Throughout the Decameron, Bocaccio shares several tales that are designed to teach the audience moral lessons. The parables are told by the characters in the book for the duration of ten days, and each one is cleverly laden with social commentary. Though readers may pick apart several themes from the collection of stories, the one that was consistently established within the tenth day, especially, is deception. In stories 3 and 10, we are introduced to good-hearted protagonists who are double-crossed by manipulative people looking to gain something. But similar to standard fairytales, they end off on a happy note, reinforcing the idea that immorality does not prevail.

The main characters of story three are named Nathan and Mitridanes. Both are equally as wealthy, but only one of them has a heart of gold. Nathan has a notable reputation for being a generous person because he extends his riches to commoners passing by his palace. Mitridanes, on the other hand, only cares about renown, which is why his growing jealously for Nathan points him in the direction of murder. Mitridanes devises a plan to disguise himself as someone in need of Nathan’s services, but his plan falls through when he accidentally reveals his intentions to Nathan. Although Mitridanes was completely unaware that he was revealing his plan to Nathan, it’s interesting to think about why he was so motivated to tell a random person such a deep secret. It turns out, that he, too, is enthralled by Nathan’s kindness. When Mitridanes has a conversation with Nathan, who poses as a servant, he is able to witness how good of a person Nathan actually is. He goes from wanting to murder a then-stranger, to feeling shameful for even thinking about killing his friend. In typical Nathan fashion, he forgives Mitridanes and allows him to stay at the palace for several days. However, Mitridanes decides to leave upon realizing that “‘twas not possible to surpass him [Nathan] in liberality” (Tenth Day, Novel 3).

On the tenth day, we meet The Marquis of Saluzzo, Gualtieri, who chooses a woman named Griselda to be his wife. Griselda is described to be the complete opposite of Gualtieri, not only in social status, but in character too. She is someone who is well-mannered and very compliant, while he subjects her to the horrors of a man with a fragile ego. He makes her believe that both of their children are dead and that he is leaving her for another woman – all in the name of testing her patience and humility. Griselda almost never flinches at his requests, but there is one moment where she lets Gualtieri know what she’s feeling. She pleads that he treats his “new wife” with respect and that he “spare her those tribulations” which he once inflicted on her (Tenth Day, Novel 10). This serves as the turning point in the story, where Gualtieri reveals his true intentions to Griselda, and they vow to restore their relationship. Many people were not pleased with this ending, calling it an “extreme example of female submission” (The Griselda Tale and Women in The Decameron). However, things are left off in this note because as damning as this experience was for her, Griselda does restore her wifely status and Gualtieri’s dirty truths come to the light.

Work Cited

“Decameron Web.” Decameron Web: Day 10, Story 3 https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/texts/DecShowText.php?myID=nov1003&lang=eng 

“Decameron Web.” Decameron Web: Day 10, Story 10 https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/texts/DecShowText.php?myID=nov1010&lang=eng

Allen, Shirley S. “The Griselda Tale and the Portrayal of Women in The Decameron” https://www.proquest.com/docview/1290878378?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true#