Venice and the Desire for an Escape

Venice exists in the modern world as a sort of fantastical utopia, a place of decaying beauty and elegant tradition. Throughout history, Venice has always been a bit of an enigma, and because of her mystery and intrigue she has seduced many to explore her twisting calles and sparkling canals. Venice is directly related to a desire to escape, in one way or another, from one’s normal existence.

Through the centuries Venice has been represented in many different ways, from serene and pure to erotic and overly sexualized, the image of the city has morphed throughout history. In the 1700’s, Casanova perpetuated the myth of the sexual, erotic Venice as a playground for sexual escapades and an escape from the confines of societal expectations. The Carnevale and the corresponding Carnevale masks helped to satisfy this longing for an erotic escape through disguising one’s true identity and serving as a tangible representation of mischief and desire. Venice becomes a symbol for the erotic and secular, steering away from the purity it represented in earlier times. Various artworks hype up this idea of the Carneval-esque Venice, including Pietro Falca’s piece “The Ridotto in Venice.” The aristocracy, encumbered by manners and societal rules, were particular fond of these masks as a means of escape. In his memoirs “History of My Life”, Casanova describes an experience at the Carnevale where he and his comrades were “rambling about together with our masks on, in quest of some new sort of mischief to amuse us.” Casanova’s experience excellently displays the reason why the Carnevale masks were so appealing and the sort of behavior that resulted from wearing the mask. The masks allowed one to be playful, ill-behaved and vulgar and promoted activities of mischief and scandal. The Carnevale served as a breeding ground for the mischief of the aristocracy. With their identity concealed, these normally well-mannered individuals could let loose and act inappropriately. I myself have experienced the enchanting spell of the mask, wearing a Venetian Carnevale for Halloween earlier this year. Throughout the evening I met numerous persons who kept exclaiming “I’ll never be able to recognize you after tonight without your mask!” I had never thought my disguise shrouded my appearance so well, but after hearing this I was overcome with a sort of power that I could be anyone and do anything because of my mask. While I in no way played up this luxury as the Venetian aristocrats and Casanova once did, I did better understand the captivating power of the mask and the fresh identity it bestows upon the wearer.

The courtesans of Veronica Franco’s time were also influential in promoting this idea of Venice as a highly sexualized and erotic escape. The courtesans became a symbol for the erotic Venice, seducing and allowing men to carry out their wildest fantasies. They represented men’s desire and longing for sexual freedom and erotic play. Venice, along with her courtesans, served as an escape from the mundane and normal. In Margaret Rosenthal’s piece “The Honest Courtesan,” she discusses Fynes Moryson’s, an author and sociologist of the 16th century, belief that the demand for Venetian courtesans was “not merely a product of the republic’s sexual license but rather was tied to the repressed physical desires or young or married men” (pg.21). This further supports the idea that the courtesans acted as a tool for men to satisfy their sexual desire. In his piece “Itinerary Containing his Ten Yeeres of Travel” Moryson wrote that all types of men are fueled “with fierce affections to forbidden lusts” (Rosenthal, pg. 21), describing men’s longing for an erotic escape. Because of these two entities, the Carnevale and the Venetian courtesans, Venice became a place to escape into a world of sexual debauchery and fanaticism.

Tourists often come to Venice with a different desire, a longing to escape into a piece of the past and a fantasy world. Many come to Venice longing for an escape from the modern world, hoping to lose themselves in the charming calles and enchanting nature of the city. Venice supports this type of longing for the glory of the past that exists so frequently in our modern world. Much like the Venetians longed for the glory of ancient Rome, tourists come to Venice longing to return to the glorious past in this ancient city. Venice is truly a slice of the past, a Disneyland-esqe landscape that plays on the fancies of the traveler- the gondola, Carnevale masks, and meandering canals all lure travelers into the magical world of Venice. This image of Venice as a glorious piece of the past coincides with the Venice often displayed on postcards and in the modern media. However, this image displays a city that is in essence no longer real, but rather a fantasy land satisfying the desires of tourists. According to ABC News, there are less than 60,000 Venetians living in the city and an average of 150,000 visiting tourists a day. These statistics demonstrate the shift of Venice from a real to imagined community. Venice now simply exists for the tourists, and because of these rampant creatures the business focus in the city is predominately on tourism. The city has ultimately transformed itself into the type of city tourists dream of and cater to the desires of these visitors. However, although visitors long to escape to a piece of the past and fantasy world when traveling to Venice, like E.H. Gombrich, they still “want the frame to be there” (Art and Illusion, pg.279), reminding them of the illusion before them. Tourists understand that Venice is not real and is not an example of the modern world; if it was considered the modern world they would not come for such an escape. Venice is not, and cannot be because of the rampant tourists, a real place. It is imagined, it simply exists to carry out tourist fantasies of longing and escape.

Venice supports a longing and desire to escape in multiple ways. From an escape into a fantasy world, a piece of the past or into sexual liberation, Venice serves as a canvas for these fantasies and quells this longing