The Decameron 1

1. “If this is that case, we can recognize the greatness of God’s mercy towards us, which pays more attention to the purity of our faith than to our errors” (38).

There is an ironic differentiation presented in several of these stories between the appearance of virtue and genuine virtue. Most often this comparison is made by example of the church, though the critique is most often ambiguous. I found it interesting that, while the above quote warns against impurity, the church is not shed in the best of lights (though certainly not in the worst), while the most impure character is clearly much ore clever than any of the other others. In fact, every character in this story has a major fault, whether it be gullibility, avarice, etc. Therefore, it would seem that the overall tone of this story is that human beings are all flawed creatures: therefore, we cannot expect that unintentional faults will not be overlooked by God, who must realize that humans are imperfect. This theme is exemplified when the friar, who is attempting to “absolve” the merchant, tells the merchant that he shouldn’t worry so much about the “minor things,” as he is apparently pure of heart. It would seem that, in a bigger sense, this story is a commentary on a too-strict method of religious practice that allows no room for natural, accidental human errors. While the friar, clergy, and the rest of the people are kept in the dark as to the truth of the situation and foolishly offer their prayers to a sinner, the idea is that God ignores their ignorance by overlooking this error in light of their good intentions. Later stories paint the clergy in a much darker light, yet these faults are ignored even though they clearly arise out of impurity rather than ignorance. For this reason, it would seem that this first story sets the tone of the others, in that there is a consistent irony undercutting the portrayal of the clergy: it is Boccaccio’s intention that this irony becomes apparent to the reader so that they interpret a multitude of viewpoints to the same story.

2. “Giannotto, recognizing the his friend’s honesty and upright qualities, began to feel deep regret that the soul of such a valiant, wise, and good man through lack of faith would have to be lost in Hell” (39).

“But if he goes to the court of Rome and sees the wicked and filthy lives of the clergy, not only will he not change from a Jew to a Christian, but if he had already become a Christian before, he would, without a doubt, return to being a Jew” (40).

It would seem that the actual speaker of the story here serves the purpose of voicing a generally ignorant and contradictory point of view, while the overlying irony of the words reveal the author’s commentary. Obviously, Abraham (who is referred to simply as “the Jew” until he is baptized) is of pure character, and Giannotto obviously understands that being a Christian does not necessarily make you a virtuous person. The ‘surface,’ or false, moral of the story is that Christianity must be the truest faith as it can endure the most impure of characters in its church. (Again, we see a deeply inset irony embedded in these stories.) On a different note, this story could be interpreted to mean that, in many cases, the actual virtuosity of a person is overlooked because of an insignificant difference (that being whatever religious doctrine they follow).

3. “Therefore, I have taken him as it is he I desire, not will I ever accept any other man no matter what my father or others might think” (Abbot/daughter of King of England, 92).

“The Pope, too, was amazed both by he manner in which the lady was dressed and by her choice of husbands, but realizing that there was no turning back now, he decided to grant her request” (93).

This was my favorite story of the five that we read because the daughter of the King of England is a really strong female character. After the previous four stories, I wasn’t expecting to see a female character ‘take charge,’ much less masquerade as an Abbot in order to trick a group of people into taking her to the Pope. The first quote showcases her ability to speak with authority; the second illustrates the idea that, despite the fact that her actions are surprising, there is no reason why her request shouldn’t be granted. Unlike some of the other romances we have read, she was not immediately introduced as the ‘the most beautiful woman anyone has ever seen”; rather, her masquerade allowed for her internal thoughts and emotions to reach the author first. After her marriage to Alessandro, she proceeds to restore the livelihood of the three degenerate uncles, depicting her as being both an intellectually and financially capable person. It would seem that the author uses the voice of the Pope to voice both the expected overtone of surprise in light of these events as well as the idea that, despite the abnormality of the ‘Abbot’s’ behavior, her request should be granted. Here we again see the duality of to opposing viewpoints – that of society in general and that of the author.