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.
Lady Fortune and Her Wheel: Fortune is often depicted as a woman with a blindfold, spinning a wheel to represent the different outcomes and possibilities being chosen out of chance.
Reading through the stories of the Decameron, we see many instances in which there are “unlucky” or “unfortunate” situations, causing a bad ending; but we can also see how some people have been blessed with good fortune, resulting in a good ending. What stands out to me and interests me more would be those with “bad fortune”. We can see many cases of bad fortune in day 4, where love ends unhappily.
In day four, stories one and five, with Ghismunda and Lisabetta, they both fall in love with a man, but their family intervenes and kills those men. When I first read these stories, I believed that the family members of Ghismunda and Lisabetta were evil for doing this, but after reading “The Conception of Fortune in the Decameron” by Vincenzo Cioffari, it leads me to believe that it isn’t completely due to their corrupt morals; but that fortune played a big part in these heinous actions done by Tancredi (Ghismunda’s father) and Lisabetta’s three brothers.
To build more on this, let’s talk a little about Tancredi. “Never was daughter more tenderly beloved of father than she of the Prince, for that cause not knowing to part with her, kept her unmarried for many a year…” (Decameron, day 4, first story). Tancredi the prince, was blessed with good fortune to have a beautiful daughter that he loved with all his heart. We can see that because he loved her so much, he didn’t want her to marry. Not knowing how to part with her, he has a strong desire to “protect” her. To keep his “good fortune”. “In the Decameron the primary function of Fortune is to determine the outcome of a course of action: to help toward a successful accomplishment if Fortune is favorable…” (Ciofarri, 130). With Tancredi’s actions, we see how this is true. By keeping Ghismunda unmarried, he wanted to keep his “good fortune”. But when she fell in love, Tancredi felt threatened that his “fortune” would be taken away, causing him to murder Guiscardo, the man Ghismunda loved.
The fifth story of the fourth day presents how bad fortune can affect one’s actions. In the fifth story of the fourth day, Lisabetta falls in love with Lorenzo, a man who works with her three brothers. Unfortunately, her brothers find out and kill him. Eventually, Lisabetta finds out and decides to preserve Lorenzo’s head. She decides to put his head in a pot and plant basil, “Fostered with such constant, unremitting care, and nourished by the richness given to the soil by the decaying head that lay therin, the basil burgeoned out in exceeding great beauty and fragrance.” (Decameron, day 4, fifth story). Here we see Lisabetta faced with bad fortune, having her love killed by her brothers. We can see how this bad fortune caused her to do crazy actions. “Human reason and will do enter into the activity of Fortune, but not to dominate the fortuitous events” (Cioffari, 130). We can see that here, where Lisabetta’s decides not to overcome what happened to Lorenzo, but instead try to stay with Lorenzo, or have him close to her.
This is why fortune in the Decameron interests me, as it can be seen as a big factor playing in the actions of the characters. It was very interesting to read other stories, seeing how the characters reacted in different ways to their fortune, good or bad.
Citations: Cioffari, Vincenzo. “The Conception of Fortune in the Decameron.” Italica, vol. 17, no. 4, American Association of Teachers of Italian, 1940, pp. 129–37, https://doi.org/10.2307/476489.
Decameron web. Decameron Web | Texts. (n.d.). https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/texts/DecShowText.php?myID=nov0101&lang=eng.
Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, Paris Illustration from a French edition of The Decameron, fifteenth century
Desiderio, inganno e fortuna sono tre temi ricorrenti nel Decameron di Giovanni Boccaccio. Questi tre temi diventano sempre più evidenti quando compaiono in storie improbabili sui monaci in I-4. L’articolo di Marga Cottino-Jones, Desire and the Fantastic in the Decameron: The Third Day, pubblicato nel 1993 dall’American Association of Teachers of Italian, spiega che Boccaccio intende sfidare il modo moralmente imposto in cui vengono viste determinate figure della società. Come bussole morali, ci si aspetta che i monaci diano l’esempio di purezza; proprio per questo Boccaccio li usa come soggetti perfetti per mostrare che le persone soccomberanno alla loro natura umana quando i loro desideri saranno spinti a limiti straordinari. Il primo giorno di narrazione, Dioneo intrattiene il gruppo con la quarta storia di un monaco e un abate che vivevano in un monastero appartato. Qui Boccaccio allude ai dettagli specifici della posizione del monastero, creando una cornice per rendere possibile un evento improbabile. Un giorno un monaco, giovane e virile, nota una giovane ragazza che raccoglieva delle erbe nei loro campi, ed è subito colpito da una passione sensuale e desiderio carnale per la ragazza. Qui si può apprezzare come i suoi impulsi curiosi e naturali confrontano la castità del monaco. Dopo un po’ di conversazione, rendendosi conto che la ragazza era ben disposta alle sue avances, il monaco la porta di nascosto nella sua camera mentre gli altri dormivano. Ad un certo punto un abate si sveglia e si rende conto di ciò che sta succedendo all’interno della camera del giovane monaco. Allo stesso tempo, Il monaco è consapevole che l’abate lo aveva scoperto e lascia la ragazza nella sua stanza con la scusa che deve finire il suo lavoro e la rinchiude nella sua stanza per non essere scoperti. Poi dà la chiave all’abate che li aveva trovati. Quando l’abate entra nella stanza del monaco e vede la giovane, anche lui è tentato dalla giovane. Dopo aver preparato la sua trappola, il giovane monaco attende che l’abate cada vittima dei suoi desideri carnali. Una volta che l’abate esce dalla stanza del monaco, il monaco decide di tornare. A quel punto torna, l’abate lo affronta su ciò che ha trovato nella sua stanza. Il monaco risponde che è nel monastero da poco tempo e che non ha ancora appreso tutti gli insegnamenti. Tuttavia, ora che ha visto esattamente come l’abate gestisce una situazione del genere, sa come agirci se dovesse accadere di nuovo. Rendendosi conto che il monaco era consapevole della sua perversità con la donna, l’abate ritiene inopportuno castigare il monaco per lo stesso errore che lui stesso ha commesso. Lo perdona, e insieme scortano la giovane donna fuori dal monastero ma continuerà a visitarli. Alla fine della storia, la fortuna premia le malefatte del monaco e del suo complice (l’abate) permettendoli di continuare con i suoi impulsi naturali.
Desire and the Fantastic in the Decameron: The Third Day
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