Title: A lady's man : the cicisbei, private morals and national identity in Italy /
Authors: Bizzocchi, Roberto, 1953-; Mazhar, Noor Giovanni,
Year: 2014
Subjects: Man-woman relationships Italy History; Marriage Italy History; Aristocracy (Social class) Italy History; Political culture Italy History; National characteristics, Italian History; Nationalism Italy History; HISTORY General.; HISTORY Europe General.; HISTORY Europe Italy.; HISTORY Modern 18th Century.; SOCIAL SCIENCE Gender Studies.; LITERARY CRITICISM European Italian.; Italy Social life and customs; Italy Social conditions; Italy Moral conditions History; Italy Politics and government
Abstract: "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"--Provided by publisher.
Contents: 1. Introduction: Who were the Cicisbei? -- 2. In the World of Enlightenment -- 3. In the Eighteenth-Century Society -- 4. The Geopolitics of Cicisbeism -- 5. The Erotic Implications of Cicisbeism -- 6. The Cicisbei Banned.