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Day 4: First Tale
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Decameron, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Love and Sex
Men and Women
Moderation and Excess
Intelligence
Class and Character
Faith vs. Religion
Summary
Analysis
Everyone weeps at the conclusion of Fiammetta’s tale, except Filostrato, who declares that Ghismonda and Guiscardo were luckier than him; they got to enjoy love for a time, but he dies a thousand daily deaths with no hope of reward. He asks Pampinea to speak next, and she—wanting to lighten the mood—decides to tell a lighthearted tale that still technically fits Filostrato’s theme. It also illustrates the hypocrisy of members of the religious orders, who are humble in asking for the money they crave but bold in criticizing people for their sins, even though the monks and nuns are often sinful themselves.
While most of the company expresses sympathy for the plight of Ghismonda and Guiscardo, Filostrato expresses jealousy instead, in line with his characterization as a love-tortured soul. Pampinea demonstrates her characteristic tact and wisdom in quickly reading the mood of the room and selecting a story that will cheer her companions up while also obeying the sovereign’s commands. The introduction to her tale directly criticizes the clergy for their hypocrisy and greed, and her tale will provide one of the funnier examples of anticlerical satire in the book.
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An extraordinarily wicked man named Berto della Massa, having destroyed his reputation in his hometown, moves to Venice pretending to be a holy man, then joins the Franciscans under the name Friar Alberto. Friar Alberto seems to live a holy life and preaches about repentance and abstinence, but he’s just biding his time until he has an opportunity to return secretly to his sinful ways. In addition to his monastic vocation, Friar Alberto even gets himself ordained, and as a priest, he celebrates the mass while weeping copious tears over Christ’s Passion.
Friar Alberto’s primary character trait is excess: he’s excessively sinful as a lay person and he’s excessively emotional as a priest. His tearful display while celebrating mass echoes famous 12th-century holy women called “beguines,” many of whom were known for their copious tears. Priests and monks were separate categories in the medieval church, although some men took both monastic and clerical (priest’s) vows as Friar Alberto has done here.
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His tears and holy reputation convince many Venetians to trust Friar Alberto with their souls and their worldly goods. One of these credulous Venetians is the wife of a wealthy merchant, a “frivolous and scatterbrained” woman named Monna Lisetta. While her husband is away, she comes to Friar Alberto for confession, during which he demands to know if she has a lover. Monna Lisetta is offended, declaring that although anyone with eyes can see that she’s beautiful enough to have as many lovers as she wants, she doesn’t serve every man who comes along because her charms would be exceptional even in Heaven.
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Realizing that Monna Lisetta is easy prey because she’s not bright, Friar Alberto falls in love with her. He chastises her vanity, greatly offending her. But a few days later, he visits her at home to beg forgiveness. That same night, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to him in a dream and beat him with a stick for having the impertinence to insult Monna Lisetta, whom Gabriel loves almost as dearly as he loves God. “Lady Bighead” is delighted, and there’s more: Gabriel wants to spend the night with her while inhabiting a human body. He asked Friar Alberto to arrange it for him.
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Because Gabriel loves her, Monna Lisetta should consider herself “the most blessed woman on earth.” She is thrilled and ready to accept if the angel promises not to leave her for the Blessed Virgin Mary. Friar Alberto humbly suggests that she ask the angel to use his body as a vehicle, while his soul will rest safely in heaven. Thinking this will make up for the beating he endured on her behalf, Lisetta agrees.
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After this interview, Monna Lisetta struts around her room with her head held so high that “her smock rose clear of her bottom.” Meanwhile, Friar Alberto eats meat and other delicacies to ensure an adequate performance in bed. After dark, he puts on an angelic costume and goes to Lisetta’s bedroom. She falls on her knees and “Gabriel” blesses her before they go to bed. Friar Alberto is a virile lover who greatly delights Monna Lisetta with his physical prowess.
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The next day, Monna Lisetta visits Friar Alberto, who claims to have no idea what happened to his body while his soul was in Paradise. She gives him a clue: there’s a kiss under his left breast that will be there for a week. “Gabriel” comes to Monna Lisetta at regular intervals until gossip of the affair comes out after she brags to a friend about how her beauty snared her a heavenly lover. The friend finds this so unbelievable and hilarious that she can’t help but chatter about it to her other friends, and ultimately Monna Lisetta’s brothers-in-law hear about the affair.
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Monna Lisetta’s brothers-in-law lay in wait to catch her lover, and the next time Friar Alberto stops by they are pounding at the door as he takes his clothes off. He leaps from the window and swims across the canal below, then throws himself on the mercy of an Honest Man living nearby, who puts Alberto to bed and tells him to stay there while he attends to his own business.
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By morning, the Honest Man has heard the rumors about the “angel” who left his wings with Monna Lisetta the previous night. Putting two and two together, he demands a large sum of money from Friar Alberto for his silence, then offers to smuggle him out of town in disguise, since there’s a carnival going on. Alberto is too scared of Monna Lisetta’s in-laws to refuse.
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The Honest Man smears Friar Alberto with honey, covers him with feathers, gives him a mask and a club, and chains him to some dogs. Meanwhile—remember that everyone knows Venetians are dishonest tricksters!—his friend spreads the word that the Archangel Gabriel will be at the carnival. When the Honest Man leads Alberto to the square, he ties him to a pillar and dramatically unmasks him. Recognizing the allegedly holy man, onlookers hurl trash and abuse at Friar Alberto until the rest of the Franciscans whisk him off to the monastery, where he ends his days in miserable penance.
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