The Decameron Day 7: 3, 5. Day 8: 3, 7, 8

In the 5th story on day 7, what can you infer about the narrator's personal experiences based on her attitude towards trickery?

The narrator is a female, and begins by saying, "Most noble ladies, the previous story prompts me to tell a similar story about a jealous husband, for I believe that whatever their wives do to them, especially when they become jealous without cause, is well done." (508) She tells a story about a man so possessive of his wife that she is not allowed to step foot outside the house or even make herself visible in windows. Though I think her plan to give her husband a reason to be jealous was clever but too harsh, the narrator clearly thought it was just, and adimred the woman for tricking her husband. This leads me to believe she could relate to the story, and possibly had a jealous husband of her own she wished to seek revenge upon.

In the 3rd story of the 8th day, Calandrino searches for heliotropes, which he believes are stones that can make a person invisible. What does this story have in common with Cretien de Troy's the Knight with the Lion, and why was invisibilty so desired in the middle ages?

In the Knight with the Lion, Lunette saves Yvain's life by giving him a ring that makes him invisible to the people who want to kill him. However the Knight with the Lion, Yvain uses the ring's powers for a reasonable cause. In the Decameron, Calandrino is a gullible man who believes that the heliotrope has special powers but they did not truly exist. His aquaintances entertained themselves by tricking Calandrino into believing an ordinary rock has made him invisible. Though there was no effect, Calandrino still attempted to trick the men into thinking he had left so he could go to the bank with his find.

The Decameron: Day 3: 3, 6, 9. Day 4: 3, 9

2. In the sixth story of the third day, I would go as far to say I was never so disturbed by another character in any of the other stories of the Decameron. Ricciardo is a disgusting man who manipulates Catella because of her intense jealousy and love for her husband, Filippello. Catella was aware of Ricciardo's love for her, but remained faithful to her husband and sought no interest in him. He convinced her that he was in love with someone else, even though he had a wife. Catella's love was so strong for her husband, Ricciardo played her like a pawn because of that weakness. When Ricciardo convinced Catella that her husband was pursuing his wife and planned to meet her in the baths to have sex, she thought she was fooling her husband by replacing the wife with herself. Ricciardo fools Catella into sleeping with him, causing her to go into a tirade. Catella expresses her fury in a somewhat vulgar speech that inadvertantly insults her husband's true qualities. "Today you disowned dog, you were full of life doing it, and at home most of the time you're so weak and worn out that you can't keep it up. But, praise be to God, it was your own field you were plowing and not someone else's as you thought!" (234.) I had not expected Ricciardo to reveal the truth to her because he had been beyond selfish and disgusting throughtout the entire story. I despised the end of the story when Catella only remained angry for a moment and basically accepted that she was in my opinion, raped.

3. "Seeing her perseverence and her intelligence and, moreover, two such handsome sons, the Count, in order to keep his promise as well as please his men and their ladies, set aside his obstinate severity, raised the Countess to her feet ... recognized her as his legitimate bride and her children as his own sons." (276.) Beltramo's love for Giletta changes because she proved to him the extent of how she wanted him to accept her. He gave her an impossible ultimatum, saying that the only way he would return to her is if she possessed the ring he never took off and could give him a son without having slept with him. Because she is so coniving in her unethical plan, she wins over not only his approval, but in time his affection. This is an example of how women were expected to present to their husband male offspring, and were looked down upon if they were unable, meanwhile society is oblivious at the time that no female to this day has that choice, for it is the male who delivers either an X or Y chromosome to the females X chromosome.

In the third story of the fourth day it teaches the lesson that acting on emotions can be detrimental to one's future because Ninetta's envy leads to the downfall of those around her. In many of the other stories of the Decameron, the characters possess vices like lust, dishonesty, and manipulation, but end up fortunate at the end laughing at those foolish enough to fall for their trickery. This story is different because the eldest sister possesses an immobilizing jealousy and fury, so powerful that she kills her lover. However, her overwhelming emotion is what cost her sisters their lives.