The Decameron: Day 1: Fifth Tale Summary & Analysis

Dioneo’s tale forces the brigata to consider the limits of reasonable pleasure. Although it initially embarrasses the women’s modesty, they eventually acknowledge its humor. The goal of the brigata in leaving Florence was to find pleasure in living moderately, and Dioneo’s tales consistently demonstrate the limits of the moderate/moral without crossing the line. Fiammetta picks up on the theme of wit and wisdom that both draws on earlier medieval texts governing romantic relationships (in providing an example of how a woman can rebuff a man who outranks her) and offers a contrast to the Country Girl’s wordless acquiescence to the Young Monk’s and Abbot’s sexual advances in the preceding story (I, 4).

The Marchioness of Montferrat and King Philip II of France are the book’s first (but not last) historical characters. But Giovanni Boccaccio tends to use historical characters loosely, as he does in this case—the historical Marchioness would have been an old woman and is unlikely to have been desired by the French King during the tale’s timeframe. In this tale, however, she is the epitome of feminine virtue and wisdom. King Philip’s desire is an example of “amor du lonh” or “love from afar,” a feature of the fin’amors (refined loving) that was popular in medieval literature and culture. And the Marchioness’s instinctive understanding of the King’s immoral plans offers a reminder of the precarious and vulnerable situation of women in a society where their chastity was of the utmost importance, but they were also vulnerable to the authority and physical threats of men.