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A review by ibartleby
The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
"to defy the laws of Nature requires no little strength and those who try will often do so not merely to no purpose but even to their own severe detriment."
Confession: I didn't read all 100 stories. But I did read quite a few, and I'll eventually make my way through the rest.
Boccaccio's group of 10 aristocratic exiles (7 women, 3 men) flee Florence in the wake of the Black Death that decimated the city in 1348. Once settled in their new Edenic location, each tells a story (10 per day) for ten days. The stories are funny, raunchy, irreverent, and at times tragic--the ingredients for pure entertainment and the source for many plots and characters from Shakespeare to Hollywood adaptations like 2017's "The Little Hours."
The Decameron is Boccaccio's ode to storytelling, particularly to the oral tradition. Stories as communal activity, as entertainment and escapism in times of unimaginable tragedy. Most importantly, Boccaccio reminds us that storytelling, above all else, is a unique and important activity for people. And so humanity, in its most coarse and natural form, is at the forefront in these stories. There is a distinct absence of (Christian) morality. Instead, the laws of nature govern: women crave sex as much as the men (sometimes much more); priests are as corrupt and as lascivious as any bandit; and those who turn other unsuspecting characters into cuckolds by means of clever tricks are those who are routinely rewarded.
A must read.
Confession: I didn't read all 100 stories. But I did read quite a few, and I'll eventually make my way through the rest.
Boccaccio's group of 10 aristocratic exiles (7 women, 3 men) flee Florence in the wake of the Black Death that decimated the city in 1348. Once settled in their new Edenic location, each tells a story (10 per day) for ten days. The stories are funny, raunchy, irreverent, and at times tragic--the ingredients for pure entertainment and the source for many plots and characters from Shakespeare to Hollywood adaptations like 2017's "The Little Hours."
The Decameron is Boccaccio's ode to storytelling, particularly to the oral tradition. Stories as communal activity, as entertainment and escapism in times of unimaginable tragedy. Most importantly, Boccaccio reminds us that storytelling, above all else, is a unique and important activity for people. And so humanity, in its most coarse and natural form, is at the forefront in these stories. There is a distinct absence of (Christian) morality. Instead, the laws of nature govern: women crave sex as much as the men (sometimes much more); priests are as corrupt and as lascivious as any bandit; and those who turn other unsuspecting characters into cuckolds by means of clever tricks are those who are routinely rewarded.
A must read.