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Day 4: Fifth Tale
Themes
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
Panfilo, inspired by Lisabetta’s dream, prefaces his tale with a few observations about dreams. While everyone has them, people interpret them differently. Because some dreams feel realistic, some people put as much faith in them as in reality. Others refuse to believe that dreams can be prophetic until it’s too late. Panfilo believes that, while not all dreams come true, some do. Those who live virtuously have nothing to fear from bad dreams, but evildoers shouldn’t trust auspicious dreams.
Panfilo’s introduction covers the range of basic beliefs about dreams in medieval culture. Panfilo himself comes down on a moderate position, claiming that while many dreams are meaningless phantasms, some are indeed prophetic. Unfortunately, prophetic dreams are usually proved when they come true—for good or ill.
Themes
In Brescia, nobleman Negro da Pontecarraro has an unmarried and very beautiful daughter named Andreuola. She falls in love with her neighbor, Gabriotto, who is handsome and admirable although he is from a lower class. They marry in secret and frequently meet in her father’s garden.
The other unmarried girls in Day 4’s stories rebel against fathers and brothers for their failure to arrange marriages in a timely fashion, but there is no indication that Negro da Pontecarraro has failed in his duty towards his daughter. The only hint of why she might have married Gabriotto in secret lies in their class difference: she is a noble, but he is from a lower class. Nevertheless, his character proves his worth. Unlike many of the day’s other women, Andreuola takes her fate into her own hands while remaining within the bonds of social propriety: although her marriage to Gabriotto is secret, that doesn’t make it any less legal. Like many happy lovers, they spend time in each other’s arms in the idyllic setting of a beautiful garden.
Themes
One night, Andreuola dreams that she and Gabriotto are making love in the garden when a dark shadow comes out of his body, takes ahold of him, and pulls him out of her arms and underground. She’s so terrified when she wakes up that she won’t see Gabriotto the following night. But she can’t keep him away forever, and on the third day they meet in the garden, where red and white roses are blooming.
Themes
Gabriotto laughs at Andreuola when she tells him her dream, since he thinks it’s silly to believe in dreams. He had a nightmare himself on the same night, in which he captured a pleasant doe while hunting in the woods. He put a gold collar and chain on its neck, but while he was sitting with it, a starving black dog appeared from thin air. It bit him on the left side and gnawed until it reached his heart, which it pulled out and carried away. The dream was so vivid that when he woke up, he had to run his hands over his chest to make sure it hadn’t really happened. But it didn’t stop him from coming to see his wife tonight.
Themes
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Andreuola is terrified, and as she feared, Gabriotto drops dead after a few minutes. Andreuola tries to revive him to no avail. She fetches a maid, and after they weep for a while, they decide to wrap him in a silk shroud and deliver him to his family’s home. They hope this will preserve Andreuola’s reputation, keep her marriage secret, and ensure that Gabriotto is properly buried.
Themes
Andreuola places her wedding ring on Gabriotto’s finger, and the two women carry him out of the garden. Unfortunately, they are surprised in the street by two guards. Realizing how suspicious her actions look, Andreuola volunteers to go with them and explain herself to the Magistrate. Doctors examine the body and determine that Gabriotto died of natural causes, namely a burst abscess near his heart. But convinced that Andreuola must be guilty of something—and feeling lustful—he offers to trade her freedom for sex. She refuses, and he tries to rape her, but she successfully defends herself.
Themes
In the morning, Negro da Pontecarraro hurries to the Magistrate’s office. After hearing the whole story, he demands Andreuola’s release. To get ahead of potential rape accusations, the Magistrate praises her chastity, tells her father that he’s fallen deeply in love with her and wants to marry her—even though her first husband had been of such a “lowly condition.”
Themes
Andreuola falls at Negro da Pontecarraro’s feet, weeping and begging forgiveness for marrying without his permission. She doesn’t ask him to spare her life, but says she wants to die as his “daughter, and not … his enemy.” Her generous and affectionate father bursts into tears, telling her that he always wanted her to marry a worthy man; if she was pleased by Gabriotto, then his wish was granted. He’s sad that she didn’t trust him enough to tell him, but now that he knows about his son-in-law, he intends to honor him with a splendid funeral.
Themes
Gabriotto’s family joins Andreuola’s to mourn the young man’s death, and he is grieved in splendor in the garden before being buried as a nobleman. Although the Magistrate reiterates his proposal, Negro da Pontecarraro supports Andreuola’s decision to enter a convent, where she spends the rest of her life in prayer and service to God.
Themes
