Literary analysis of tales in Boccaccio’s Decameron, with particular concern for love, gender, and men. Giovanni Boccaccio wrote his vernacular masterpiece the Decameron in Italian in Florence probably between 1348 and 1353.
In Decameron 2.8, Gualtieri and his daughter Giannetta repel reason that serves only as rationalization. Their actions demonstrate virtue and are rewarded. … Read the post Gualtieri & Giannetta: virtue triumphs over rationalization
Decameron II.7, misunderstood as the story of Alatiel, is a satire of social myth understood romantically. Story-telling can’t return dead men to life. … Read the post Alatiel's sexual experience, dead men: a limit of story-telling
In Decameron 3.8, an Abbot cuckolds Ferondo with a fantastic deception of punishing him in Purgatory and then restoring him to life. … Read the post Ferondo cuckolded with fantastic lies in Boccaccio’s Decameron
The ridiculous figure of Solomon and the entanglement of the brigata in Decameron 9.9 pushes forward the reader to put together loving and serving. … Read the post Solomon's wisdom on loving and serving in Decameron 9.9
Boccaccio’s playful, ironic introduction to the men and women of the Decameron’s brigata critiques misunderstanding of Christian loving and serving. … Read the post loving and serving in forming the Decameron’s brigata