the vision in which he spoke to the goddess Venus while she was wearing luxuriant furs In the memoir which appears to have written by his friend a man named Severin von Kusiemski describes his love affair with Wanda von Dunajew Moved by a strong desire Severin asks to be made Dunajews slave and though she denies him at first she soon grows to take advantage of her power of the man As she grows progressively more violent in her treatment of Severin she satisfies his desires while simultaneously learning more about her own Severin who describes himself as a suprasensualist travels with Dunajew to Florence where he invents an identity as a Russian servant and acquiesces to a life of...
