A lady's man : the cicisbei, private morals and national identity in Italy /
Three people in a marriage: a woman and two men. This was the eighteenth-century Italian aristocratic model of marriage, characterized by the presence of the cicisbeo, the official escort of another man's wife. Did this delineate a clear and brazen sexual depravity or rather a complex and refin...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Language Notes: | Translated from the Italian. |
| Published: |
New York :
Palgrave Macmillan,
2014.
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| Series: | Genders and sexualities in history.
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| Subjects: |
| Summary: | Three people in a marriage: a woman and two men. This was the eighteenth-century Italian aristocratic model of marriage, characterized by the presence of the cicisbeo, the official escort of another man's wife. Did this delineate a clear and brazen sexual depravity or rather a complex and refined social institution, revealing many aspects of Italian civilization in the Age of the Enlightenment? Not only was the presence of a cicisbeo part of a matrimonial, family model. It was also an important factor socially and politically. In a period in which the presence of women at parties was sought, at the theatre and in salons, the lady's escort played an essential part in promoting a couple's social life. Indeed, the company and friendship (and perhaps love) which bound a lady and her escort occurred with the knowledge and under the control of the families of the interested parties. Of course, this 'triangular' arrangement was not unproblematic. The existence of a third party posed a threat to conjugal fidelity and the legitimacy of offspring and, towards the early nineteenth century, when the ideals of Romanticism and the French Revolution were popular there was a rapid decline in the practice. For as Italy reconstructed its national identity alongside other modern European countries the image of private immorality associated with cicisbeism constituted an intolerable blemish. |
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| Physical Description: | vii, 294 pages, 10 pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781137450920 (hardback) 1137450924 (hardback) |