À la faveur de la nuit Figures féminines de la nuit dans l'Histoire de ma vie de Casanova

From his escape from the Piombi in Venice to his amorous exploits, from his urban wanderings to his esoteric hoaxes, the greatest scenes of ­Casanova’s memoirs are virtually all set under cover of darkness. This article aims to ­consider night as yet another feminine figure haunting the recollections of Story of my Life, a true maternal entity. This chapter explores the extent to which ­Casanova’s representation of night as a benevolent power echoes a crucial evolution in the history of ideas affecting the experience of and discourse on the nocturnal phenomenon in the long eighteenth-century.