Jacques Touchet's Spicy Illustrations For the Perverted Peasants

Le Paysan et la Paysanne pervertis (The Perverted Peasants) is a monumental 18th-century novel that blends philosophy, romance, and moral inquiry in a strikingly daring manner. Written by the French author Rétif de la Bretonne, the work is a synthesis of two epistolary novels, Le Paysan perverti (The Perverted Peasant, 1776) and La Paysanne pervertie (The Perverted Peasant Woman, 1784), which Rétif reworked and interwove to create this ambitious masterpiece, published in 1787. The novel explores the fall of two peasant characters, Edmond and Ursule, from an idyllic rural life into sin, vice, and moral degradation, with the eventual hope for redemption, but not without the looming threat of divine punishment.

Taboo Themes

At its core, the novel follows a structure similar to other 18th-century works, such as La Nouvelle Héloïse by Rousseau and Aline et Valcour by Sade, where the moral and philosophical underpinnings of love, vice, and virtue are explored. However, Rétif’s work goes far beyond these predecessors in its intensity and scope. It challenges the conventions of common morality, depicting cruelty, sadism, incest, and even the blurred lines of friendship and homosexuality. The characters' struggles with these taboo themes reflect Rétif’s desire to push boundaries, creating a raw, emotional narrative that surpasses the tragic conventions of the era.

The illustrations below were done by the masterful artist Jacques Touchet for the 1948-edition of the novel...

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In the extended Premium edition you learn more about the characters in The Perverted Peasants and all 20 remaining illustrations.

Click HERE for the merry drinkers and lusty peasants in the engravings of Cornelis Dusart