Let me start with a few excerpts:
"For nobody would, I think, deny that if a member of the poorer classes, obliged to earn a living through manual toil, were to surrender blindly to the promptings of love, he or she would be far more culpable than a rich and leisured lady who lacked none of the necessary means to gratify her tiniest whim." (Day 2 - 8th story - wife of the King's son speaking to the Count of Antwerp)
"It never enters their heads for a moment, possibly because they have no wish to face facts, that they themselves are continually dissatisfied even though they enjoy full liberty to do as they please, or that idleness and solitude are such powerful stimulants." (Day 3 - 1st story - Filostrato speaking before the story of the nuns and the gardener)
"Moreover, they are forced to follow their whims, fancies and dictates of their fathers, mothers, brothers, and husbands, so they spend most of their time cooped up within the narrow confines of their rooms, where they sit in apparent idleness, wishing one thing and at the same time wishing its opposite..." (Prolouge)
We discussed the idea in class that the morally questionable acts of infidelity and secret loves that certain individuals engaged in, though condemned by society, could be considered products of the natural laws governing humans. However, it seemed to me that in many instances the people being governed by these laws, rather than humanity (at least the female side) at large, were those who had very little to occupy their time. These excesses of passion and desire were not natural in the sense that all people were afflicted by them, but in the sense that all who had a large amount of leisurely time seemed likely to experience them. So this leads me to the question: The explanation we usually receive for the infidelity of a woman is that it is a product of her gender, that women are by nature fickle and unable to be satisfied and so it is only natural for her to resort to men other than her husband. But is it really the laws of nature governing these infidelities, or the excess of idleness? I mean to move it beyond the idea that women were being pushed by the restraints of their husbands and families into covert sexual actions in order to achieve some sort of satisfaction, but that they were in fact being governed by unnatural laws, products of having nothing to focus on besides their overabundance of luxury and time. Is Boccaccio saying that if women had the opportunities to "walk abroad, see and hear many things, go fowling, hunting fishing..." or go "to study in Athens, or Bologna, or Paris...," as men were able to, they would not be affected in this manner and would not then need these stories? Or is it that these are truly the natural (if exaggerated) feelings/actions humans engage in? -Katie
We're used to several themes in a given large story, spread out through a large body of work. Yet each day of the Decameron is given a theme by the current ruler, ranging from very specific ("Those who, on being provoked by some verbal pleasantry, have returned like for like, or who, by a prompt retort or shrewd verbal manoeuvre, have avoided danger, discomfiture or ridicule", as found in Book VI) to a free-for-all. Some are positive, some are negative, and many lend themselves to humour. As such, the book ends up being (please forgive this mildly nerdy metaphor) a sort of circulatory system -- the arteries and veins being the "main" themes that appear in every story, such as women, sex, sex, love, and women, and the individual days acting as the arterioles and capillaries. Each is connected to the other -- yet the smaller vessels focus on transmitting an idea to a certain part of the body of the work.
My question for you is this: Do you think that these topics have a purpose other than to make clear divisions in the days? Is there anything significant about the presence of "Talk-about-whatever-you-want" days? Why would Boccaccio choose to use these ones in particular? Do you think they show anything about the author? And, do the people who twist the prompt of the day (As in book IV, where Pampinea's story of Friar Alberto as the Angel Gabriel has a humorous touch in comparison with the prompt -- "Those whose love ended unhappily")?
-Ola
Ah, a breath of fresh air is what Boccaccio has provided for our class, and according to the translator, Boccaccio also provides advice for the woman that love and want to be loved. In the translator's introduction, he believes the Decameron is a "work of literature, specially designed to assist young ladies in the throes of love." Having battled with love before and receiving sympathy from his friends, Boccaccio himself hopes that "ladies will be able to derive not only pleasure from the entertaining matters… but also some useful advice" (Prologue 3).
It is easy to see the entertaining and odd humor in the short stories but where are the lessons in such risqué encounters?
Do the conclusions of each story or light humored proverbs provide that "healing effect" for those that have be ravished by love?
For examples does the proverbial saying: 'A kissed mouth doesn't lose its freshness: like the moon it turns up new again' (148) really a thought we should live by? If it is a humorous conclusion, what is the purpose for poking fun of a woman's stress and 'long' journey between men? One that gets me is if the "dupe outwitted his deceiver" (178) isn't the dupe now a deceiver?
Where is the morality in these stories and does that at all alter the advice Boccaccio is trying to provide? If you were to pin point the key lesson from each story how would you proverbially phrase Boccaccio' s ideas? Is Boccaccio a love doctor or an entertainer or both?
-melissa im
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