The Decameron, part 6

Day Nine, Story Two
1. Once again we encounter a story that displays a less than flattering view of the church. By now, the readers have become used to this sort of behavior from people of religious positions. In fact, there has not been one positive review of Christianity. Just as the reader does not think twice about her actions, these sinning characters do not, and this story’s nun does not: instead of feeling discomfort from the fact that she has unholy desires, she is instead discontented that she and the man “bore this fruitless love for some time” (660). This character, like the majority of the others we have read about, considers her own pleasure more important than her religion or of the needs of others. And once again, the Abbess does not reprimand the sinning nun and again proves herself to be just as fallible: she is interrupted to punish the nun while “in the company of a priest whom she often had brought to her bedroom” (661). Here, Boccaccio manages to throw another member of the clergy into an already blasphemous situation. Even worse, neither the nun nor the Abbess resolve to change their ways, and instead decide that it is “impossible for people to defend themselves from the desires of the flesh” (662). These nuns (and the priest) are not very good examples of clergy members, and it is clear that Boccaccio wrote it to seem that way.
Day Ten, Story Ten
2. To be honest, I was very disappointed that this was the final story. Boccaccio has given us plenty of other better and more creative stories, with more entertaining endings and more complex characters. Gualtieri definitely does not deserve his wife’s love: she puts up with his ridiculous and cruel antics and never stands up for herself (and for whatever reason, the characters consider this a virtue). Griselda is tested supposedly because she is not to let her newfound power and riches go to her head; but it is clearly her husband who requires this testing. Also, if Gualtieri was to test a wife for thinking too highly of herself and believing she deserves the luxurious lifestyle; he should be testing a woman of noble lineage who would be more likely to not appreciate the marriage. Griselda’s clothing represents her honored position as Gualtieri’s wife (and is not Boccaccio’s strongest use of symbols). If anyone deserves an obedient love, it is Griselda- who, as Dioneo points out, would deserve “another man to warm her wool in order to get herself a nice-looking dress out of the affair”! (798). This story is different in the way that there is no person who sins outright; instead there is a debate as to how justified Gualtieri’s actions were. Though this was an interesting conflict in the tamer Erec and Enide, it’s not nearly as compelling when compared to the far more outrageous stories of The Decameron.