Telegraph: Casanova: philosopher, gambler, lover, priest - by Ian Kelly
Casanova: philosopher, gambler, lover, priest - Telegraph Casanova: philosopher, gambler, lover, priest - Telegraph
Between the age of 16, when he lost his
virginity, and his late forties, when he lost his potency, Casanova
slept with around 130 of them, which works out at an average of four a
year. This may or may not seem a great deal for a man who never married
or stayed in one place for too long, but Kelly argues that Casanova
deserves his place in history not because of the quantity of bodies he
enjoyed but because of the guilt-free quality of the enjoyment as he
describes it in his memoirs. The Histoire 'posited firmly, for the
first time in the Western canon, the idea that an understanding of sex
- with all its irrationality and destructive potential - is key to an
understanding of the self'.
Between the age of 16, when he lost his
virginity, and his late forties, when he lost his potency, Casanova
slept with around 130 of them, which works out at an average of four a
year. This may or may not seem a great deal for a man who never married
or stayed in one place for too long, but Kelly argues that Casanova
deserves his place in history not because of the quantity of bodies he
enjoyed but because of the guilt-free quality of the enjoyment as he
describes it in his memoirs. The Histoire 'posited firmly, for the
first time in the Western canon, the idea that an understanding of sex
- with all its irrationality and destructive potential - is key to an
understanding of the self'.
