In the same way, the Marquis in 'The Bloody Chamber' is presented as disturbed by his fierce threats and horrific acts. He threatens the heroine, "I have a place prepared for your exquisite corpse in my display of flesh". This alarming threat creates an ominous sense of foreboding. Furthermore, the heroine has already discovered a woman "pierced not by one, but by a hundred spikes". This discovery, so shocking that it borders on hyperbole, adds to the sense of foreboding of what will become of the young heroine. The marquis seems incomprehensibly sadistic and violent which is likely due to the fact that Carter was influenced and inspired by the 'Marquis de Sade' and his works such as, '120 days in Sodom'. Although the reader is given very little reason to feel pathos for the Marquis, they may feel some for Heathcliff as he has been driven to violence by the actions of others. He suffered an arduous childhood due to being a "starving and homeless" orphan and then tormented by Hindley. Shirley Lynn Scott states that "Many sadistic murderers portray their childhood as an endless chain of horrifying abuse, torture, and mayhem", which exhibits the distinct link between abuse in childhood causing violence in adulthood. Heathcliff and the Marquis exhibit extreme acts of violence and neither of them appear to show remorse. This hints that they are sadistic, as they appear to enjoy the suffering of others.
The idea of sadism is another component that makes up the disturbed characters. Isabella is portrayed as sadistic as she wants to marry Heathcliff despite knowing his cruelty. She mistakes his brutality for manliness and when she expresses her desire to marry him, she says that she wishes "to be killed by him". Leia Skywalker suggests that use of the word 'killed' could be a play on the Elizabethan pun for orgasm, 'le petit mort'.