|
A hoax is played on Casanova when the 49-year-old lover returns to Venice during Carnival, after 18 years in exile. The whole town is delighted to learn that he has been trapped into seducing an opera singer whom the public knows as Bellino, a castrato in female dress. However, as Casanova comes to know Bellino, he realizes that the singer is actually a female singer named Teresa masquerading as a male to promote her own opera career. Casanova then proceeds to turn the hoax to his advantage. He enlists the help of Teresa in fooling Madame d'Urfé, a wealthy and eccentric practitioner of the occult, whose greatest desire is to be reborn as a male. Using his renown as a sorcerer, Casanova swindles the old lady out of her money and she dies as a result of the scheme. Casanova's cleverness, along with his reputation, clears him of all wrongdoing.
|