Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Illustrations vi
4. Acknowledgments vii
5. Introduction: Taking the Veil 1
6. PART I. Eros the Bittersweet
7. 1. Platonic Love: Socrates, Diotima, and the Virgin Mary 27
8. 2. Love's Bitter Mystery: Edenville and Nighttown 49
9. PART II. The Two Loves
10. 3. “Che Vuoi? ” Desire and the Seductions of Art 69
11. 4. Encore Performances: The End of Don Giovanni 95
12. PART III. Triangles of Desire
13. 5. Bloom in Church: Beautiful Figures and Virgin Brides 121
14. 6. Isolde at Sea: Jealousy, Erotics, and Poetics 155
15. 7. Writing and Erasing the Feminine: Sappho's Eros, Modernist Poetics, and the Madonna 187
16. Conclusion: Virgin or Madonna 217
17. Index 225