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.
The Decameron’s ideal of self-government encounters serious conflict when Dioneo proposes stories highlighting sex differences in guile. … Read the post Decameron's self-government confronts sex differences in guile
The Decameron’s tale of Gentile, Catalina, and Niccoluccio is an allegory of Christian Holy Week stretched against social disparagement of men’s love. … Read the post Gentile’s rejected love generates gift of Catalina to Niccoluccio
Structural differences between the frame tales of the Decameron and 1001 Nights plausibly relate to differences between oral tales and written literature. … Read the post frame tales: comparison of Decameron and 1001 Nights
Boccaccio’s Decameron tells the epic history of Teodoro. Men will be freed from brutal captivity and will live long, happy lives in love with women. … Read the post Teodoro sets men free and returns them home happily
In writing the Decameron, Boccaccio adopted the literary position of Ovid and wrote Ovidian instruction in love for men. … Read the post Boccaccio's Ovid wrote the Decameron for men