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Representation of Women in the Decameron (their roles in the stories)

Giovanni Boccaccio created The Decameron in a time period back when women were seen as inferior to men, and quite frankly anyone else in society. They were seen as individuals holding lower social positions than men. In The Decameron, women are mostly always shown as severely restricted, and unable to do or act in ways that they wish they could. They were depicted in a way where they were not allowed to hold power or have a significant position in society, and that is exactly the way they lived their lives in the 14th-century. Instead, they were made to maintain their positions of stay-at-home wives and mothers, whose primary focus was to solely care for their families. However, In The Decameron, Boccaccio showcased women as being a lot more independent and more powerful for the most part (not all female characters showed this.) He surpasses the roles and expectations of women from that time period, by illustrating women as more intelligent, more patient, and way more lustful than they normally would be. He even shows women as being a lot more capable than men to endure a lot of hardships, heartache, and pain that others have put them through. All things considered, Boccaccio seemed to have been feminist, as seen by a lot of these stories.

The Decameron is a collection of stories or novellas by the 14th-century Italian author. In this series of stories, women have been represented in many different ways, both good and bad. One of the many representations being women outwitting men, and surprisingly, is something that happened pretty often. He tends to showcase women as coming out on top in most predicaments that they’re in, or doing things that at that time were probably frowned upon (An example of this being in the fifth story of the second day). In this story, a young and beautiful Sicilian woman named Madonna Fiordaliso sees Andreuccio’s open wallet filled with a ton of money and decides that she wants to take it from him. Fiordaliso uses all the information that she gathered from her older companion to devise a devious plan, inviting him into her home, and tricking him into believing that they are siblings. When he goes to the restroom, he falls into her trap, quite literally because he steps onto a loose plank and drops into an alley. He is left high and dry, while his wallet stays in her home.

He also showcases these women as very loyal, in these stories, enduring things that many of us would have most likely walked away from. (An example of this is on the ninth story of the third day.) In this story, the protagonist, Gillette, is very infatuated and crazy in love with Bertrand. She watched and learned her father’s medical skills, and implemented them on the king who unfortunately became sick. By successfully curing him in one week, she was able to get married to whomever she chose, which unsurprisingly was Bertrand. However, he wasn’t too happy with this because she was a working-class woman and not of a higher class. Ultimately, the only way for him to live with her is if she were to have his kids and a ring from him (which he thinks would never happen.) Since he is actually cheating on her with someone, she tricks him into giving her his ring & sleeping with her by pretending to be her. 

These two stories differ in this aspect because 2.5 shows a woman outwitting a man negatively, to get his wallet, while 3.9 shows a woman outwitting a man to get a positive outcome. As Monica Donaggio stated in Implications of Gender Reversal Disguise, “The idea of “putting oneself to the test/mettersi alla prova” is one of the main narrative situations in the Decameron. The character is able to use his or her disguise to accomplish something specific, but, as Donaggio carefully notes, when this is done, the character is able to return to his or her previous identity (which hasn’t ever really been forgotten).“ In these stories Boccaccio had these women go through great lengths and detailed plans to get what they want from these men, masking their true intentions. This is clearly shown with Donna Zinevra (second day, ninth story), who dresses as a young man in order to escape her husband Bernabò. 

This same concept can be seen in reverse where men are the ones outwitting women (An example of this being the fifth day, eighth story.) In this story, Anastasio, a Gentleman of the Family of the Honesti, fell in love with the Daughter of Signior Paulo Traversario. However, the feelings were not mutual and she was very unkind to him. Seeing that his attempts to make her fall in love with him were not working, he moved away. While he was walking in the forest he saw a naked woman being chased by an angry knight and dogs, but soon came to realize that they were already dead. He used this to his advantage and showed the woman with whom he was in love with this crazy event, scaring her into thinking that if she did not fall in love with him, he would do the same to her. This goes to show that although Boccaccio tried to show a positive side of women, in this case, their independence and intelligence, this story along with others are very counterintuitive. They show how women in fact still have a weaker, less intelligent, dependent side of them that others can easily notice and manipulate in their favor. All in all, women are depicted in both negative and positive ways in The Decameron, and we are given a glimpse of these different illustrations of them in all of the stories.

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The Depiction of Love and Women

Throughout The Divine Comedy by Dante and Il Canzoniere by Petrarca, women and love are portrayed in very similar ways that intrigued me. During this course, I loved reading these particular texts because these authors’ portrayals of love and women were very enlightening and movie-like. They portrayed women as very delicate goddesses, which is my most preferable way to read about women. Growing up, I loved to read fairy tales about princesses falling in love and happily ever after. In these texts by Dante and Petrarca, they brought me back to my younger reading days, and they stuck with me a lot more because of that.

In The Divine Comedy, Dante writes and vividly describes his journey through hell in search to finally reach heaven. In Inferno, the poem about hell, he describes his path through the different circles of hell. He is guided by a Roman poet by the name of Virgil, who was sent to him by his love, Beatrice. Each circle represents a different sin. There was a circle for gluttony, wrath, heretics, and many more. However, before Dante entered the gates of Hell, he was unsure if he should do it or not. It was his love and devotion to see Beatrice that motivated him to take on his journey. Beatrice wanted him to take on this journey, so she along with two other women sent for Virgil. For instance, in Canto 2 of the Inferno, Beatrice states, “O Mantuan Shade, in courtesy complete, whose fame survives on earth, nor less shall grow through all the ages, while the world hath seat; a friend of mine, with fortune for his foe, has met with hindrance on his desert way, and, terror-smitten, can no further go, but turns; and that he is too far astray, and that I rose too late for help, I dread, from what in heaven concerning him they say. Go, with thy speech persuasive him bestead, and with all needful help his guardian prove, That touching him I may be comforted. Know, it is Beatrice seeks thee thus to move. Thence come I where I to return am fain: my coming and my plea are ruled by love. When I shall stand before my Lord again, often to him I will renew thy praise.” This pledge from Beatrice shows how much she truly loves Dante and wants him to get guidance while he goes through hell. She said that she is coming to him out of love for Dante, which was very pure hearted. Dante then states, “When of these words she spoken had the last, she turned aside bright eyes which tears did fill, and I by this was urged to greater haste. And so it was I joined thee by her will. As flowers, by chills nocturnal made to pine and shut themselves, when touched by morning bright upon their stems arise, full-blown and fine; so of my faltering courage changed the plight, and such good cheer ran through my heart, it spurred me to declare, like free-born generous wight: alert in service, hearkening her true word! Thou with thine eloquence my heart has won to keen desire to go, and the intent which first I held I now no longer shun. Therefore proceed; thou art my guide, Lord, Master; thou alone!’ Thus I; and with him, as he forward went, the steep and rugged road I entered on.” Dante’s response was very heartwarming and sweet to read because he knew that it was destined for him to go on this trip because Beatrice wanted him to and because he knew that he had the chance to see her in the end. His love for her as well and Virgil and God made him determined to start and continue his journey. In addition, in Canto 5, Dante enters the Second Circle of Hell, which is for the sin of lust. Dante met a woman named Francesca da Rimini who he felt very sorry for because she gave into lust and desire. He mentioned how him and Beatrice’s love is chaste, which was virtuous and eventually led him closer to God. This was very significant to me because it proved how serious and deep Dante and Beatrice’s connection was, and it contrasted from the sinful love that Francesca gave into.

In continuation, Il Canzionere by Petrarca also had a very evocative depiction of love and women. In this story, the main theme is the many love poems/letters that Petrarca wrote for his love, Laura. In my opinion, his love for Laura was the strongest out of all the texts we have read. He had a very profound passion for Laura and it was very obvious while reading the poems. I was very intrigued and drawn into the poems about Laura because it radiates divine feminine energy. For example, in poem 90 of Il Canzoniere, Petrarca states, “She’d let her gold hair flow free in the breeze that whirled it into thousands of sweet knots, and lovely light would burn beyond all measure in those fair eyes whose light is dinner now. Her face would turn the color pity wears, a pity true or false I do not know, and I with all love’s tinder in my breast; it’s no surprise I quickly caught on fire. The way she walked was not the way of mortals but of angelic forms, and when she spoke more than an earthly voice it was that sang: a godly spirit and a living sun was what I saw, and if she is not now, my wound still bleeds though the bow’s unbent.” This poem is very crucial to the theme of love and it is a very vivid description of the way that Petrarca feels about Laura. When he talks about her eyes and her angelic forms, it makes women seem so delicate and fragile which I really enjoyed reading from a male perspective. During this course, I came to realize that from my experience, the way love was depicted in ancient literature was way deeper and more passionate than the way it is depicted in stories now. This was one of the reasons why I enjoyed continuing to read the texts in this course. All the elements and aspects are much more intense and even though at times it was hard to follow on, the passion from the authors always came through, and especially Petrarca. The Editors of the Encyclopedia Britannica did a summary on Il Canzoniere and made Laura a literary subject in their analysis. The Encyclopedia Britannica states, “The poems treat a variety of moods and subjects but particularly his intense psychological reactions to his beloved. Many of his similes, such as burning like fire and freezing like ice, beautifully stated in the sonnet beginning ‘I find no peace, and all my war is done,’ were to be frequently repeated by sonneteers of Elizabethan England and later became poetic cliches. Some of the poems express the very simple, human wish to be with her and to be treated kindly. After Laura’s death Petrarch’s poems continued on the same themes, expressing his sorrow and describing her to return to him in dreams.” This quote from The Encyclopedia is very important because it explains how captivating Petrarca’s tactics were in the poems he was writing about Laura. The quote even says that his similes were later on used by different poets and eventually his quotes became cliche because of how often they were being used. 

To conclude, The Divine Comedy by Dante and Il Canzoniere by Petrarca portray love and women in very similar and fascinating ways. Both authors have very strong characters and passion for the women they are idolizing and it made their texts way more intriguing to read and analyze. Their portrayal of love was like a fantasy in a fairytale, and the way they depicted women brought out their use of great vocabulary and literary tactics in their writing, which made those connections feel stronger. 

References: 

  • Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Laura”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Laura-literary-subject. Accessed 21 December 2021.
  • Petrarca, Francesco, and Mark Musa. Selections from the Canzoniere (Poem 90) Oxford [Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1999. Print.
  • Dante, Alighieri, and Mark Musa. Dante’s Inferno. Canto ll; Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1971.

Cruelty in The Prince

See the source image
by: R Solow. A picture of the fox and lion Machiavelli uses to describe when it’s necessary to be cruel.

In Machiavelli’s The Prince, he mentions countless themes and topics such as free will, cruelty, and virtue. Machiavelli believes that cruelty should be advised only in instances where it’s necessary. His views were more clearly shown in chapters 8 and 17. In chapter 8 he advises the prince against injuring his peasants on a regular basis, as this will make him loathed. Instead, he must only be cruel when it is absolutely essential to avert worse wrongdoing. In The Prince, it wasn’t a matter of whether cruelty was wrong or not it was a matter of whether it is used well or not. In Chapter 17 he mentions the instances where being cruel is necessary. In Chapter 17 he states, “You must know there are two ways of contesting, the one by the law, the other by force; the first method is proper to men, the second to beasts; but because the first is frequently not sufficient, it is necessary to have recourse to the second. Therefore it is necessary for a prince to understand how to avail himself of the beast and the man.” In this Machiavelli basically shows his view on cruelty, he believes that the amount and severity depend on the person and situation you are dealing with. In his metaphor when dealing with someone who is a snare you must act like a fox, and for those who are wolves, you must act like a lion. The more power the person has the more necessary cruelty is.  

Analysis of Angela Da Foligno Memorial: Devotion

CELEBRAZIONE EUCARISTICA 4 gennaio Sant'Angela da Foligno
Portrait of St. Angela Da Foligno

While reading Angela Da Foligno’s Memorial, it was easy to feel and vividly experience the devotion that she felt towards God. Particularly in Step Six, she uses terms such as “illuminating grace” to describe what she faced during this step. Here, she was presented with all of her sins, begging the “creatures” to not “accuse” her. Throughout Steps Eight and Nine, you can also envision this. Not only did she feel guilt and remorse for the way that Jesus died on the cross, but she also took it upon herself to offer herself to him, including the removal of her clothing. She wanted to “give my [her] heart to christ” because of all the good that he accomplished for her, something that only one with true devotion to God and Jesus would bear to do.

Generosity in The Prince

Portrait of Niccolo Machiavelli

The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli, specifically in Chapter 16, begins by examining generosity in a ruler. While Machiavelli believes that a prince’s reputation for generosity is “splendid,” he also believes that a ruler who is truly kind “will come to grief.” To gain a reputation for generosity, a prince must be “ostentatiously lavish” to draw the public’s attention. Any ruler who spends extravagantly “will soon squander all his resources” and be compelled to “not mind being called a miser” on his subjects. If a ruler imposes enormous financial demands on his subjects, his subjects will despise him and detest his bad judgment. As a result, a wise ruler “doesn’t mind being dubbed a miser.” His “parsimony” will be perceived as generosity eventually since it relieves the people of the burden of heavy taxation. 

Nonetheless, Machiavelli advises princes to keep up the image of giving while avoiding genuine generosity. People will eventually perceive a prince’s stinginess as a type of charity since it protects their own property while also ensuring the state’s wealth and effectiveness. 

Pericoli dell´Estremismo

Niccolò Macchiavelli, Santi di Tito

Penso che sbagliamo nel giudicare Machiavelli come l’estremista immorale che conosciamo. Dopo aver fatto parte della Seconda Signoria di Firenze come consigliere, ha solo approfondito la sua comprensione di come funziona la politica. Nella maggior parte dei casi, Machiavelli offre consigli realistici su come un leader dovrebbe agire e pensare. La crudezza dell’esempio nel confrontare Oliverotto da Fermo e Agatocle di Siracusa mostra una certa mancanza di empatia per la vita umana. In tutta onestà, in nessun punto Machiavelli invoca la violenza; si limita a presentare che è comunemente noto che il modo più efficace per conquistare uno stato passa attraverso la violenza necessaria. Gli esempi nel capitolo 8 mostrano il sorpasso attraverso l’inganno. Solo una cosa li separa l’uno dall’altro, l’uso corretto e l’uso scorretto della violenza. Oliverotto, come Agatocle, inganna i capi di stato e li uccide. Questa prima mossa è quella che Machiavelli chiama violenza necessaria. Oliverotto abusa della violenza perché continua i suoi atti violenti e alla fine viene ucciso da Cesare Borgia. D’altra parte, Agatocle governò con successo Siracusa molto tempo dopo aver comandato l’omicidio del senato siracusano perché si era astenuto dal commettere atti inutili. Oliverotto diventa così l’esito negativo se un principe usa misure estreme per troppo tempo o troppo spesso.

Morals in ‘The Prince’

A portrait of Machiavelli

“The Prince” is a text by Machiavelli, an Italian poet, philosopher and diplomat. This text has a common theme of morality amongst the chapters. It often discusses the role that the prince must take on, along with what he should and shouldn’t be doing. Machiavelli spoke a lot about the dichotomy between sticking to one’s morals and doing what helps them stay in power; he states that the prince should be doing things to his own accord, whether it’s good or bad.  For example, in Chapter  15, Machiavelli states that “it is necessary for a prince wishing to hold his own to know how to do wrong, and to make use of it or not according to necessity.” He says this because he believes that the prince should take all precautions when it comes to gaining and maintaining any power. Machiavelli also discusses how the prince needs to have a balance between acting like a man and acting like a beast. He states that there are two methods for this, “the first method is proper to men, the second to beasts; but because the first is frequently not sufficient, it is necessary to have recourse to the second. Therefore it is necessary for a prince to understand how to avail himself of the beast and the man”. In chapter 18, he explains that this is necessary because if men were good, then there would be no need to consider being bad, however,“because they are bad, and will not keep faith with you, you too are not bound to observe it with them”.

Fortune In The Prince

Raging River Photograph by Janet Kopper
One of the images that Machiavelli places in our heads as fortune; which is that fortune is like a raging river, representing bad fortune

Early in “The Prince”, we see that Machiavelli believes that personal ability is very important, determining how well they can rule. In chapter 5, he talks about those who have risen the ranks through their own ability, and those who haven’t, rising through fortune. “where there is a new prince, more or less difficulty is found in keeping them, accordingly as there is more or less ability in him who has acquired the state”. With those who have risen only through fortune, Machiavelli believes that they will have difficulty keeping that power. Machiavelli talks more about fortune later on, and more on why fortune shouldn’t be relied on too much.

In chapter 25, Machiavelli uses a river to describe fortune. He talks how fortune can be a raging river that floods the plains and sweeps away anything in its path, but “when the weather becomes fair… their force be neither so unrestrained nor so dangerous.”. Later in the chapter, he talks about the prince determining their actions based off their circumstances; and how if their actions are not suited for the situation, they will not succeed. If their fortune is like a “raging river” and do not react properly, they will not succeed, and may even end up losing their power. Machiavelli believes that fortune is the first half of what your actions are, and that the other half is your free will, or what can be seen as your own ability. The prince’s ability to react to their fortune will determine whether or not they will successful.

Virtue in “The Prince”

Pope Alexander the Sixth, who Machiavelli mentions in chapter 18 of “The Prince” as someone who “never did what he said”.

One of the core themes of Machiavelli’s “The Prince” is that of virtue. In particular, “The Prince” stresses how important it is for a leader to appear to be virtuous. This is exemplified in chapter 18 especially, as seen in the quote “Therefore it is unnecessary for a prince to have all the good qualities I have enumerated, but it is very necessary to appear to have them”. In this passage, Machiavelli focuses on the balance between a leader’s appearance and his actions. He believes that in order to secure his power, a leader must appear to have various virtuous qualities (some of these qualities include being “merciful, faithful, humane, religious, upright”) to his subjects, but he also needs to be prepared to act the opposite way if the time calls for it. Machiavelli even uses Alexander the Sixth, who “did nothing else but deceive men, nor ever thought of doing otherwise”, as an example of someone who mastered the art of deceiving people with his image. 

To help the reader better understand this concept, Machiavelli uses a simile in the first paragraph, as seen in the quote “ A prince, therefore, being compelled knowingly to adopt the beast, ought to choose the fox and the lion…Therefore, it is necessary to be a fox to discover the snares and a lion to terrify the wolves”. In this quote, Machiavelli likens a leader’s behavior to that of both a fox and a lion (which represent a balance of intelligence and violence), and when a leader must adjust his behavior according to the circumstances. This particular chapter of “The Prince” is interesting because Machiavelli takes a different approach to the concept virtue than most would expect; While most people believe that a leader should be purely good and only exhibit humane traits, such as being merciful, Machiavelli acknowledges that this is unrealistic if a leader wants to maintain his power. Instead, he presents his opinion that actually being virtuous and having good qualities isn’t as important as appearing to have them, and that a leader’s behavior should be able to “turn itself accordingly as the winds and variations of fortune force it”.

The Prince: Cynicism

A painting of Hannibal and his army on the wall of the Capitoline Museum, Rome.

A painting of Hannibal and his army on the wall of the Capitoline Museum, Rome. In The Prince, Machiavelli praises Hannibal and the cruel tactics that he used to keep his enormous army together.

In hopes of obtaining the good graces of Lorenzo Medici, Machiavelli constructed a treatise that advised rulers how to secure and maintain power. Rooted in Machiavelli’s ideas was a poor impression of humanity and justifications for the unvirtuous acts that leaders may take. In chapter 17, he famously writes that “it is much safer to be feared than loved” if you cannot be both because men are “ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, [and] covetous.” All of these descriptions stem from a belief that people are inherently evil and motivated by self-interest. Furthermore, he uses this to say that a good leader should be equipped to fall back on their honesty and act immorally if they must. Therefore, in his mind, it is a good thing to “appear merciful, faithful, humane, religious, [and] upright,” while also being fully prepared to do the opposite at any given time.