Saturday, May 1, 2010

The Incredibly Naughty Life of Casanova Part 3



My dearest Readers,
This Part 3 will finish the mini series pertaining to Casanova. Though I gave you glimpses, I highly recommend you consider reading his memoirs. He went a little crazy (wrote freakin volumes and volumes...) but the stories the man has to tell were amazing and naughty, naughty, naughty. VERY well worth the read. Wicked grin. That said, let us jump right in and finish his sweeping history with a grand bow.

The above mask you see is taken from a museum in Venice which Casanova himself graced during his lifetime. Oh, to have worn the same mask as he and to have peered through those eyes! As Casanova grew older, his adventures slowly dwindled (most likely because his looks were fading and the cock wasn't what it used to be...). But to the very end, he never quite felt at home anywhere or felt as if he could rest in any one lady's arms. Throughout his lifetime he had done everything a man could ever hope (and things men usually avoid). He bed hundreds of women, dined with the finest and the lowest, fought several duels (and lived to tell about it each time), suffered from 11 venereal diseases (including gonorrhoea, soft chancre, herpes, and syphilis...sexy, eh?), survived smallpox, epistaxis, pneumonia, gout, malaria (several times), was a priest (he should have stayed one...), a librarian, a chemist, a novelist, a military man, con-man, pimp, prisoner, dancer, cook, lottery organizer, lawyer, spy, mathematician, violinist, playwright, police agent, mining consultant, silk manufacturer, spoke several languages (the more he knew, the more he could romance, after all), had seen most of Europe...He truly had done and seen it all, which -- despite the diseases -- is why Casanova TO ME is my favorite historic male figure. He was anything but perfect, but he had humor, genius and knew how to listen to a woman (and not just for the sake of wanting to get some...)

But as he grew older, Casanova's body started feeling the rough life he had led. He was one to have always thought nothing, not even a venereal disease could keep him down (or his pants up). And he started longing gazing on days of old. Days when Prince de Ligne once wrote to him saying, "One is never old with your heart, your genius and your stomach."
In February 1798, he fell very ill when mercury treatments were obstructing his urinary tract (ouch...). Despite having never been close to family and that they had long passed on, he found that he had acquired many close friends (men and women alike) who all flocked to his side and assist as his deteriorating state. They would send him craw fish for craw fish soup, which was Casanova's favorite dish his whole life (in his memoirs he claims his mother had often craved it during pregnancy and he had acquired a taste for it long before he ever came into the world).

On On June 4th 1798, at the age of 73, he died. His last words were, "Almighty God, and you witnesses of my death, I have lived as a philosopher and die as a Christian."

In closing, instead of leaving it upon his death, I would like to give a playful wink to the man and end this post with a few of his own quotes that I feel represent this amazing, true Renaissance man.
"The same principle that forbids me to lie, does not allow me to tell the truth."
"I have concluded that my conduct has depended more on my character than on my mind, though I struggle between the two."
"I am writing MY LIFE to laugh at myself and am succeeding."

And so I bring an end to the incredibly naughty life of Casanova. If you haven't read his volumes MY LIFE, do so. It's one of my favorite historic collections.

Until next time, Much love,
Delilah Marvelle

8 comments:

Lauren said...

Great post as always Delilah. I have to say i learned a lot, and i must say that Casanova was far more intelligent than i gave him credit for and he certainly was fascinating. Regarding part 2, where did you dig up those stories about his romantic adventures? I'd love to read more. I love your blog. I always learn something interesting, though not necessarily something i can chat about in front of my mom or grandparents. Looking forward to your next post! To quote you, Cheers and Much Love, Lauren.

Amalia said...

goodness I didn't know you could have so many venereal diseases at one time! what are we so worried about lol the man lived to 73!

very good post Delilah, One of the things I love about your posts is that they entice me to read old texts and memoirs that I either didn't know about or wouldn't have considered. keep up the fabulous work, I don't know how you do it all!

therese patrick, author said...

Wonderful post. I am also inspired to read old memoirs and biographies. There is so much that could be learned by going to the source. :) All his exploits and talents show he lived on his terms and was admired for it.

Delilah Marvelle said...

My dearest Lauren,
Thank you! I try to set aside enough time to make this blog sing and I guess it tap dances, too, lol. Yeah, Casanova was really quite the guy (setting aside his looks...ehm) If you're wanting to look into all the stories behind Casanova, you can dig through his memoirs. Because I read ALL of the volumes, I marked interesting things that I came across and you got to see the short cut version. There are lots of books on Casanova if you wanna take the short cut and avoid thousands of pages, but I have to say, his book is fascinating.

My dearest Amalia,
I don't know how I do it all, either, lol. Actually, I am always researching for my books and whenever I come across anything interesting I mark it and track it for myself. That way I use it for future stuff and the blog gets to benefit (and so does anyone reading the blog!). It's something that I'm totally addicted to doing now. Thanks for posting!

My dearest Therese,
Here, here. He did live on his terms and frankly (aside from all the diseases) I wish I could lead as interesting as a life as he did.

Unknown said...

Great post as always.

This guy was really fascinating, on so many levels.

Thanks again for giving us this little peek into his life - I think I will have to do some research on my own now. :)

Julia Hunter said...

I just popped on to see what you are up to and WOW I'm enthralled by your scandal series. What a fun premise.

Your posts are great - informative and entertaining.

Thanks Delilah, what a fabulous way to bring in the new year!

Sandy said...

Wow he really did live life to the fullest! Sure he got a bunch of diseases but you can't say he was ever bored ^_^.

Thanks for this I learned a lot!

Delilah Marvelle said...

I apologize for not responding to comments sooner! Deadlines make an author drop all...but I'm baaaack!

My dearest Allison,
Oooo...so excited to hear you want to research Casanova on your own. Believe me, it'll be fun all the thing you uncover. There was still so much that I didn't share but wanted to. Thanks for posting!

My dearest Julia,
Wow back at you, darling! Thank you for posting and for peeking into my crazy writing and my posts. Grin. Can't wait to see you at either RWA Nationals or Emerald City or BOTH.

My dearest Sandy,
LOL...yeah, diseases aside he was NEVER bored. I think the man truly feared getting restless so he just did it all. I doubt if he died thinking "But I didn't get
to--" That's the way to go.