Tag: Nathan

Generosity in the Decameron

The Decameron is a series of stories written by Giovanni Boccaccio. These stories are told by three men and seven women in the year 1348, during the rise of the Black Plague. In these texts, there are many mentions of themes, morals, and lessons learned throughout. One of the many themes that often came up in his writing is generosity. This theme is greatly shown throughout Day 10, Novel 3 and Day 1, Novel 1. 

In Day 10, Novel 3, which is narrated by Filostrato. In this story, Nathan, a wealthy and generous man, has a palace built so he can provide help and places to stay for any travelers that may need assistance on the way. He is met with Mithridanes, a man who is jealous of Nathan’s very giving nature, and is set to be more generous than Nathan, as he sees it as a competition. He creates a plan to kill Nathan, and ends up meeting Nathan himself without realizing. Once Mithridanes realizes the faults in his plan to kill Nathan after meeting him, he instantly backs down. Nathans suggests switching bodies with Mithridanes, as he still believed in giving Mithridanes what he needed. Ultimately, this gives Nathan a stronger sense of accomplishment with his generosity. Day 10, Novel 3 states, “Nathan for some days honourably entreated Mithridanes; Mithridanes, being minded to return home with his company, took his leave of Nathan ”. Nathan fulfills his promise, always giving people what they want and need, and Mithridanes becomes the person who is known for giving, additionally learning how to be generous. 

Another example of generosity is in Day 1, Novel 1, as told by Panfilo. In this story the main character, Master Ciappelletto, is known as the towns’ ‘fool’. He goes against many rules, he creates fake documents and testimonies, never goes to church, and often uses profanities. Due to this, many people were not fond of him, his actions or personality. He ended up moving to continue his practice, but became ill when staying at the house of two Florentine lenders. This became an issue for them, as if Master Ciappelletto did die, no one would bury him, but instead leave them with the body. Ciappelletto, however, was listening in on this conversation between the two lenders, and came up with a plan: meeting a friar to give his confessions before he died. The friar goes to see Ciappelletto,  but ends up getting tricked, as Ciappelletto he ends up lying about his confessions and creating lies. The friar ended up believing him, and Ciappelletto died that same day. Since he lied to the friar, he ended up getting buried at the friar’s convent, as he believed Ciappelletto was holy enough. Day 1 Story in the Decameron states, “The holy man was mightily delighted with these words, which seemed to him to betoken a soul in a state of grace”. At the end of this story, the narrator explains how this is an example of generosity on friar’s end, as he still gave Ciappelletto his rights, despite the opinion of others. He states that this story was a mix of good and evil in the main character, Master Ciappelletto, that had “an end with generosity glorified for its own sake and for God” (The Frame Characters of the Decameron: A Progression of Virtues). 

Annotations:

Decameron web. Decameron Web | Texts. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2021, from https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/texts/DecShowText.php?myID=nov0101&lang=eng.

Decameron web. Decameron Web | Texts. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2021, from https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/texts/DecShowText.php?myID=nov1003&lang=eng.

Joan M. Ferrante, The Frame Characters of the “Decameron”: A Progression of Virtues (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2021, from https://www-jstor-org.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/stable/44940122?seq=14#metadata_info_tab_contents. 

Salvatore Postiglione (1861–1906)

Deceit in the Decameron 10.3 and 10.10

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.

Image may contain Art Painting Human and Person
John William Waterhouse’s The Decameron. Depicts the young storytellers from The Decameron.
Source: Columbia University  

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#