Casanova, if any reliance is to be set on his writings, was a sexual athlete—a member of that rare and remarkable class of men who are capable of amazing feats in the lists of love. Frequent reference is made to his prowess and observations by the great sexual psychologists, Havelock Ellis in particular. Bloch, (The Sexual Life of Our Time), quoting from a work by Oscar A. H. Schmitz, has some interesting remarks to make on the character of Casanova.
“Casanova,” he says, “is pre-eminently the erotic, also crafty and deceitful (seducer), not, however, for the gratification of his need of power, but rather for the agreeable satisfaction of his need for sensual love; ... for Casanova each one is ‘the woman’ ... Casanova is human, cares always for the happiness of the woman he loves, and devotes to them a tender reflection; ... Casanova is the typical feminist, he possesses a profound understanding of woman’s soul, is not disappointed by love, and needs for his life’s happiness continuous contact with feminine natures....”
“Whatever I have done in the course of my life,” says Casanova,[36] “whether it be good or evil, has been done freely; I am a free agent.... Man is free, but his freedom ceases when he has no faith in it.... Man is free; yet we must not suppose he is at liberty to do everything he pleases, for he becomes a slave the moment he allows his actions to be ruled by his passions. The man who has sufficient power over himself to wait until his nature has recovered its even balance is the truly wise man, but such beings are seldom met with....
“The sanguine temperament rendered me very sensible to the attractions of voluptuousness.... The chief business of my life has always been to indulge my senses; I never knew anything of greater importance. I felt myself born for the fair sex, I have ever loved it dearly, and I have been loved by it as often and as much as I could....
“ ... Should anyone bring against me an accusation of sensuality he would be wrong, for all the fierceness of my senses never caused me to neglect any of my duties.... I have always been fond of highly-seasoned, rich dishes.... As for women, I have always found the odour of my beloved ones exceeding pleasant....
“ ... It may be that certain love scenes will be considered too explicit, but let no one blame me, unless it be for lack of skill, for I ought not to be scolded because, in my old age, I can find no other enjoyment but that which recollections of the past afford to me. After all, virtuous and prudish readers are at liberty to skip over any offensive pictures, and I think it my duty to give them this piece of advice....
“ ... My Memoirs are not written for young persons who, in order to avoid false steps and slippery roads, ought to spend their youth in blissful ignorance, but for those who, having thorough experience of life, are no longer exposed to temptation, and who, having but too often gone through the fire, are like salamanders, and can be scorched by it no more.... I have no hesitation in saying that the really virtuous are those persons who can practise virtue without the slightest trouble; such persons are always full of toleration, and it is to them that my Memoirs are addressed....”
Casanova, as he himself tells us, was three score and twelve years when he wrote his Memoirs. The writing, he adds, was both a solace and a pleasure. Nevertheless, as the English translator says in his appendix, “the last five years of his life were passed in petty mortifications.... Death came to him somewhat as a release. He received the sacraments with devotion, exclaimed: ‘Great God, and all ye who witness my death, I have lived a philosopher and I die a Christian,’ and so died—a quiet ending to a wonderfully brilliant and entirely useless career.”