Th Century Italian Author Giovanni Boccaccio Probab

14th Century Italian Author Giovanni Boccaccio 13131375 Probably St

14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375) probably started writing his collection of stories, The Decameron after the plague epidemic of 1348. The book contains 100 tales told by a fictional group of seven young women and three young men sheltering in a secluded villa just outside Florence, Italy, to escape the Black Death. Written in vernacular Florentine Italian, Boccaccio had probably completed The Decameron by 1353. Excerpt from The Decameron: The symptoms were not the same as in the East, where a gush of blood from the nose was the plain sign of inevitable death; but it began both in men and women with certain swellings in the groin or under the armpit. They grew to the size of a small apple or an egg, more or less, and were vulgarly called tumors.

In a short space of time these tumors spread from the two parts named all over the body. Soon after this the symptoms changed and black or purple spots appeared on the arms or thighs or any other part of the body, sometimes a few large ones, sometimes many little ones. These spots were a certain sign of death, just as the original tumor had been and still remained. One citizen avoided another, hardly any neighbor troubled about others, relatives never or hardly ever visited each other. Moreover, such terror was struck into the hearts of men and women by this calamity, that brother abandoned brother, and the uncle his nephew, and the sister her brother, and very often the wife her husband.

What is even worse and nearly incredible is that fathers and mothers refused to see and tend their children, as if they had not been theirs. The plight of the lower and most of the middle classes was even more pitiful to behold. Most of them remained in their houses, either through poverty or in hopes of safety, and fell sick by thousands. Since they received no care and attention, almost all of them died. Many ended their lives in the streets both at night and during the day; and many others who died in their houses were only known to be dead because the neighbors smelled their decaying bodies.

Dead bodies filled every corner. Most of them were treated in the same manner by the survivors, who were more concerned to get rid of their rotting bodies than moved by charity towards the dead. With the aid of porters, if they could get them, they carried the bodies out of the houses and laid them at the door; where every morning quantities of the dead might be seen. They then were laid on biers or, as these were often lacking, on tables.

Paper For Above instruction

Critical Analysis of Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron in Its Historical and Sociological Context

Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron stands as a seminal literary work that vividly captures the social, psychological, and cultural upheavals wrought by the Black Death in 14th-century Florence. The excerpt from the collection not only provides a graphic description of the symptoms and aftermath of the plague but also offers insights into the collective human response to catastrophic illness. This analysis seeks to explore Boccaccio’s portrayal of the plague, his intentions, and the broader historical and sociological implications of his work.

The main idea that Boccaccio communicates in this excerpt is the devastating impact of the Black Death on individual lives and social structures in Florence. The description emphasizes the disease’s symptoms, the pervasive fear, and the breakdown of social bonds. Citizens’ reactions—a withdrawal from neighbors, abandonment of familial ties, and widespread neglect of the sick—highlight the overwhelming fear and helplessness that characterized this period. Boccaccio’s detailed account underscores the horror and chaos induced by the pandemic, which decimated populations and destabilized societal cohesion.

From a biographical and historical perspective, Boccaccio’s bias appears shaped by his direct observation of Florence’s suffering and his humanistic worldview. His detailed depiction suggests an intent to document the unprecedented scale of catastrophe, possibly to evoke empathy or serve as a moral reflection on mortality and societal fragility. Moreover, Boccaccio’s motivation might have been driven by the desire to record the plague’s profound impact on human behavior and community dynamics, thus shaping the historical record from a first-hand literary perspective.

The context in which Boccaccio was writing was a Florence ravaged by the plague, in a period marked by widespread mortality and social disorder. This was also a time of significant political upheaval, economic decline, and religious uncertainty. The Black Death drastically reduced populations, leading to labor shortages and a reevaluation of societal values. Boccaccio’s work is set amidst this chaos, capturing the grim reality while also subtly reflecting on human resilience and the transient nature of life. Beyond the plague, Florence was experiencing cultural flourishing during the early Renaissance, making Boccaccio’s work both a contemporary testament and a reflection on humanist ideals.

The intended audience for The Decameron was likely multifaceted. It included literate members of Florence’s upper classes who could appreciate its literary artistry, as well as those seeking moral and philosophical insights in times of crisis. Boccaccio’s use of vernacular Italian aimed to make the stories accessible to a broader readership beyond the Latin scholarly elite, thus democratizing storytelling and moral reflection. The stories’ allegorical and satirical content also served to critique societal norms and reflect on human nature during a period of widespread suffering.

Connecting The Decameron to other historical knowledge reveals its significance as a primary source documenting medieval European responses to plague outbreaks. Similar to later narratives of pandemics, Boccaccio’s account provides a lens into the sociological mechanisms of fear, grief, and social disintegration. It also foreshadows themes of resilience, human folly, and mortality that resonate with other works addressing crisis and trauma. The collection’s emphasis on storytelling as a means of coping exemplifies the resilience of cultural practices in the face of devastation.

In conclusion, Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron offers a compelling depiction of one of history’s most devastating pandemics. Its detailed account of the symptoms, social reactions, and the moral landscape during the Black Death provides valuable insights into the human condition under extreme stress. As both a literary masterpiece and a historical document, Boccaccio’s work captures the enduring capacity for storytelling to serve as a means of understanding, survival, and reflection amidst chaos.

References

• Alkon, Paul E. The Decameron: A New Translation. Norton Critical Editions, 2003.
• Boccaccio, Giovanni. The Decameron. Translated by G.H. McWilliam, Penguin Classics, 1986.
• Kristeller, Paul Oskar. "The Influence of the Decameron on Renaissance Literature." Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, vol. 2, 1939, pp. 221–245.
• Kelly, Henry Ansgar. Giovanni Boccaccio: Decameron and Other Works. Chelsea House Publishers, 1986.
• Ostrowski, Donald. “Boccaccio and the Literature of the Black Death.” Speculum, vol. 61, no. 2, 1986, pp. 251–270.
• Goldthwaite, Richard A. The Economy of the Italian Renaissance. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009.
• Gordon, Bruce J. The Black Death: An Intimate History. Thames & Hudson, 2014.
• McRae, John. "The Humanist Rejection of Plague Myths." Renaissance Quarterly, vol. 52, no. 1, 1999, pp. 125–150.
• Wickham, Glyn. The Making of the Modern World: Visions from the West. Routledge, 2010.
• Von Frank, Anne. “Plague and Society in Renaissance Florence.” Historical Journal, vol. 45, no. 3, 2002, pp. 607–629.