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| Writer | Robert Greene |
| Category | Self Development |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | PENGUIN BOOKS |
| Publish Date | 2001 |
| Pages | 496 |
| File Size | 5 MB |
| File Type |
Thousands of years ago, power was mostly gained through physical violence and maintained with brute strength. There was little need for subtlety—a king or emperor had to be merciless. Only a select few had power, but no one suffered under this scheme of things more than women.
The Art of Seduction PDF – Robert Greene
They had no way to compete, no weapon at their disposal that could make a man do what they wanted—politically, socially, or even in the home. Of course, men had one weakness: their insatiable desire for sex. A woman could always toy with this desire, but once she gave in to sex, the man was back in control; and if she withheld sex, he could simply look elsewhere—or exert force. The Art of Seduction PDF
What good was a power that was so temporary and frail? Yet women had no choice but to submit to this condition. There were some, though, whose hunger for power was too great, and who, over the years, through much cleverness and creativity, invented a way of turning the dynamic around, creating a more lasting and effective form of power.
These women—among them Bathsheba, from the Old Testament; Helen of Troy; the Chinese siren Hsi Shi; and the greatest of them all, Cleopatra—invented seduction. First, they would draw a man in with an alluring appearance, designing their makeup and adornment to fashion the image of a goddess come to life.
The Art of Seduction PDF – Robert Greene
By showing only glimpses of flesh, they would tease a man’s imagination, stimulating the desire not just for sex but for something greater: the chance to possess a fantasy figure. Once they had their victims’ interest, these women would lure them away from the masculine world of war and politics and get them to spend time in the feminine world—a world of luxury, spectacle, and pleasure. The Art of Seduction PDF
They might also lead them astray literally, taking them on a journey, as Cleopatra lured Julius Caesar on a trip down the Nile. Men would grow hooked on these refined, sensual pleasures—they would fall in love. But then, invariably, the women would turn cold and indifferent, confusing their victims. Just when the men wanted more, they found their pleasures withdrawn.
They would be forced into pursuit, trying anything to win back the favors they once had tasted, and growing weak and emotional in the process. Men who had physical force and all the social power—men like King David, the Trojan Paris, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, King Fu Chai—would find themselves becoming the slaves of a woman.
The Art of Seduction PDF – Robert Greene
In the face of violence and brutality, these women made seduction a sophisticated art, the ultimate form of power and persuasion. They learned to work on the mind first, stimulating fantasies, keeping a man wanting more, creating patterns of hope and despair—the essence of seduction. Their power was not physical but psychological, not forceful but indirect and cunning. The Art of Seduction PDF
These first great seductresses were like military generals planning the destruction of an enemy, and indeed, early accounts of seduction often compare it to battle, the feminine version of warfare. For Cleopatra, it was a means of consolidating an empire. In seduction, the woman was no longer a passive sex object; she had become an active agent, a figure of power.
With a few exceptions—the Latin poet Ovid, the medieval troubadours—men did not much concern themselves with such a frivolous art as seduction. Then, in the seventeenth century, came a great change: men grew interested in seduction as a way to overcome a young woman’s resistance to sex.
The Art of Seduction PDF – Robert Greene
History’s first great male seducers—the Duke de Lauzun, the different Spaniards who inspired the Don Juan legend—began to adopt the methods traditionally employed by women. They learned to dazzle with their appearance (often androgynous in nature), to stimulate the imagination, to play the coquette. The Art of Seduction PDF
They also added a new, masculine element to the game: seductive language, for they had discovered a woman’s weakness for soft words. These two forms of seduction—the feminine use of appearances and the masculine use of language—would often cross gender lines: Casanova would dazzle a woman with his clothes; Ninon de l’Enclos would charm a man with her words.
At the same time that men were developing their version of seduction, others began to adapt the art for social purposes. As Europe’s feudal system of government faded into the past, courtiers needed to get their way in court without the use of force. They learned the power to be gained by seducing their superiors and competitors through psychological games, soft words, and a little coquetry.
The Art of Seduction PDF