Conversations with Casanova by Derek Parker

Author:Derek Parker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Watkins Media

GIRLS, ST PAUL AND OYSTERS

Living in Rome and performing minor church duties, Casanova had no difficulty in reconciling his promiscuity with the teachings of the Church. Like many – perhaps even most – of the churchmen of his time, he simply ignored the problem of morality. If he was employed to compose amorous verses for the mistress of his employer Cardinal Acquaviva, if his guardian, Abate Gama, was engaged in labyrinthine romantic affairs with the castrati of the theatre, if every married woman in Rome was happy to fall into the bed of an admirer – who was he to be a chaste exception?

In your lifetime have you never been condemned for your relationships with younggirls?

Never. And while I’m aware that in your own century some countries impose what I would call a severe restriction on the age at which a young woman may consent to enjoy the pleasures of love, there are others in which that age is considerably lower than might be expected – my own country of Italy is one, while Spain is even more liberal in fixing the age at which a young lover may enter whatever bed she chooses. While I have never gone out of my way to seek out and seduce girls of Teresa’s age, I have certainly never refused the gift.

But you had had an education in morals and theology. How did you reconcile your single-minded pursuit of the flesh with the views of the Church on the matter?

The views of the Church on sexuality? Pish!

Could you elaborate?

I cannot – will not – believe that a God who gave men and women the capacity for the deepest pleasures of the flesh expects us to ignore His obvious intention that we should enjoy them – always provided we are careful that our pleasure is not merely selfish. The great philosopher Monsieur de Voltaire, with whom, as you probably know, I had several interesting conversations, asserts that chastity is one of the most reprehensible of vices, and that has always been my own view. St Paul has much to answer for, and it is significant that Our Lord has nothing to say about the so-called evils of the senses.

Your success as a lover has made you an icon. You must often have been asked for your advice as to how to seduce and please women?

Not really – most men have been too jealous of my accomplishments to inquire. However, if you wish, I will give you two hints as to my success. The first, paramount in loving relationships between the sexes, is that the man must make sure, when he is in bed with a woman, that she enjoys herself as much – or even more – than he. I need not perhaps go into the mechanics of this. Youth and vigour are certainly to some extent desiderata. That the stimulation of pleasure is essential to success with a mistress can perhaps be supported by the fact that not one of the many women

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.