"The Decameron" by Giovanni Boccaccio (selected readings pt. 1)

I just finished the tenth story of Day 3 about putting the devil in hell. And I LOLed.
It actually made me LOL more than did Aristophane's Lysistrata.

LOLs aside, I think the comical aspect of The Decameron speaks to the general loss off faith during Boccaccio's time. Augustine's Confessions is arguably the most pro-religion book we've read so far, second only to the Bible. Dante's Inferno also presents religious ideas, but struggles to deal with theological inconsistencies. Finally, we have here The Decameron which, to me, is a sharp critique on religion and divinity in general. That is not to say that religion loses its appeal over time, but that the ideas of the people that make up religion are inevitably influenced by the circumstances of their time.

The Black Death, as was touched upon in Thucydide's History of the Pelopennesian War, wreaks havoc, inspires carnage, and tears apart the most fundamental of human ethics. It is, after all, death parading through the streets of Boccacio's Florentine, forcing people to decide how they will live life in the face of imminent death. Traditions are forgotten, and people naturally come to question the Justness of God for allowing the plague to claim the lives of innocent good Christians. This is all well-documented and explained by Boccaccio himself in the Introduction.

Irony governs most, if not all, of the stories told by this band of ten young Florentines. More specifically, these ribald tales of love and lust intertwined with Christianity invariably end in some wicked twist of Fate, which often originates from some form of human deception. For instance, in the first story from the first day, Ser Ciapelletto blatantly lies during his confession. When he cries to the Father that he had one last grave sin to confess, I half-expected him to say that the whole confession was a lie. Ciapelleto dies but is made a Saint. This immediately brings into question the authenticity of the church.

Yet at the same time, Panfilo (the story-teller) had earlier invoked the power of God for creating the world, and goes on to say that his story less concerned with "the judgment of God, but with that of men" (I. 1. 25). Despite the more obvious attack on the church, Boccaccio presents a potentially redeeming value of Christianity in Panfilo's disclaimer. This could be understood in two ways: one is that people misunderstand God's doing, and are unable to fully comprehend the rationale of God since he is All-knowing; this puts an emphasis on God's judgment. The second interpretation places an emphasis on the judgment of people. Poor judgment has caused them to sin without shame, consequently provoking God to send down a plague to cleanse the world of sinners. In either case, the reasons for the plague relate to human fault, which explains the corruption of Church members as ruining the Church's image.

On a different note, The Decameron to Dante's Inferno similarly place marked emphasis on the sinfulness of deception. Just as Boccaccio's tales highlight the issue of deceit and hypocrisy at both the individual level (Ambrogiuolo the swindler II. 9) and institutional level (corrupt Papacy I. 2), Dante's lower levels of Hell correspond with counterfeiting frauds and traitors of the state. There is a notable connection between the two texts because they equally frown upon the same evils and sins that threaten to subvert a stable society and weaken the Church's standing by forcing paranoia and suspicion upon the masses.

I would rather not read too much into the countless subtexts hidden in Boccaccio's stories. From the reading thus far, I've come under the conclusion that these stories are analytically as rich as Aesop's Fables, where common themes of human nature are quite explicitly suggested. Instead of looking too much into each story (there are one hundred and we have only one week!), it is helpful to think about them in terms of the similar themes that arise--of deception, fraud, lies, corruption, and even of hope.

[After-class notes]

• Boccaccio is an Ovidian Scholar, and he must also have been influenced by Dante and Augustine
• Like Ovid, Boccaccio presents a situation, but does not explicitly take sides.
• The Decameron was considered a work of 'extended fiction;' the term 'novel' didn't exist yet
• Love here is primarily understood in its 'eros' aspect
• Love <=> Plague
• Augustine abhors love that has nothing to do with God; he is disgusted with the body
• Dante expresses sympathy for those who fall in love
• Boccaccio takes a less serious tone; love becomes less of an immoral concept
• The idea of "end justifies the means," or pragmatism
• Ciapelleto (I. 1) is venerated despite his immoral past
• Alatiel (II. 7) lies to her father that she is a virgin, but this allows her a happy marriage and gives her family stability
• contrary to Augustine, who is concerned with the individual
• This book is aimed at a female audience, but what problem does it address? Is it the problem of love itself, or the confinement of women? How does Boccaccio view women?
• Lady Zinerva (II. 9) must disguise herself as a man to bring justice to her honor

Finally, on a totally unrelated note, you should check out this website that has cool maps of Dante's Paradiso, Purgatorio, and Inferno. You can find it here.