Unable or Unwilling to Love: Chastity and (Non-)Desire in Seventeenth-Century Venetian Opera Cathal Twomey Maynooth University Ireland In this melted ice In this melted ice face washed, In this melted ice face washed, and in it arms immersed, In this melted ice face washed, and in it arms immersed, the ardours of the blood are cooled. In this melted ice face washed, and in it arms immersed, the ardours of the blood are cooled. Thanks, thanks to the fountain, In this melted ice face washed, and in it arms immersed, the ardours of the blood are cooled. Thanks, thanks to the fountain, all my languor I have cured. Symphony There is no greater pleasure than to follow the wild beasts, to flee, to flee, to flee men’s flattering invitations. The tyrannies, the tyrannies of husbands are too grave, are too grave, and the yoke too bitter. To live in liberty, to live in liberty is sweet, is sweet, is beloved, is beloved. There is no greater pleasure than to follow the wild beasts, to flee, to flee, to flee men’s flattering invitations. The tyrannies, the tyrannies of husbands are too grave, are too grave, and the yoke too bitter. To live in liberty, to live in liberty is sweet, is sweet, is beloved, is beloved. There is no greater pleasure than to follow the wild beasts, to flee, to flee, to flee men’s flattering invitations. The tyrannies, the tyrannies of husbands are too grave, are too grave, and the yoke too bitter. To live in liberty, to live in liberty is sweet, is sweet, is beloved, is beloved. There is no greater pleasure than to follow the wild beasts, to flee, to flee, to flee men’s flattering invitations. The tyrannies, the tyrannies of husbands are too grave, are too grave, and the yoke too bitter. To live in liberty, to live in liberty is sweet, is sweet, is beloved, is beloved. There is no greater pleasure than to follow the wild beasts, to flee, to flee, to flee men’s flattering invitations. The tyrannies, the tyrannies of husbands are too grave, are too grave, and the yoke too bitter. To live in liberty, to live in liberty is sweet, is sweet, is beloved, is beloved. There is no greater pleasure than to follow the wild beasts, to flee, to flee, to flee men’s flattering invitations. The tyrannies, the tyrannies of husbands are too grave, are too grave, and the yoke too bitter. To live in liberty, to live in liberty is sweet, is sweet, is beloved, is beloved. There is no greater pleasure than to follow the wild beasts, to flee, to flee, to flee men’s flattering invitations. The tyrannies, the tyrannies of husbands are too grave, are too grave, and the yoke too bitter. To live in liberty, to live in liberty is sweet, is sweet, is beloved, is beloved. There is no greater pleasure than to follow the wild beasts, to flee, to flee, to flee men’s flattering invitations. The tyrannies, the tyrannies of husbands are too grave, are too grave, and the yoke too bitter. To live in liberty, to live in liberty is sweet, is sweet, is beloved, is beloved. There is no greater pleasure than to follow the wild beasts, to flee, to flee, to flee men’s flattering invitations. The tyrannies, the tyrannies of husbands are too grave, are too grave, and the yoke too bitter. To live in liberty, to live in liberty is sweet, is sweet, is beloved, is beloved. There is no greater pleasure than to follow the wild beasts, to flee, to flee, to flee men’s flattering invitations. The tyrannies, the tyrannies of husbands are too grave, are too grave, and the yoke too bitter. To live in liberty, to live in liberty is sweet, is sweet, is beloved, is beloved. There is no greater pleasure than to follow the wild beasts, to flee, to flee, to flee men’s flattering invitations. The tyrannies, the tyrannies of husbands are too grave, are too grave, and the yoke too bitter. To live in liberty, to live in liberty is sweet, is sweet, is beloved, is beloved. There is no greater pleasure than to follow the wild beasts, to flee, to flee, to flee men’s flattering invitations. The tyrannies, the tyrannies of husbands are too grave, are too grave, and the yoke too bitter. To live in liberty, to live in liberty is sweet, is sweet, is beloved, is beloved. There is no greater pleasure than to follow the wild beasts, to flee, to flee, to flee men’s flattering invitations. The tyrannies, the tyrannies of husbands are too grave, are too grave, and the yoke too bitter. To live in liberty, to live in liberty is sweet, is sweet, is beloved, is beloved. There is no greater pleasure than to follow the wild beasts, to flee, to flee, to flee men’s flattering invitations. The tyrannies, the tyrannies of husbands are too grave, are too grave, and the yoke too bitter. To live in liberty, to live in liberty is sweet, is sweet, is beloved, is beloved. There is no greater pleasure than to follow the wild beasts, to flee, to flee, to flee men’s flattering invitations. The tyrannies, the tyrannies of husbands are too grave, are too grave, and the yoke too bitter. To live in liberty, to live in liberty is sweet, is sweet, is beloved, is beloved. There is no greater pleasure than to follow the wild beasts, to flee, to flee, to flee men’s flattering invitations. The tyrannies, the tyrannies of husbands are too grave, are too grave, and the yoke too bitter. To live in liberty, to live in liberty is sweet, is sweet, is beloved, is beloved. Ellen Rosand, Opera in SeventeenthCentury Venice: The Creation of a Genre (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991), front cover. • ‘Dafne did not understand, or did not wish to understand, what Love was. Apollo was smitten by her, and attempted by flatteries and entreaties to make Dafne yield to his desires; but since all his efforts proved vain, he set out in pursuit of her, and, on reaching the banks of the river Peneus, she was transformed into a laurel tree.’ Giovanni Francesco Busenello, Gli amori d’Apollo e di Dafne, preface (Venice: Appresso Andrea Giulian, 1640), translation by Charles Jonston after JeanFrançois Lattarico. Exposition • ‘Dafne did not understand, or did not wish to understand, what Love was.’ Giovanni Francesco Busenello, Gli amori d’Apollo e di Dafne, preface (Venice: Appresso Andrea Giulian, 1640), translation by Charles Jonston after JeanFrançois Lattarico. O treasure more precious than all wealth: A heart free from cravings of love. O treasure more precious than all wealth: A heart free from cravings of love. O treasure more precious than all wealth: A heart free from cravings of love. O treasure more precious than all wealth: A heart free from cravings of love. O treasure more precious than all wealth: A heart free from cravings of love. O treasure more precious than all wealth: A heart free from cravings of love. O treasure more precious than all wealth: A heart free from cravings of love. O treasure more precious than all wealth: A heart free from cravings of love. O treasure more precious than all wealth: A heart free from cravings of love. O treasure more precious than all wealth: A heart free from cravings of love. Character Style Content Dafne Aria ‘a life free of amorous attachments’ Character Style Content Dafne Aria ‘a life free of amorous attachments’ Dafne Recitative (with ariosi) ‘vows never to succumb to love’, ‘invokes the delights of nature’, ‘liberty’, and music Character Style Content Dafne Aria ‘a life free of amorous attachments’ Dafne Recitative (with ariosi) ‘vows never to succumb to love’, ‘invokes the delights of nature’, ‘liberty’, and music Dafne Symphony and aria liberty Character Style Content Dafne Aria ‘a life free of amorous attachments’ Dafne Recitative (with ariosi) ‘vows never to succumb to love’, ‘invokes the delights of nature’, ‘liberty’, and music Dafne Symphony and aria liberty Dafne Recitative ‘prompting the nymphs and shepherds to sing and dance’ Character Style Content Dafne Aria ‘a life free of amorous attachments’ Dafne Recitative (with ariosi) ‘vows never to succumb to love’, ‘invokes the delights of nature’, ‘liberty’, and music Dafne Symphony and aria liberty Dafne Recitative ‘prompting the nymphs and shepherds to sing and dance’ Chorus of nymphs and shepherds Danced chorus ‘being free from love’, communal celebration Character Style Content Dafne Aria ‘a life free of amorous attachments’ Dafne Recitative (with ariosi) ‘vows never to succumb to love’, ‘invokes the delights of nature’, ‘liberty’, and music Dafne Symphony and aria liberty Dafne Recitative ‘prompting the nymphs and shepherds to sing and dance’ Chorus of nymphs and shepherds Danced chorus ‘being free from love’, communal celebration Dafne Recitative ‘lauding music’ Character Style Content Dafne Aria ‘a life free of amorous attachments’ Dafne Recitative (with ariosi) ‘vows never to succumb to love’, ‘invokes the delights of nature’, ‘liberty’, and music Dafne Symphony and aria liberty Dafne Recitative ‘prompting the nymphs and shepherds to sing and dance’ Chorus of nymphs and shepherds Danced chorus ‘being free from love’, communal celebration Dafne Recitative ‘lauding music’ Chorus of nymphs and shepherds Danced chorus ‘being free from love’, communal celebration Empowered virgins and guarded widows A woman should not again love who has miserably suffered. A foolish woman returns to suffering, a foolish woman returns to suffering, to suffering, to suffering, to suffering who has once erred. A woman should not again love who has miserably suffered. A foolish woman returns to suffering, a foolish woman returns to suffering, to suffering, to suffering, to suffering who has once erred. A woman should not again love who has miserably suffered. A foolish woman returns to suffering, a foolish woman returns to suffering, to suffering, to suffering, to suffering who has once erred. A woman should not again love who has miserably suffered. A foolish woman returns to suffering, a foolish woman returns to suffering, to suffering, to suffering, to suffering who has once erred. A woman should not again love who has miserably suffered. A foolish woman returns to suffering, a foolish woman returns to suffering, to suffering, to suffering, to suffering who has once erred. A woman should not again love who has miserably suffered. A foolish woman returns to suffering, a foolish woman returns to suffering, to suffering, to suffering, to suffering who has once erred. A woman should not again love who has miserably suffered. A foolish woman returns to suffering, a foolish woman returns to suffering, to suffering, to suffering, to suffering who has once erred. A woman should not again love who has miserably suffered. A foolish woman returns to suffering, a foolish woman returns to suffering, to suffering, to suffering, to suffering who has once erred. Conflict • ‘Dafne did not understand, or did not wish to understand, what Love was. Apollo was smitten by her, and attempted by flatteries and entreaties to make Dafne yield to his desires;’ Giovanni Francesco Busenello, Gli amori d’Apollo e di Dafne, preface (Venice: Appresso Andrea Giuliani, 1640), translation by Charles Jonston after JeanFrançois Lattarico. I’d sooner my heart fall out of my chest than be persuaded by words of love. I’d sooner my heart fall out of my chest than be persuaded by words of love. I’d sooner my heart fall out of my chest than be persuaded by words of love. I’d sooner my heart fall out of my chest than be persuaded by words of love. I’d sooner my heart fall out of my chest than be persuaded by words of love. I’d sooner my heart fall out of my chest than be persuaded by words of love. I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to love, no, no, I don’t want to love, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to, I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer. I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to love, no, no, I don’t want to love, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to, I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer. I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to love, no, no, I don’t want to love, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to, I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer. I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to love, no, no, I don’t want to love, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to, I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer. I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to love, no, no, I don’t want to love, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to, I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer. I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to love, no, no, I don’t want to love, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to, I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer. I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to love, no, no, I don’t want to love, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to, I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer. I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to love, no, no, I don’t want to love, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to, I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer. I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to love, no, no, I don’t want to love, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to, I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer. I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to love, no, no, I don’t want to love, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to, I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer. I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to love, no, no, I don’t want to love, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to, I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer. I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to love, no, no, I don’t want to love, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to, I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer. I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to love, no, no, I don’t want to love, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, For in loving I would suffer, I don’t want to, I don’t want to love, no, no, For in loving I would suffer. Resolution • ‘Dafne did not understand, or did not wish to understand, what Love was. Apollo was smitten by her, and attempted by flatteries and entreaties to make Dafne yield to his desires; but since all his efforts proved vain, he set out in pursuit of her, and, on reaching the banks of the river Peneus, she was transformed into a laurel tree.’ Giovanni Francesco Busenello, Gli amori d’Apollo e di Dafne, preface (Venice: Appresso Andrea Giuliani, 1640), translation by Charles Jonston after JeanFrançois Lattarico. Friend Apollo, goodbye; This tree can no longer Organize words. Let the Sun not forget his Dafne, his Dafne. Friend Apollo, goodbye; This tree can no longer Organize words. Let the Sun not forget his Dafne, his Dafne. Friend Apollo, goodbye; This tree can no longer Organize words. Let the Sun not forget his Dafne, his Dafne. Friend Apollo, goodbye; This tree can no longer Organize words. Let the Sun not forget his Dafne, his Dafne. Friend Apollo, goodbye; This tree can no longer Organize words. Let the Sun not forget, not forget his Dafne, his Dafne. Friend Apollo, goodbye; This tree can no longer Organize words. Let the Sun not forget, not forget his Dafne, his Dafne. Friend Apollo, goodbye; This tree can no longer Organize words. Let the Sun not forget, not forget his Dafne, his Dafne. Friend Apollo, goodbye; This tree can no longer Organize words. Let the Sun not forget, not forget his Dafne, his Dafne. Friend Apollo, goodbye; This tree can no longer Organize words. Let the Sun not forget, not forget his Dafne, his Dafne. • ‘Happy’ endings – Penelope Shine forth, oh heavens, Bloom again, oh meadows! Breezes, rejoice, rejoice, breezes, rejoice! Shine forth, oh heavens, Bloom again, oh meadows! Breezes, rejoice, rejoice, breezes, rejoice! Shine forth, oh heavens, Bloom again, oh meadows! Breezes, rejoice, rejoice, breezes, rejoice! Shine forth, oh heavens, Bloom again, oh meadows! Breezes, rejoice, rejoice, breezes, rejoice! Shine forth, oh heavens, Bloom again, oh meadows! Breezes, rejoice, rejoice, breezes, rejoice! • ‘Happy’ endings – Didone • ‘Corrective’ endings – Calisto • ‘Corrective’ endings – Apollo • Linfea – Upholds celibacy by force of circumstance • Diana & Endimione – Consolidation of celibacy and pleasure Asexuality Asexuality • Orientation (asexuality/aromanticism) vs. behaviour (celibacy/singlehood) Asexuality • Orientation (asexuality/aromanticism) vs. behaviour (celibacy/singlehood) • Unable or unwilling to love? Asexuality • Orientation (asexuality/aromanticism) vs. behaviour (celibacy/singlehood) • Unable or unwilling to love? • Dafne – ‘Do not tempt’ Asexuality • Orientation (asexuality/aromanticism) vs. behaviour (celibacy/singlehood) • Unable or unwilling to love? • Dafne – ‘Do not tempt’ • Endimione – ‘Kissing only I desire’ Asexuality • Orientation (asexuality/aromanticism) vs. behaviour (celibacy/singlehood) • Unable or unwilling to love? • Dafne – ‘Do not tempt’ • Endimione – ‘Kissing only I desire’ • Penelope – ‘I don’t want to / can’t love’ Asexuality • ‘Making sense of the social marginalization and pathologization of bodies based on the preference to not have sex, along with exploring new possibilities in intimacy, desire, and kinship structures’ – Karin June Ceranowski and Megan Milks, Asexualities: Feminist And Queer Perspectives (New York: Routledge, 2014). Directions for further research Directions for further research • Other genres – madrigals, songs, non-musical poetry Directions for further research • Other genres – madrigals, songs, non-musical poetry • Other traditions – misogyny, drinking, vanitas Directions for further research • Other genres – madrigals, songs, non-musical poetry • Other traditions – misogyny, drinking, vanitas • Other locations – France, England 

1 Cathal Twomey completed their Bachelor of Music degree at Maynooth University, Ireland, in 2015, with a dissertation on female protagonists in English Baroque opera, earning a prize for first place in BMUS degree examinations. Their MA dissertation on the lateBaroque composer William Boyce was completed in 2016, and received the Alison Dunlop Prize in 2018. An active singer, conductor, teacher, and editor, Cathal recently completed their PhD dissertation on Handel’s English works, funded Hume Doctoral Fellow and supervised by Dr Estelle Murphy. 2 Content warning for mentions of rape, suicide, and an image with blood. PLAY SLIDE Like many popular art forms, opera in seventeenthcentury Venice relied heavily on formulae. From the clever servant to the battle sequence, creative teams had a vast array of stock characters, plots, and scenes to recombine and vary almost endlessly. But their daring treatment of sexual subject matter has often overshadowed an important stock figure: the celibate, a character who rejects all sexual advances, citing a vow of chastity. This character trait, and its operatic representation, is neatly distilled in Busenello’s preface to ‘The Loves of Apollo and Daphne’ (1640): SLIDE 3 ‘Daphne did not understand, or did not wish to understand, what Love was. Apollo was smitten by her, and attempted by flatteries and entreaties to make Daphne yield to his desires; but since all his efforts proved vain, he set out in pursuit of her, and, on reaching the banks of the river Peneus, she was transformed into a laurel tree.’ Most characters of this type follow such a pattern throughout their opera. They express their celibate stance in a private context, experience pressure (usually from a suitor) to abandon that stance, and finally resolve the tension between the vow and pressure. Of course, the exposition – conflict – resolution structure is older than steam, print, and possibly even the written word. But when used for sworn celibates, the scheme takes on specific formal and dramatic attributes, supporting the idea that librettists and composers saw these characters as belonging to a distinct type, with a distinct kind of arc. Or perhaps two distinct types. As we will see, Venetian operatic celibates tend to fall into two broad subcategories: empowered virgins and guarded widows. SLIDE 4 We can illustrate the conventional exposition by concentrating on the first sentence of Busenello’s preface. ‘Daphne did not understand, or did not wish to understand, what Love was.’ This seems at first to cast Daphne in a negative light, but the celibates of Venetian opera are not monochromatic ascetics. The extract that served as this paper’s cold open came not from Daphne but from the title character of 1651’s La Calisto. Yet Daphne expresses her own incomprehension of (or disinterest in) love in similarly energetic manner. PLAY SLIDE Drawing on Tim Carter’s description, we can say that this is just the beginning of an ‘aria that extols a life free of amorous attachments’. SLIDE That aria is followed by ‘a recitative in which Daphne vows never to succumb to love and invokes the delights of nature’, ‘liberty’, and music. SLIDE An instrumental passage then ‘introduces another aria’, again on the joy of freedom, ‘which Daphne “plays and sings on the lyre”’. SLIDE 5 ‘She then has a brief recitative prompting the nymphs and shepherds to sing and dance in honour of being free from love’ SLIDE ‘which they do to a sung and danced’ chorus ‘with a refrain’. SLIDE Daphne then delivers a recitative ‘lauding music, with elaborate vocal embellishments’. SLIDE Finally, the chorus ‘returns’ ‘to end the scene’. That scene is, QUOTE ‘a glorious musical display of Daphne’s voice; it does almost nothing to project any drama, save allowing a character to state her position several times over.’ END QUOTE. It also shows the multifaceted nature of that position. Daphne does not merely dismiss love repeatedly, but extols a wide variety of pleasures she finds more valuable. Neither does she simply monologue. The chorus heartily rejoices in those same pleasures, sharing and supporting her position. Even more explicitly than Calisto, Daphne presents herself as a fulfilled and contented woman surrounded by a supportive community of likeminded celibates. SLIDE 6 Daphne and Calisto are thus prime examples of the empowered virgin, someone who has never experienced sexual or romantic intimacy, and does not want either to intrude on her rich, full life. But this is not the only kind of celibate we find in these operas. Also prominent is the figure of the guarded widow. This celibate was once a wife, suggesting that she has experienced romantic and/or sexual intimacy, but er husband has died or abandoned her, and she rejects offers of remarriage out of disillusionment with love. Penelope, who has waited twenty years for her husband Ulysses to return from the Trojan War, expresses such convictions in ‘The Return of Ulysses’. Her last word on the topic to her handmaid is like a manifesto for the guarded widow. PLAY Penelope’s exposition stands in stark contrast to that of Daphne. The empowered virgin is happy in her celibacy. The guarded widow fears (often correctly) that remarriage would make her UNhappy (or unhappiER). SLIDE Turning to the conflict between celibate and suitor, we call again on Busenello: ‘Apollo was smitten by her, and attempted by flatteries and entreaties to make Daphne yield to his desires’. Daphne gave him a colourful and unambiguous answer. SLIDE 7 Daphne’s refusal is a powerful and forthright assertion of independence. More than that. It is a perfect example of what we might call the ‘refusal arioso’. For though celibate characters sometimes declaim and sometimes sing their convictions privately, when courted, they say ‘no’ in song. Penelope, whose distress is highlighted by her speech-like music for most of her opera, always concludes her refusal speeches with a lyrical refrain. PLAY SLIDE ‘but since all his efforts proved vain, he set out in pursuit of her, and, on reaching the banks of the river Peneus, she was transformed into a laurel tree’. The conflict between celibacy and courtship is always resolved, but no two resolutions are exactly alike. Daphne’s, sadly, is deeply tragic. She prays to her father Peneus for help, but he cannot fight Apollo, and transforms Daphne into a tree to keep her safe. Although she thus protects her celibacy and freedom, she loses her mobility, human beauty, and, saddest of all, her voice. PLAY SLIDE 8 Penelope has a happier ending, albeit much less validating of her celibate choice. Her long-lost husband returns, ending twenty years of fear and loneliness. PLAY Looking further afield, we find other guarded widows with endings that are nominally ‘happy’ but actually highly ambiguous. SLIDE Having finally accepted a wandering prince’s courtship, Queen Dido goes mad when the gods force him to abandon her. Another former suitor, whose attentions she always spurned, saves her from suicide, and she at last accepts his proposal of marriage. But does that acceptance reflect an early modern version of the ‘true love was staring me in the face all along’ trope, or the resignation of a woman too weary to fight anymore? SLIDE Other endings share disturbingly corrective undertones, having the celibate admit to sexual and romantic desires under duress or false pretences. Jupiter tricks Calisto into accepting his affections, which she enjoys. SLIDE Apollo only pursued Daphne after being shot (literally) with Cupid’s arrow, a punishment for disdaining love. SLIDE 9 Other resolutions support celibacy in ambiguous ways. Linfea, one of Calisto’s elderly companions, decides to abandon her vows of chastity, only to conclude that the world of courtship is too dangerous, and call upon her old friends for protection when satyrs nearly assault her. SLIDE The goddess Diana manages to reconcile celibacy with partnered pleasure. For Diana and her lover Endymion, the acts of kissing, caressing, and embracing acquire new weight, once released from a traditional status as precursors to intercourse. This couple thus queers normative concepts of intimacy and celibacy by making foreplay an end in itself, complete with a deeply sensuous but fascinatingly non-sexual, love-duet. SLIDE Up to now, I avoided describing any of these characters as ‘asexual’. In the seventeenth century, that term did not have its modern meaning (‘lacking sexual attraction to others’), and early modern society had no concept of ‘sexual orientation’. Yet I was drawn to these characters because I perceived a relatable topic for asexuals, and this reading has been, despite historical wariness, an asexual one. SLIDE 10 Modern asexuals remind us that orientation is not behaviour. Celibacy is the practice of not having sex, but asexuality is a lack of sexual attraction to others. Singlehood is the practice of not being in a romantic relationship; aromanticism is the lack of romantic attraction to others. The line between orientation and behaviour is not always clear in these music-dramas. SLIDE The title of this paper, paraphrasing Busenello, makes that clear: are the sworn celibates of musical Venice UNABLE or UNWILLING to love? SLIDE Daphne tells Apollo not to TEMPT, or perhaps TEST, her, implying that she does experience attraction, but chooses not to act on it. SLIDE Endymion explicitly asserts that he only wants to kiss Diana, and does not ‘seek the rest’. SLIDE 11 Penelope, one of the most complex characters in the repertoire, is even more ambiguous. Despite privately praying for the return of her husband, she asserts disillusionment with love to deter her new suitors. This might be a smoke-screen, but if it is, does it hide attraction to one or more of the suitors (resisted because they are horrible people), loyalty to her husband, or a desire to explore new love, just not with any of the suitors she has to hand? Indeed, Penelope herself seems aware of the ‘unable/unwilling’ issue. At first she asserts that she does not WANT to love, but when the suitors refuse to take ‘no’ for an answer, she states that she actually CAN not love, her broken heart too raw. SLIDE Reading asexuality into early modern opera is a complicated project. But to paraphrase Milks and Ceranowski, ‘I undoubtedly view this project as a queer one: making sense of the social marginalization and pathologization of bodies based on the preference to not have sex, along with exploring new possibilities in intimacy, desire, and kinship structures – how could that not be queer?’ SLIDE Much work could still be done in this area. SLIDE 12 Celibate vows are a common topos in many seventeenth-century genres, not just opera. Madrigals, solo songs, and non-musical poetry all engage with the idea that life is better without love (or worse with it). SLIDE Unfortunately, men who express anti-erotic views in these artworks tend to do so misogynistically, disdaining not love, but women. Some authors set drunkenness rather than liberty as the opposite of love, even featuring contests between Cupid and Bacchus, the god of wine. And anti-eroticism is among the many facets of world-weariness in the vanitas tradition, where all pleasure is lamented as transient and unfulfilling. SLIDE And we focussed only on Venice. The music and poetry of France and England also feature this topos in similar genres and traditions. SLIDE Clearly this is the beginning, not the end, of a conversation. And that conversation is long overdue. Cavalli and his colleagues wrote their music-dramas nearly four centuries ago. The sworn virgin has spent far too long in the closet. Thank you.