How we cite our quotes: (Day.Story.Page)
Quote #7
'Oh, happy souls, who within a space of a single day were granted release from your passionate love and your mortal existence! And happier still, if your destination was shared! And happy beyond description, if love is possible after death, and you love one another in the after-life as deeply as you did on earth!' (IV.7.341, Emilia's tale of Pasquino and Simona)
The romantic ideal of dying without breaking your bonds with your lover was another exalted element of courtly love. Love does continue after death, at least according to Emilia, Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore.
Quote #8
'Sir, I am led here, not because I love you, but because I was ordered to come by my husband, who, paying more regard to the labors of your unruly love that to his own or his wife's reputation, has constrained me to call upon you.' (X.5.729, Emilia's story of Dianora and Ansaldo)
This passage is an example of respect for the rules of courtly love. Dianora's husband is so impressed with her admirer's demonstration of his passionate love, that he sends her to see him and gives her permission to have sex with him. Dianora thinks this might ruin her reputation, but her husband seems to be giving priority to acknowledging the lover's efforts and rewarding them.
Quote #9
'[...] I am young, and youth is entirely subject to the power of Love. So that wherever Love decides to lead me, I am bound to follow." (X.8.748, Filomena's story of Titus and Gisippus)
Titus exonerates himself from stealing his best friend's fiancée by claiming that young people are especially helpless in the face of the forces of Love. One message of The Decameron, though, is that love is master of people of all ages.