In Boccaccio’s writing, there are many themes that were brought to light. For me, the most significant was women. I love the way women were portrayed in his writing because I feel like it gave them an edge that they did not really get in Dante’s writing, nor Petrarca’s. Overall, his stories delivered different perspectives on women that I found intriguing to read about. On the third day, ninth story, we learned about Giletta. She is a wealthy young woman and also the daughter of a physician. She was separated from her love, Beltramo at an early age. When Beltramo’s father died, he was instructed to go to Paris and she never had a reason to go there. Even when she reached a marriageable age, she never forgot about Beltramo. Her love for him grew stronger when she found out he turned into the most handsome young man. When the news reached her about the King of France being very ill and not having a physician cure him, she was overjoyed. Now she had a real reason to go to France. 

Using her father’s techniques, she made a powder from particular herbs that she believed helped with the illness that the King suffered from, and she rode her horse to Paris. She used her looks and age to convey the King and show her the fistula from the badly treated tumor on his chest. As soon as she saw it, she immediately knew how to cure him. She told him that she will have him cured in eight days, but he did not believe her. He said it made no sense that this girl would do something that professional doctors couldn’t do. When he was about to dismiss her, she told him, “My lord, you despise my art because I am young and a woman, but let me remind you that I practice medicine not only with my own knowledge of Master Gerado of Narbonne, who was my father and a famous physician in his day.” The King said fine. She told him that if she does not cure him, he can have her burned. However, if she cures him, the King offers her a husband. When the King was cured, he stuck to his word and let her have Beltramo. This proves that Giletta was able to use her young beauty and skill to get what she wanted from the King. 

Additionally, on the fourth day, first story, the daughter of the Prince of Salerno, Tancredi, also did something similar. She was also a beautiful young lady who was very loved by everyone, especially her father. She secretly fell in love with a man named Guiscardo, her fathers valet, and wanted to find a way to meet him in secret. She wrote him a letter and gave him instructions on how to get to an abandoned cave. She put the letter in the hollow of a reed plant. When she gave him the letter, she stated, “Make a bellows of this tonight for your serving girl to keep the fire burning.” Once he read the letter, he felt like the luckiest man on Earth. The cave was hollowed out of a hill for a long time and it was lit by a small opening in the side of the hill. The cave had been abandoned for so long so it was covered by brambles and weeds. The cave can be reached by a stairway that is blocked by a strong door that no one knew how to open, so it was forgotten about. After days of the young lady trying to open the secret door in the cave, she finally opened it with the right tools. She was finally able to walk down the cave and see the outer entrance. She used the ladies-in-waiting to tell Guiscardo how to get there, and without hesitation and without anyone knowing, he made a rope with loops to climb into the cave, and he wrapped himself in leather skin to protect himself from the brambles, and waited down there for the lady to show up. This proves that in the Decameron, women prevailed and exploited men with graciousness when needed, which is not how women are typically portrayed. For instance, “The Ethical Dimension of the ‘Decameron’ states, “Many contemporary readers, believing that the right to secual freedom is inviolable and that control of one’s personal circumstances is supremely desirable, prefer seeing women like Ghita as “victims” or “heroes” and men like Tofano as “villians.” Moreover, many people now seem predisposed to side with a winner even when that winner is a clever manipulator of appearances.” This quote from Marilyn Migiel proves the stories written by Boccaccio portrayed women in a more prevailing manner, as they were able to use their personal skill or tendencies to get what they wanted. 

Citations:

Decameron Web | Texts. (n.d.). The Decameron: Day 3, Story 9. https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/texts/DecShowText.php?myID=nov0309&lang=eng

Decameron Web | Texts. (n.d.). The Decameron: Day 4, Story 1. https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/texts/DecShowText.php?myID=nov0401&lang=eng

Migiel, Marilyn “The Ethical Dimension of the Decameron” University of Toronto Press, 2015-09-02