The Decameron, part 1

1. “He was as fond of women as dogs are of a beating with a stick; he was, in fact, more fond of men, more so than any other degenerate” (27). I took this passage in the First Day’s first story to be alluding to Ser Cepparello’s homosexuality; I find it especially interesting that this is limited to just one sentence, meaning the reader has to dig into the text to find and analyze it. Homosexuality in the Middle Ages was not doubt a taboo (as it still is in many cultures today) and was grouped with such behavior as bestiality (and no doubt garnered punishment). It is clear that the storyteller is grouping homosexuality in with the other vile qualities of this character, and this stands as a passing glance of the view of such behavior in those times.
2. “No one will ever know, and a sin that’s hidden is half forgiven” (48). In this quote, the Abbot of them First Day’s fourth story justifies his behavior in having sex with the young woman the monk was just with. This quote is peculiarly irrational; it seems illogical for God to forgive someone for concealing their sins (rather, I would assume that God would not appreciate a human trying to lie as well as to fornicate simultaneously). The only justification for this I can conceive is that the person is hiding because he or she recognizes his or her own wrongdoing against God (and God appreciates their knowledge that they are sinning), and they will presumably repent afterwards. I am not aware of this as an actual tenet of Christianity, but based on the lack of findings in my research of the principle, I can only conclude that it is a convenient and creative form of rhyming justification.
3. “Worthy ladies, if we examine closely the ways of Fortune, we will see that the more said about her ways, the more there remains to be said, and no one should be surprised at this fact, if he or she bears in mind that all those affairs which we foolishly call our own are in her hands, and as a result it is she who, according to her own secret judgment, endlessly moves and rearranges thing from one place to another and then back again without any discernable plan whatsoever” (86). Pampinea begins her story this way in the Second Day’s third story; and she reveals some of the principles of life of the Middle Ages- that all actions are part of a plan from the heavens/God. This reasoning denies that any person has control over their own matters, and suggests that our actions really have no effect on the outcomes of our lives. This is especially noteworthy when applied to the particular story presented- that of The Tebaldo brothers and their nephew Alessandro. Despite the fact that it is clearly the brothers’ fault that they have ruined their families’ and their own lives, the storyteller still insists that it is part of a greater design (in which these actions are designated to happen). The chance meeting and marriage of Alessandro and the Abbot is viewed not as a random encounter but instead as the work of Fortune. This perspective, in complete opposition to realism, claims that their meeting was more than just pure coincidence; and to me, this is once again a creative way to justify what one denies or doesn’t understand.