The Decameron: Misogynist or Feminist?

Olympe de Gouges (1748-93) lived in the French revolution, she was a writer, she cared for women and mostly about women rights, in her domain of writing she wrote many plays and published them, not forgetting that the woman role in those periods was very neglected and didn’t have a role in politics and social matters. Her story is interesting, her real name is Marie Gauzes, a daughter of a butcher and a farmer, she got married by the age of 16, after a while her husband died and she was gifted a baby, she refused to take her husband’s name, yet she took her maiden name in resignation, crafted herself a new name, using her mother’s middle name, added “de” and changed her father’s to Gouges. She helped applying equality for women in the era of

Giovanni Boccaccio's the Decameron, written in the Early Renaissance, is a sharp social commentary that reflected the ideas and themes of the Renaissance and of Renaissance Humanism. His tales of nuns and priests caught in compromising situations, corrupt clergy selling chances to see religious artifacts, and of wives cheating on their husbands show the changing ideals of the time and the corruption that was running rampant within the church and in the lives of the general populace. The Decameron speaks against this corruption and reflects the secular attitude of living as happily as possible, demoting the principals of Christian morality that had ruled daily life in the time before the Renaissance. Another concept that sprung from the

  In eighteenth century novels, a common means of discussing the role of women in society is through the characterization of two good sisters. The heroine of such a novel is a pure, kind young woman who also has a streak of spunkiness. Her sister may be more good and kind, but she is more submissive and reserved. I would like to look at these sisters (and their mothers) in Ann Radcliffe’s A Sicilian Romance , and The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole.

The main focus of the story is on Bertrande de Rols and her place in sixteenth century society, especially as a wife. At the age of nine, Bertrande was married to Martin Guerre who was a

The few major female characters in Candide, Cunegonde, Paquette, and the Old Woman, are all of different social classes, from the daughter of a baron, a chambermaid, to a daughter of a Pope. Despite their differences in class and nationality, each woman suffered through exploitation and rape. Paquette, a chambermaid for the Baroness of Thunder-ten-Tronckh, was forced into “…this abominable trade, which appears so pleasant to you men, while to us women it is the utmost abyss of misery” (68). Voltaire’s purpose in placing her in misery is because the protagonist, Candide, and his pessimistic friend, Martin, are trying to settle a bet to see if Paquette and her husband, Friar Grioflee, are as happy as they outwardly seem. However, in this, Voltaire criticizes women’s role in society as only existing in

Sixteenth-century rules included marrying at a young age, daily female tasks, pleasing their husbands and being virtuous and honorable. Bertrande met all these of characteristics, but met them on her own time. While society viewed her as a reputable young woman she had personal beliefs. She withheld bearing a child with Martin until she felt she was ready and when pressed by family to separate from Martin she refused. These traits portrayed how Bertrande was concerned about her reputation as a woman, but also showed that when she was confronted with the loss or gain of happiness she knew how to maneuver around society’s beliefs about women in the sixteenth-century.

During the reign of King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, France and England were in constant controversy over land. Battles were ongoing and the two kingdoms boundaries were continually shifting. At this time period, women were almost always under the thumb of men, which is what made Eleanor of Aquitaine so unique. She was a 12th century women who held a surprising amount of power. Be that as it may, the rarity of her situation and the gender inequalities of the time had caused her to be characterized as a vicious and scheming women. Many people of her age even considered her a murderer. Henry’s behavior, although it is nearly identical to what Eleanor is accused of, is excused as normal practices of a king, showing just how unfairly Eleanor has been treated by history.

Born in Italy in 1364 but relocating to Paris, France a few years after, Christine de Pizan wrote her literary work in the French vernacular. She was on her way to becoming a skillful scholar as a child with a high intellectual interest and as a part of the royal court of Charles V, she had many learning opportunities, “Christine was exposed to a wide range of experiences that she apparently used to her full advantage” (Birk 17). Her most significant work was her involvement in the querelle des femmes (the women’s quarrel), in which she participated in a years long debate known as the Debate on the Romance of the Rose. Christine’s argument in the debate was an important benefactor in the advancement of women in the Middle Ages. With her literary contributions, such as the God of Love’s Letter,

Coras, in his account of the trial, proclaims that Bertrande was easily duped because of “the weakness of her sex, easily deceived by the cunning and craftiness of men” (Davis, p. 110). Since Davis reveals that the judge certainly held some women in high regard, such as his wife and daughter, his reasoning he gives for letting Bertrande walk is rather unconvincing; his use of gender stereotypes is merely a ploy to disguise his religious beliefs and his acceptance that women such as Bertrande were intuitive, despite the attempts of men to make them seem inferior. Without this context in the film, it is difficult to truly see the significance of the story as it pertains to gender

Boccaccio also infused The Decameron with his opinions on the Catholic church, which even at that time was Italy’s primary religious institution. Catholicism may have been popular, but Boccaccio was very blatant in showing that he did not approve of the Church’s conduct. In The Decameron, religion was practiced by fools, the church was a breeding ground for mischief, and “marriage” was a transaction devoid of meaning.

In comparison, of Terence’s Andria (The Girl from Andros) and Ovid’s Metamorphosis (Transformations), the audience can understand two distinct roles of women from these authors’ works. Additionally, the audience can also come to see a general role of women in Roman literature. The role of women within these works show slight changes in plays and poetry to represent stronger female characters and developing their own voice.

Carol Lazzaro-Weis is the President of the American Association of Italian Studies, the largest associate of university professors of Italian in North America and serves on several editorial boards. Professor Lazzaro-Weis has been appointed to serve on the International Advisory Board for The Centre of Contemporary Women’s Writing. Her teaching and research interests include nineteenth and twentieth century Italian literature, genre, French women writers of the seventeenth and eighteenth century, feminist theory, etc. In addition to numerous articles on French and Italian writers, she has published the following books: From Margins to Mainstream: Feminism and Fictional modes in Italian Women’s Writing, La Signorina and Other Stories, Confused Epiphanies: L’abbé Prévost and the Romance Tradition, etc. She is currently preparing a book-length manuscript on women’s historical novels in Italy, France, Francophone Canada and the Caribbean.

Boccaccio's’ portrays women of the Middle Ages as overtly sexual, outspoken and highly self motivated characters, while women of the time often knew their place in society. The women often performed task when the men were away or unable to get their tasks done. Boccaccio states in the Introduction that he created this piece of work for all the ladies out there. He said he created career suicide by writing The Decameron for and about women but he does it because he loves them. The roles of women in this time period were firmly connected through the Church. The Catholic Church was not only a governing system but also maintained an ideal of morality. It was often said that respect for women is only found in a society where monogamy is the law of the land (“Roles”). Monogamy is the practice of being married to only one person at a time which would be respectful towards women because the husband only has one wife. Polygamy was also a practice at the time where a husband has

Boccaccio’s Decameron is a revolutionary text not only because of its irreverent attitude toward courtly love, but also due to its portrayal of female autonomy, not something that was necessarily common in the fourteenth century. Not only did women in The Decameron initiate their own relationships and seek out sexual pleasure, many of them also refused to submit to men, and some even went as far as to commit suicide rather than lose control of their own bodies.

Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian humanist writer and poet from Florence. He lived through the plague, and wrote an account of what he observed in his famous book The Decameron. This account is considered one of the most realistic and reliable portrayals of what life was like in Italy during the plague. However, most of the book focuses not so much on the plague itself, but on a group of young men and women and their servants who escape the city and flee to an abandoned country villa, where they intend to wait out the plague. They pass the time by taking turns telling stories, and this lasts for ten days (“Decameron” coming from the Greek word for “ten days”). The stories cover an array of subjects and feature many characters, often royalty, peasants, and members of the church. Many of the stories focus on relationships between men and women, and through these interactions one could argue that it appears that Boccaccio depicts women as the better sex in many regards. “When examining stories where Boccaccio details male-female relationships, it emerges that women are stronger, more lustful, and more cunning” (Kulshrestha).