Doctor Who Club of Australia

[montypython]

For Extension History, I'm doing a major assignment on Giacamo Casanova, and have decided to survey people to find out just how much they know about him. If you'd like to help, please read on. Here is my survey:

1. When you think of Casanova, what do you think of first?
a) Seducer of women
b) Adventurer
c) Heath Ledger
d) David Tennant
e) Nothing (in which case you probably shouldn't be doing the survey)

2. What sources have influenced your thoughts on Casanova (e.g. TV, movies, general terminology)?

3. In your opinion, was Casanova a hero or a villain?

4. How many women did Casanova claim to sleep with?
a) 22
b) 122
c) 322
d) 522

5. Apart from his adventures with women, can you name anything else Casanova did?

And that's the survey. If some of you could reply I'd appreciate it very much. Please include your gender and age in the reply, as it helps me to find any patterns in the results, etc. Also, please don't go and look up the information just so you can get full marks.

Thank you for your time.

[Greg]

1) - (b) Adventurer (spy, alleged member of secret societies...)

2) - Books. (I'm old fashioned that way.) I had heard of Casanova before I read anything about him, but it was vague 'great Italian lover' sort of stuff which interested me considerably less than what I later read.

3) - Hero. Just because he didn't play be society's rules doesn't make someone a villain.

4) - no idea. I'll guess the highest figure (522).

5) - Casanova was a prolific writer. Aside from chronicling his life and adventures, he wrote based on his studies (philosophy, law, etc). He was knighted, was a member of the Rosicrucians, an alchemist and the confidante of various notables of his time (including Madame de Pompadour and Rousseau).

[KnottyEmily]

1. When you think of Casanova, what do you think of first?

b) Adventurer


2. What sources have influenced your thoughts on Casanova (e.g. TV, movies, general terminology)?

Books, mainly 'The Story of My Life' (penguin classics ed.). I was halfway through the book when I watched RTD's Casanova, and have since re-read it a few times. I refuse to watch the Heath Ledger movie.

3. In your opinion, was Casanova a hero or a villain?

A hero.

4. How many women did Casanova claim to sleep with?

Did he keep count?

5. Apart from his adventures with women, can you name anything else Casanova did?

Writer, philosopher, entrepreneur, spy



Greg, are there any books on Casanova that you'd recommend? I still need to get a more complete edition of his memoirs as well.

[Greg]

[montypython]

[KnottyEmily]

I'm 18 and female

And thanks for those links

[Greg]

I'm unfeasibly old* and male.

* "unfeasibly old" currently equals 46. Well, it's unfeasible to me that I should be that age!

[montypython]

Well, so much for my flood of replies ... never mind, my teacher said it wouldn't really fit in with the assignment anyway.

But now I'm wondering if anyone's got their hands on any Casanova movies/books/documentaries (other than the 2 recent ones) and if they could tell me where they got them, or possibly make me a copy.

[Ickabod]

For Extension History, I'm doing a major assignment on Giacamo Casanova, and have decided to survey people to find out just how much they know about him. If you'd like to help, please read on. Here is my survey:

1. When you think of Casanova, what do you think of first?
a) Seducer of women
b) Adventurer
c) Heath Ledger
d) David Tennant
e) Nothing (in which case you probably shouldn't be doing the survey)
a, b, d and inventor but also a ladies man and a tragic figure as well

2. What sources have influenced your thoughts on Casanova (e.g. TV, movies, general terminology)?
TV plus a book I borrowed from the Library

3. In your opinion, was Casanova a hero or a villain?
a bit of both....depended on the recieving end

4. How many women did Casanova claim to sleep with?
a) 22
b) 122
c) 322
d) 522

D

5. Apart from his adventures with women, can you name anything else Casanova did?
librarian, a one-time consort of European royalty, popes and cardinals, and man known to the likes of Voltaire, Goethe and Mozart, started his life with a clerical law career in the church as an abbé, also as a low ranking military officer for the Republic of Venice, got bored with that.
At the age of 21, he saved the life of a Venetian nobleman from the Bragadin family, who became his life-long patron and raised Casanova to the status of a wealthy gentleman, In Paris he became one of the trustees of the first state lottery.

And that's the survey. If some of you could reply I'd appreciate it very much. Please include your gender and age in the reply, as it helps me to find any patterns in the results, etc. Also, please don't go and look up the information just so you can get full marks.

Thank you for your time.

I only read the book a week ago so it's still fresh in my memories.....
gender: female
age: 43

hope this helps you MontyP

[Ickabod]

[montypython]

[Ickabod]

Anytime MontyP....my pleasure...on another forum I'm Monte...we fellow Monts have to look after each other....it was because of RTD's Cassanova, that the man himself piqued my interest....I saw Heath Ledger's role as Cassanova but I didn't like the storyline.....it was too empty and shallow

[montypython]

I have a question for those of you who have replied (and anyone else who's interested). You all think of Casanova as more or less a hero, and so do I. But tell me - what do you think about him committing incest with his daughter Leonilda? I myself excused it the first time, since he'd only just found out she was his, but then years later he meets up with her again, and does the deed again. As I read this I was pleading "No Cas! Stop! Please!". And this event has, alas, slightly changed my views on him.

[Ickabod]

Not good Monty....the 1st time was a mistake but the 2nd time....not on

[Greg]

Look into history of anyone, and you may well find something you don't like or which you disagree with.

Casanova was born into a family of actors, and didn't have a lot to do with his parents (who were often travelling with work). His life experiences would have shown him that the rules of society and what actually happens are completely different, particularly around sex. After all, the church frowned on sex outside of marriage, and Casanova studied and took up a variety of religious roles and positions early in his life, and yet saw how easily and how willingly people would disobey the religious view away from too much scrutiny.

You also need to recall Casanova's own parentage - who was his father? An actor or a nobleman? Did his belief that his actual father wasn't the man who was said to be his father lead him to doubt claims as to Leonilda's paternity?

Perhaps he was simply breaking another of his society's rules. Perhaps he convinced himself that he wasn't Leonilda's actual father. Perhaps both, perhaps neither.

And, in fact, perhaps the details of his life aren't fully known and rely on his own autobiographical writing, which may blend fact and fiction.

In the end, though, it is unsurprising that the life of a man who scandalised the people of his own time should not entirely meet with modern approval. While it may be that some people live their lives doing only good deeds and others only evil, either sort will be rare and everyone else will have some of each.

For my own interest, the best known part of Casanova's life (his sexual conquests and their repercussions) is probably the least interesting. As such, I haven't really spent much time thinking of his relations with Leonilda before today. It comes across to me as more of an unpleasant detail than something I'm actually concerned about.

[Ickabod]

I think and wholly agree with your wisdom Greg.....Look at the roman empire.....it was a real hotch potch of society but they did do good things.....we are more educated in the ways of incest, Domestic violence, etc., but we still have a long way to go.....I still admire Casanova and all the things he did.....he had quite a few children and they may never have known of each other.....sighhhhhh.....it's another can of worms to open and disect I guess

[montypython]