The Decameron operates in a world with a complex understanding of what it means to love and be loved. It's also a world that allows for the truly cruel and perverse, the sinful and the merciless all in the service of love. Boccaccio takes the prescribed rules for the game of courtly love from Andreas Cappelanus and breaks them all, with hilarious and tragic results.
Almost all the stories are about love and lust (we'll get to lust later). The most important message seems to be that love is a natural and powerful force that can't be denied; it overwhelms reason and common sense; it transforms people. In The Decameron, love is usually consummated in sex. Gentlemen have chaste love for their ladies only if they can't get their hands on them for some treason.
Questions About Love
- What does it mean to be in love, according to Boccaccio and his storytellers?
- What groups or types of people, if any, are excluded from the culture and practice of love? Why do you suppose Boccaccio portrays such groups or people in this way?
- What type of love relationship in The Decameron appears to be the strongest? Which is the weakest?
- How does Boccaccio depict women in love in this work? How about men? How do the differences affect your understanding of the purpose of these stories?
Chew on This
Love can move people to be self-sacrificing and noble—it makes them be their best selves.
Love can push people into irrational and destructive behavior.