A critical analysis of boccaccio

1. 1
JOSEPHILOMINA D
A Critical Analysis of Boccaccio’s DECAMERON
(Day one, first five stories)

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A Critical Analysis of Boccaccio’s DECAMERON (Dayone, first five stories)
Introduction
The Decameron begins with the flight of 10 young people (7 women and 3 men) from plague-
stricken Florence in 1348. They retire to a rich, well-watered countryside, where, in the course of
a fortnight, each member of the party has a turn as king or queen over the others, deciding in
detail how their day shall be spent and directing their leisurely walks, their outdoor
conversations, their dances and songs, and, above all, their alternate storytelling.
This storytelling occupies 10 days of the fortnight (the rest being set aside for personal
adornment or for religious devotions); hence the title of the book itself, Decameron, or "Ten
Days' Work." The stories thus amount to 100 in all. Each of the days, moreover, ends with a
canzone (song) for dancing sung by one of the storytellers, and these canzoni include some of
Boccaccio's finest lyric poetry.
Between 1348 and 1353, Boccaccio wrote this famous work: The Decameron. The title itself is
Greek and means "10 Days" (Deca-hemeron), but the book is written in Italian. The Decameron
is a collection of 100 stories, told by ten storytellers over a ten day period of time. Unlike Dante's
Divine Comedy and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, which were written as poetry, Boccaccio's
Decameron is a work in prose.
Although the Decameron is primarily known as a humorous work, the frame tale and background
is very gloomy! In order to explain why 10 people would get together and tell stories to each
other every day, Boccaccio invents a frame tale about the Black Death (bubonic plague) which
was ravaging Florence at the time that he began writing the Decameron.
The introduction shows that Boccaccio's stories are rooted in the here and now, with a focus on
earthly pursuits and passions. He documents the foibles and failures of the human condition, the
everyday lives of the lords and friars and merchants and painters and poor folk. They are not
waiting to die to gain their heavenly reward; rather, they are pursuing their earthly rewards while
they are still alive. Compassion and humanity are lauded in Boccaccio's stories rather than piety.
The human condition is of far more interest to Boccaccio than the divine, and is further worth
pursuing.

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Day one-story-1
Monarch: Pampinea
The opening story is the first of many stories in The Decameron that poke fun at religion. This
story is the case of the latter. The friar in the story is a true holy man and believes the best in
what Cepparello says. It is this naïveté that allows Cepparello to trick him so completely. The
story also shows the willingness of people to believe the things a priest or religious leader tells
them. The fact a man of Cepparello's wickedness could be hailed as a saint by a churchman who
barely knew him is also part of the joke. However, this introduces an important theme Boccaccio
revisits again and again throughout The Decameron. The power of faith and belief is addressed
in a number of stories, but it is first introduced here. While Cepparello may have been a horrible
person in life, the people's belief in him as a saint and the friar's faith in him elevate him in death.
There is power in faith that elevates the mundane to the miraculous. In the end it doesn't matter
Cepparello was not a saint. It is enough the people believe he was.
Boccaccio borrowed the plots of almost all of his stories. Although he had access to just French,
Italian, and Latin sources, some of the tales have their ultimate origin in such far-off lands as
India, Persia, Spain, and other places. Moreover, some were already centuries old.
Day one-story-2
Monarch: Pampinea
The second story is another example of poking fun at the religious leaders of the time. Giannotto
strives to convince his Jewish friend Abraham to convert to Christianity (Catholicism). The
problem arises when Abraham thinks about the state of the clergy. Abraham's visit to Rome
reveals the corruption rampant in the Church during this period, while also tapping once again
into the trope of the greedy or lecherous clergyman.
However, Boccaccio makes a point of Abraham deciding for himself Christianity must have
something going for it. This is an instance of someone thinking for themselves and making their
own decision rather than doing what the clergy tells them to. Class is upended in this same
fashion. Giannotto and Abraham would be merchant/middle class in this story, while the clergy
(especially those in Rome) would be part of the upper class. And yet, Abraham and Giannotto
follow their own minds. Boccaccio's treatment of Abraham is a departure from most Jewish
representation in literature of the period. Abraham's religion (and the character himself) is treated
with tolerance and respect within the narrative. Considering the prejudice faced by those of the
Jewish faith during the middle Ages, Boccaccio's depiction is quite advanced and remarkable.

4. 4
Day one-Story-3
Melchizedek and Saladin
Saladin makes his first appearance in the narrative. Saladin was a famous figure during the Third
Crusade in the late 12th century. Historically, he was a Muslim military and political leader who
led the Islamic forces against the West. He managed to wrest control of most of the Holy Lands
away from crusader control, and even though he did not defeat King Richard I of England, he
retained control of Jerusalem. He was noted for his generosity, his religious practice, and his
honor.
Melchisedech is another Jewish character, this time a moneylender. Jewish people were
commonly moneylenders, as their religion did not prohibit such a practice. Because of this, non-
Jewish people often harbored a great deal of resentment toward them, and this colored portrayals
of them in fiction (see the character "Shylock" in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of
Venice). Boccaccio did not fall into that later trope—instead, Melchisedech is portrayed as wise
and fairly rendered. Both this story and the one before it posit the equality of all of the "Big
Three" religions rather than placing Christianity above the others, which was a rare view during
the medieval period.
The story of the three rings made the rounds throughout Europe during the Middle Ages and
Renaissance. Boccaccio certainly would have heard of it or read it. It was also called "Tale of the
Three Rings" or "The Legend of the Three Rings."
Day one-story-4
Melchizedek and Saladin
Here is another story of clerical misdeeds and trickery. Deceit and deception are recurring
themes in the brigata's stories, as are the failings of religious men of the time. In this instance it is
two religious men, each trying to catch the other in some wrongdoing. The reversal of the abbot's
plans (his being caught instead of the young monk) also plays into another theme—that of
unpredictable and volatile luck/fortune. Through the monk's quick thinking, he is able to escape
the trap and improve his own station, therefore getting what he wanted. Also, the status of the
abbot gets inverted to that of the monk. While the abbot might run the monastery, it is the monk
who outsmarts him, upending the social order.
In this story the woman is an afterthought. She has no real voice or agency; she is just a pawn in
the power play between the two clerics. She is the catalyst for the humorous showdown between
the monk and the abbot.
This is the first of Dioneo's stories. He is the member of the brigata who tells the bawdiest tales.
He consistently pushes the envelope of what is acceptable in the group. This one is just a taste of
what is to come.

5. 5
Day one-Story-5
The Marchioness of Montferrat and the French King
The Marquis of Montferrat has a wife who (surprise!) is beautiful and virtuous beyond every
other woman in the world. The King of France hears about her and decides to take a slight detour
on his way to join a crusade to the Holy Land. And since the Marquis is already on his way east,
the king hopes to have his way with the Marquess. But the Marquess is onto him. She figures out
pretty quickly that a king who wants to visit her in her husband's absence is up to no good. So
she consults with the few male advisors she has left (most are off fighting) and comes up with a
plan. The Marquess gathers up as many hens as she can find and has them prepared in various
dishes for the king's dinner. When the king meets her, he is immediately struck by the arrow of
love. He can't wait to sweet-talk her into doing what he wants. But as he's eating dinner, he
realizes that all the dishes are chicken. He's perplexed, so he asks the Marquess what's up with all
the hens? No cocks? The Marquess explains that like the hens, the women of her
"neighborhood" may be dressed differently, but they are really the same as women everywhere.
Translation: you don't need to go fishing for a woman around here, king, since beautiful women
are everywhere. The king's immediately ashamed of his intentions and gets on his way to the
Crusade as quickly as he can.
Pampinea, the queen of the day, asks Fiammetta to entertain her congenial audience, and
Fiammetta, accepting the invitation, tells her story. Her immediate predecessor has been Dioneo,
the daring, thought-provoking, slightly mischievous storyteller, who, beginning on the next day,
will be asked to seal the narrative itinerary with a story, the tenth, predictably salacious, often
brilliant, and intensely awaited by his eager companions. The interrelationship between the tales
of Dioneo and Fiammetta can be seen to form a chiasmus. Dioneoʹs challenge of the First Day is
answered by Fiammetta: his is the story of a young monk accused of sexual...