Humanism in Boccaccio's The Decameron

The early years of fourteenth century Europe were plagued by many miseries. Recurring wars in Florence and Naples provided a turbulent backdrop for famine, financial crises, and worst of all, the Black Death, a scourge for which the century is best remembered. All of these events disrupted the social fabric of Florence and, given Florence's importance, the wider Italian scene as well. Boccaccio reflected upon the various upheavals being experienced during this time period in his work and this honest exploration of the human condition is best exemplified by his greatest Florentine work, The Decameron.

The "Ameto," Boccaccio's first work in this Florentine period, contains numerous allusions to local history, including prominent Florentine families. Boccaccio followed this work with the "Amorosa Visione," a long poem that reviews the delights of earthly pleasures such as power, wealth and sensuality. The "Amorosa Visione" was completed 1345 by a later work, the Elegia di Madonna Fiammetta, which tells the story of the disappointed love of Fiammetta. The final work before The Decameron is the "Ninfale fiesolano," a pastoral love poem that explores earthly pleasures such as sensuality and praises the middle class virtues of maternity, home and family.

Boccaccio's keen sense for common characters and realistic settings, his concern for social questions, and the celebration of earthly life and emphasis on earthly values in his work a

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n's true nature. Like the plague, nature and man exist apart from social or moral conventions and institutions that attempt to reshape them are misguided and are satirized in many of the tales in The Decameron. What emerges from The Decameron then, is an image of people shaping their own responses to Fortune. The means by which they make their choices are not based on Christian principles but on their own ingenuity. The characters' greatest ally and their defense against fate is not their faith in God but their own intelligence and Boccaccio systematically glorifies human ingenuity. Most of the characters in the hundred tales live in this world and are quite content with it. Even when luck goes against them they are seldom disposed to forsake this celebration of earthly life and all of its passions in order to put their hopes in a dubious hereafter. The story of Ciappelletto, the protagonist of the first story, illustrates this spiritual disposition. Pamfilo, who is the storyteller, relates to his fellow travelers the tale of Ciappelletto's false confession made on the point of death. By making such a confession, Ciappelletto damns his soul for eternity but, in sacrificing his eternal life, he manages to save his business pa

Category: Literature - H