Character Analysis
"I am so young..."
She really is. At 18, Neifile is a stereotypically inexperienced young woman who blushes when she's elected queen (hey, everyone's looking at her). She's also just as sweet and lovely as can be, her youthful beauty the ideal of innocence:
[...] her face was like the rose that blooms at dawn in early summer, whilst her eyes, which she had lowered slightly, glittered and shone like a morning star. (II.Conclusion.186)
Sigh. We just love her.
Even her brush with love is adorable. It becomes clear that she's in love with one of the three men in the brigata when she objects to Pampinea's plan to ask them along on the trip. Impossible, says Neifile, because the men are in love with some of the ladies. We never find out the name of her lover, but her song at the conclusion of Day Nine is as optimistic as a Disney princess as she awaits her prince:
'I fancy my sweet love to be/Standing himself in front of me/Whose person hath so kindled me.' (IX.Conclusion.700)
Awwww.
Out of the Mouths of Babes
But for all her sweet, youthful beauty and first steps toward love, Neifile is nobody's fool. She proves herself to be a good storyteller (and singer), although she's very modest and self-deprecating about her skills. She's also a capable verbal sparring partner. Filostrato tries to make her blush by making a lewd comment about teaching the ladies a "thing or two," but she's ready for him:
'Allow me to tell you, Filostrato,' replied Neifile, 'that if you men had tried to teach us anything of the sort, you might have learned some sense from us, as Masetto did from the nuns, and retrieved the use of your tongues when your bones were rattling from exhaustion.' (III.Conclusion.280)
Oh, snap!
No one expected such a response from young Neifile, including Filostrato. It's Neifile who proposes a break from storytelling on the weekend so that they can fulfill religious obligations and take care of personal hygiene. She also suggests and arranges for the move to the second palace, showing that she's capable of making decisions for the crew, despite the blushing.
Neifile's Stories
Neifile tells the following tales:
Abraham the Jew (I.2)
Martellino (II.1)
Gilette (III.9)
Girolamo and Salvestra (IV. 8)
Giannole and Minghino (V.5)
Chichibio the Cook (VI.4)
Ariguccio Berlinghieri (VII.8)
Gulfardo (VIII.1)
The Two Ceccos (IX.4)
Ruggieri and King Alfonso (X.1)