The Art of Seduction (67 page)

their usual caution and do things they never would otherwise. They expe
midnight, saying that after
rience a kind of delirium. There is something immensely seductive about
Prove Yourself • 329

danger, about heading into the unknown. Show that you have a reckless
having so fully tested the
streak and a daring nature, that you lack the usual fear of death, and you are
love and obedience he had
shown towards her, it was

instantly fascinating to the bulk of humanity.

but just that he should be

What you are proving in this instance is not how you feel toward an-
rewarded for his long
other person but something about yourself: you are willing to go out on a
patience. Of the lover's joy
limb. You are not just another talker and braggart. It is a recipe for instant
on hearing this you need
have no doubt, and he

charisma. Any political figure—Churchill, de Gaulle, Kennedy—who has
failed not to arrive at the
proven himself on the battlefield has an unmatchable appeal. Many had
appointed time. • But the
thought of D'Annunzio as a foppish womanizer; his experience in the war
lady, still wishing to try the
strength of his love, had

gave him a heroic sheen, a Napoleonic aura. In fact he had always been an
said to her beautiful
effective seducer, but now he was even more devilishly appealing. You do
damsel
—
"I am well aware
not necessarily have to risk death, but putting yourself in its vicinity will
of the love a certain
nobleman bears to you,

give you a seductive charge. (It is often best to do this some way into the
and I think you are no less
seduction, making it come as a pleasant surprise.) You are willing to enter
in love with him; and I feel
the unknown. No one is more seductive than the person who has had a
so much pity for you both,
brush with death. People will be drawn to you; perhaps they are hoping
that I have resolved to
afford you time and place

that some of your adventurous spirit will rub off on them.

that you may converse

together at your ease."
•

The damsel was so

enchanted that she could

4.
According to one version of the Arthurian legend, the great knight Sir
not conceal her longings,
Lancelot once caught a glimpse of Queen Guinevere, King Arthur's wife,
but answered that she
and that glimpse was enough—he fell madly in love. And so when word
would not fail to be
present. • In obedience,

reached him that Queen Guinevere had been kidnapped by an evil knight,
therefore, to her mistress's
Lancelot did not hesitate—he forgot his other chivalrous tasks and hurried
counsel and command, she
in pursuit. His horse collapsed from the chase, so he continued on foot. Fi-
undressed herself and lay
down on a handsome bed,

nally it seemed that he was close, but he was exhausted and could go no
in a room the door of
farther. A horse-driven cart passed by; the cart was filled with loathsome-
which the lady left half
looking men shackled together. In those days it was the tradition to place
open, whilst within she set
criminals—murderers, traitors, cowards, thieves—in such a cart, which
a light so that the maiden's
beauty might be clearly

then passed through every street in town so that people could see it. Once
seen. Then she herself
you had ridden in the cart, you lost all feudal rights for the rest of your life.
pretended to go away, but
The cart was such a dreadful symbol that seeing an empty one made you
hid herself near to the bed
so carefully that she could

shiver and give the sign of the cross. Even so, Sir Lancelot accosted the
not be seen.
•
Her poor
cart's driver, a dwarf: "In the name of God, tell me if you've seen my lady
lover, thinking to find her
the queen pass by this way?" "If you want to get into this cart I'm driving,"
according to her promise,
failed not to enter the room

said the dwarf, "by tomorrow you'll know what has become of the queen."
as softly as he could, at the
Then he drove the cart onward. Lancelot hesitated for but two of the
appointed hour; and after
horse's steps, then ran after it and climbed in.

he had shut the door and

put off his garments and

Wherever the cart went, townspeople heckled it. They were most curi-
fur shoes, he got into the
ous about the knight among the passengers. What was his crime? How will
bed, where he looked to
he be put to death—flayed? Drowned? Burned upon a fire of thorns? Fi-
find what he desired. But
nally the dwarf let him get out, without a word as to the whereabouts of
no sooner did he put out
his arms to embrace her

the queen. To make matters worse, no one now would go near or talk to
whom he believed to be his
Lancelot, for he had been in the cart. He kept on chasing the queen, and all
mistress, than the poor girl,
along the way he was cursed at, spat upon, challenged by other knights. He
believing him entirely her
330
•
The Art of Seduction

own, had her arms round

had disgraced knighthood by riding in the cart. But no one could stop him
his neck, speaking to him

or slow him down, and finally he discovered that the queen's kidnapper was
the while in such loving

the wicked Meleagant. He caught up with Meleagant and the two fought a
words and with so

beautiful a countenance,

duel. Still weak from the chase, Lancelot seemed to be near defeat, but
that there is not a hermit
when word reached him that the queen was watching the battle, he recov
so holy but he would have
ered his strength and was on the verge of killing Meleagant when a truce
forgotten his beads for love

of her.
•
But when the
was called. Guinevere was handed over to him.
gentleman recognized her

Lancelot could hardly contain his joy at the thought of finally being in
with both eye and ear, and

his lady's presence. But to his shock, she seemed angry, and would not look
found he was not with her
at her rescuer. She told Meleagant's father, "Sire, in truth he has wasted his
for whose sake he had so

greatly suffered, the love
efforts. I shall always deny that I feel any gratitude toward him." Lancelot
that had made him get so
was mortified but he did not complain. Much later, after undergoing innu
quickly into the bed, made
merable further trials, she finally relented and they became lovers. One day
him rise from it still more

quickly. And in anger
he asked her: when she had been abducted by Meleagant, had she heard the
equally with mistress and

story of the cart, and how he had disgraced knighthood? Was that why she
damsel, he said
—
"Neither
had treated him so coldly that day? The queen replied, "By delaying for
your folly nor the malice of

her who put you there can

two steps you showed your unwillingness to climb into it. That, to tell the
make me other than I am.

truth, is why I didn't wish to see you or speak with you."

But do you try to be an

honest woman, for you

shall never lose that good

name through me. "
•
So

Interpretation.
The opportunity to do your selfless deed often comes upon
saying he rushed out of the
you suddenly. You have to show your worth in an instant, right there on
room in the greatest wrath

the spot. It could be a rescue situation, a gift you could make or a favor you
imaginable, and it was long

before he returned to see his

could do, a sudden request to drop everything and come to their aid. What
mistress. However love,

matters most is not whether you act rashly, make a mistake, and do some
which is never without
thing foolish, but that you seem to act on their behalf without thought for
hope, assured him that the

greater and more manifest
yourself or the consequences.

his constancy was proved to

At moments like these, hesitation, even for a few seconds, can ruin all
be by all these trials, the
the hard work of your seduction, revealing you as self-absorbed, unchival
longer and more delightful
would be his bliss.
•
The
rous, and cowardly. This, at any rate, is the moral of Chrétien de Troyes's
lady, who had seen and

twelfth-century version of the story of Lancelot. Remember: not only
heard all that passed, was
what you do matters, but how you do it. If you are naturally self-absorbed,
so delighted and amazed at
learn to disguise it. React as spontaneously as possible, exaggerating the ef
beholding the depth and
constancy of his love, that
fect by seeming flustered, overexcited, even foolish—love has driven you to
she was impatient to sec
that point. If you have to jump into the cart for Guinevere's sake, make sure
him again in order to ask

she sees that you do it without the slightest hesitation.

h is fo rgiven ess for the

sorrow that she had caused

him to endure. And as

soon as she could meet

5.
In Rome sometime around 1531, word spread of a sensational young
with him, she failed not to

address him in such
woman named Tullia d'Aragona. By the standards of the period, Tullia was
excellent and pleasant
not a classic beauty; she was tall and thin, at a time when the plump and
words, that he not only
voluptuous woman was considered the ideal. And she lacked the cloying,
forgot all his troubles but
giggling manner of most young girls who wanted masculine attention. No,
even deemed them very

fortunate, seeing that their
her quality was nobler. Her Latin was perfect, she could discuss the latest
issue was to the glory of his
literature, she played the lute and sang. In other words, she was a novelty,
constancy and the perfect

and since that was all most men were looking for, they began to visit her in
Prove Yourself • 331

great numbers. She had a lover, a diplomat, and the thought that one man
assurance of his love, the
had won her physical favors drove them all mad. Her male visitors began to
fruit of which he enjoyed
from that time as fully as

compete for her attention, writing poems in her honor, vying to become
he could desire.
her favorite. None of them succeeded, but they kept on trying.

— Q U E E N MARGARET OF

Of course there were some who were offended by her, stating publicly NAVARRE,
THE HEPTAMERON,
that she was no more than a high-class whore. They repeated the rumor QUOTED IN
THE VICE

(perhaps true) that she had made older men dance while she played the
ANTHOLOGY,
EDITED BY

R I C H A R D DAVENPORT-HINES

lute, and if their dancing pleased her, they could hold her in their arms. To Tullia's faithful followers, all of noble birth, this was slander. They wrote a document that was distributed far and wide: "Our honored mistress, the
A soldier lays siege to
well-born and honorable lady Tullia d'Aragona, doth surpass all ladies of
cities, a lover to girls'

the past, present, or future by her dazzling qualities. . . . Anyone who re-
houses, \ The one assaults
fuses to conform to this statement is hereby charged to enter the lists with
city gates, the other front
doors. \ Love, like war, is a

one of the undersigned knights, who will convince him in the customary
toss-up. The defeated can
manner."

recover, \ While some you

Tullia left Rome in 1535, going first to Venice, where the poet Tasso
might think invincible
collapse; \ So if you've got

became her lover, and eventually to Ferrara, which was then perhaps the
love written off as an easy
most civilized court in Italy. And what a sensation she caused there. Her
option \ You'd better think
voice, her singing, even her poems were praised far and wide. She opened a
twice. Love calls \ For guts

and initiative. Great

literary academy devoted to ideas of freethinking. She called herself a muse
Achilles sulks for Briseis
—

and, as in Rome, a group of young men collected around her. They would \
Quick, Trojans, smash
follow her around the city, carving her name in trees, writing sonnets in her
through the Argive wall! \

Hector went into battle

honor, and singing them to anyone who would listen.

from Andromache's

One young nobleman was driven to distraction by this cult of adora-
embraces \ Helmeted by his
tion: it seemed that everyone loved Tullia but no one received her love in
wife. \ Agamemnon

return. Determined to steal her away and marry her, this young man
himself, the Supremo, was
struck into raptures \ At

tricked her into allowing him to visit her at night. He proclaimed his undy-
the sight of Cassandra's
ing devotion, showered her with jewels and presents, and asked for her
tumbled hair; \ Even Mars

hand. She refused. He pulled out a knife, she still refused, and so he stabbed
was caught on the job, felt