The Decameron
'The Decameron' Summary
In Italy during the time of the Black Death, a group of seven young women and three young men flee from plague-ridden Florence to a deserted villa in the countryside of Fiesole for two weeks. To pass the evenings, each member of the party tells a story each night, except for one day per week for chores, and the holy days during which they do no work at all, resulting in ten nights of storytelling over the course of two weeks. Thus, by the end of the fortnight they have told 100 stories.
Each of the ten characters is charged as King or Queen of the company for one of the ten days in turn. This charge extends to choosing the theme of the stories for that day, and all but two days have topics assigned: examples of the power of fortune; examples of the power of human will; love tales that end tragically; love tales that end happily; clever replies that save the speaker; tricks that women play on men; tricks that people play on each other in general; examples of virtue. Only Dioneo, who usually tells the tenth tale each day, has the right to tell a tale on any topic he wishes, due to his wit. Many commentators have argued that Dioneo expresses the views of Boccaccio himself.Each day also includes a short introduction and conclusion to continue the frame of the tales by describing other daily activities besides story-telling. These framing interludes frequently include transcriptions of Italian folk songs.The interactions among tales in a day, or across days, as Boccaccio spins variations and reversals of previous material, forms a whole and not just a collection of stories. Recurring plots of the stories include mocking the lust and greed of the clergy; female lust and ambition on a par with male lust and ambition; tensions in Italian society between the new wealthy commercial class and noble families; and the perils and adventures of traveling merchants.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
Italian (Florentine)Published In
1886Authors
Giovanni Boccaccio
Italian
Giovanni Boccaccio (Italian: 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. He was known par excellence as...
Books by Giovanni BoccaccioDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books
Arabian Nights Entertainments, Volume 02 by Anonymous
This volume, part of a four-volume set, continues Scheherazade's intricate storytelling to delay her execution at the hands of the Sultan. The storie...
Fables de La Fontaine, livre 03 by Jean de La Fontaine
Voici le troisième des douze livres des Fables de La Fontaine. Celles-ci datent du XVIIe siècle et ont été enregistrées par des lecteurs de divers hor...
Soaked In Seaweed and 7 other nonsense novels by Stephen Leacock
Prepare yourself for a literary adventure like no other with "Soaked in Seaweed and 7 other nonsense novels" by the beloved humorist, Stephen Leacock....
Magic Mountain (Volume Two) by Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann's Magic Mountain is a complex and multi-layered novel that explores the themes of society, decay, corruption, sickness, and death. Set in...
Aesop's Fables, Volume 02 (Fables 26-50) by Aesop
Dating back to the 6th century BC, Aesop's Fables tell universal truths through the use of simple allegories that are easily understood. Though almost...
The Jacket by Jack London
A framing story is told in the first person by Darrell Standing, a university professor serving life imprisonment in San Quentin State Prison for murd...
Aesop's Fables, Volume 07 (Fables 151-175) by Aesop
Dating back to the 6th century BC, Aesop's Fables tell universal truths through the use of simple allegories that are easily understood. Though almost...
The Four Million by O. Henry
The Four Million is the second published collection of short stories by O. Henry originally released in 1906. There are twenty-five stories of various...
Canterbury Tales (Middle English) by Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories told by a group of pilgrims traveling to Canterbury Cathedral. The pilgrims represent various social...
The Life and Death of Mr. Badman by John Bunyan
The Life and Death of Mr. Badman is a 1680 book by John Bunyan. It was designed as a companion to The Pilgrim's Progress and was published by Nathanie...
Reviews for The Decameron
No reviews posted or approved, yet...