A flourishing community of expatriates who were married to, or living with, native Indian women existed in the 18th Century. This was an additional reason for the fascination of European traders and soldiers in India, far from home as they were, with the local women. A significant portion of the Sanskrit “Kama Sutra” deals explicitly with sex, and another considers the acquisition and use of courtesans as lovers. Historically, India had a tradition of raising lovemaking to a fine art. Male prostitution is not unknown, and some brothels cater for an entirely different clientele. Selling herself and her skills as a sexual partner are an obvious choice to many, and brothels provide a relatively safe place to work – certainly safer than the city streets. Other than domestic service or labouring in the fields, there are very few ways that a woman can earn an independent living. Nevertheless, the opera was a success and personally very profitable for Mozart.Ī house of pleasure, run by a bawd or pimp, where the business consists entirely of slaking the physical desires of anyone with the money to pay. First performed in Austria in 1782 under the (indirect) patronage of the Austrian Emperor, Joseph II, there has to be a suspicion that anti-Turkish sentiment informed the piece. Obviously, it combined the exotic and the naughtily erotic in tasteful pictures for the rich! The concept provided the inspiration for Mozart’s opera, “Die Entführung aus dem Serail” (Abduction from the Seraglio), where the hero attempts to rescue his love from the clutches of an Ottoman Pasha.
The whole idea of a seraglio became something of an obsession in Western Europe, and the subject matter of many works of art in “Turkish” Oriental style, which was quite popular during the 18th Century.
Despite this confusion, there were separate quarters for concubines (Circassian girls were highly prized for their reputedly amazing good looks), and access was tightly controlled. A “serai” was any grand palace built around a courtyard, not just a harem. The word came to English through Italian, where the Turkish “serai” (palace) was confused with the Latin word “sera” (door-bar). Indeed, Great Britain only scrapped censorship in theatres in 1968 when the Lord Chancellor's Office no longer required London theatres to have approval for every production.Īn enclosed section of a palace, where the concubines are secluded, ready for the pleasure of their master and away from the lustful gazes of other men. They were in the process in completely wrecking his theatre and his liveihood! Because of this public excitability, and the potential for subversive propaganda, in the interests of "public morality" all governments closely monitored theatre performances. Riots were not uncommon if unpopular or provocative plays were staged, and David Garrick, the leading light of the London stage, was forced to kneel in apology before a fickle audience he had offended. Historically, theatres could mean a great deal of trouble for the authorities. Yet each great performance, each actor-manager, each new work, is eagerly followed by the chattering classes. The audience shows little respect, heckling is an art, and performers play to their claques rather than follow the text. The theatre holds up a mirror to society, and sometimes society does not like what it sees. Sensation and spectacle for the people can keep them occupied and entertained, not to mention distracted from politics.Ī night at the theatre is a bawdy, rambunctions, rowdy, exciting, and novel experience.