Arriguccio Berlinghieri appears in Neifile’s seventh tale (VII, 8) as the husband of Monna Sismonda. He is a social climber who married a noblewoman to break into aristocratic circles after becoming rich as a merchant. When he discovers the string Sismonda uses to communicate with Ruberto, her lover, he becomes enraged and tries to punish her with a brutal beating and by sending her dishonorably back to her family. But when Sismonda foils his plot with a second trick, she makes him look like a fool.
Arriguccio Berlinghieri Quotes in The Decameron
The The Decameron quotes below are all either spoken by Arriguccio Berlinghieri or refer to Arriguccio Berlinghieri. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Day 7: Eighth Tale
Quotes
God in heaven, you think he had picked you up out of the gutter! […] These country yokels, they move into town after serving as cut-throat to some petty rustic tyrant, and wander about the streets in rags and tatters, their trousers all askew, with a quill sticking out from their backsides, and no sooner do they get a few pence in their pockets than they want the daughters of noble gentlemen and fine ladies for their wives. And they devise a coat of arms for themselves and go about saying: “I belong to such-and-such a family” and “My people did so-and-so.”
Related Characters:
Sismonda’s Mother (speaker), Arriguccio Berlinghieri, Monna Sismonda, Neifile
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Decameron LitChart as a printable PDF.
Arriguccio Berlinghieri Character Timeline in The Decameron
The timeline below shows where the character Arriguccio Berlinghieri appears in The Decameron. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Day 7: Eighth Tale
The next storyteller is Neifile, whose tale concerns Arriguccio Berlinghieri , a wealthy merchant who tries to climb the social ladder through his marriage to...
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...lets it drop, the coast is clear and he can come to the door; if Arriguccio Berlinghieri is home, she pulls the string back in, warning Ruberto to leave. This system works...
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Hearing him coming, Ruberto runs off with Arriguccio Berlinghieri in hot pursuit. Eventually, Ruberto turns to face Arriguccio, and the two begin to fight....
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After Arriguccio Berlinghieri storms off, Monna Sismonda moves the maid (arranging for her medical care), makes the bed,...
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To make a long story short, Monna Sismonda’s brothers tell her Arriguccio Berlinghieri ’s allegations. She claims that this is the first time he’s set foot in the...
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Sismonda’s mother attacks “yokels” (like Arriguccio Berlinghieri ) who think that they can make it as noblemen just because they’re rich. Warning...
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