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Francesco Vergellesi
Francesco’s Wife appears alongside Francesco Vergellesi in Elissa’s third tale (III, 5). She demonstrates wifely obedience when Francesco orders her to listen but not respond to Zima’s impassioned statements of love. However, she ultimately allows herself to be swayed by the power of love and avoids wasting her youth on an absent husband, taking Zima as her lover. Thus, while she is still the object with which Zima is rewarded for his perseverance, she also demonstrates female sexual agency.
Francesco’s Wife Quotes in The Decameron
The The Decameron quotes below are all either spoken by Francesco’s Wife or refer to Francesco’s Wife. 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:
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Day 3: Fifth Tale Quotes
Dearest beloved, since I am yours and you alone have the power to fortify my soul with some vestige of hope as I languish in the fiery flames of love, I beseech you, as your most humble servant, to show me some mercy and mitigate the harshness you have been wont to display towards me in the past. Your compassion will console me, enabling me to claim that it is to your beauty that I owe, not only my love, but also my very life, which will assuredly fail unless your proud spirit yields to my entreaties, and then indeed people will be able to say that you have killed me. Now, leaving aside the fact that my death would not enhance your reputation, I believe, also, that your conscience would occasionally trouble you and you would be sorry for having been the cause of it.
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Zima is madly in love with the exceptionally beautiful and faithful wife of Francesco Vergellesi, yet she doesn’t return his affection. When Francesco wants to acquire Zima’s fine horse, he thinks he can do so by manipulating the young man’s feelings, and Zima offers to trade the steed for a chance to have a private conversation with Francesco’s wife. This passage is part of that conversation in which Zima declares his love. Although Zima is wealthy, he isn’t a noble, unlike Francesco and his wife. In the classic medieval conception of fin’amors (refined loving), the kind of love that Zima Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Volup
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Francesco’s Wife Character Timeline in The Decameron
The timeline below shows where the character Francesco’s Wife appears in The Decameron. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Day 3: Fifth Tale
...happens to belong to a man of humble birth called Zima (“The Dandy”). Zima loves Francesco’s Wife , and Francesco thinks he can leverage this to get the horse for free.
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...his wife. Francesco readily agrees but forbids his wife from replying in any way. Although Francesco’s Wife resents this arrangement, she has no choice but to comply. Taking her to the side,...
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Previously, Francesco’s Wife has never appreciated Zima’s advances, but in listening to his speech, she is moved to...
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After Zima leaves Francesco’s Wife , he complains to Francesco that he may as well have been talking to a...
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