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Day 5: Fourth 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
It takes a long time after Filostrato’s tale ends for the laughter to die down, and Fiammetta declares that he’s atoned for yesterday’s sorrows before asking Neifile to tell the next story.
The temporary imbalance and sadness introduced by Filostrato’s theme on Day 4 (lovers whose affairs ended in tragedy or misfortune) is balanced on a large scale by the theme of Day 5 (lovers who overcome difficulties and bad luck to find a happy ending). It’s also balanced on a small scale when Filostrato repents for his excessively tragic story on Day 4 (IV, 9, Roussillon’s wife eating her lover’s heart) with an exceptionally hilarious one.
Active
Themes
In Fano, aged Lombard knight Guidotto da Cremona bequeaths his wealth (which includes a generous dowry for the girl’s eventual marriage) and his adopted daughter (later identified as Agnesa) to his friend Giacomino da Pavia. Giacomino takes Agnesa to Faenza. He lived there until it was torn apart by war, and now that peace has returned, he does too. He loves Agnesa and treats her as a daughter while she grows into a lovely and virtuous young woman.
As in Elissa’s recent story (V, 3), real political upheavals from the decades around when Giovanni Boccaccio composed The Decameron (in this case, the capture and plunder of Faenza by enemy forces) provide realistic details to create the backdrop to the tales.
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Themes
Agnesa attracts the romantic attention of two young men, Giannole di Severino and Minghino di Mingole. Neither family will consent to a marriage, however, given the girl’s unknown parentage. Both young men resolve independently to “seize possession of her” by any means. Giannole cultivates Giacomino da Pavia’s servant Crivello, who can tell him when the master is out and Agnesa is at home undefended. Minghino secures the help of a maid, who carries his messages to Agnesa and encourages her to return the young man’s affections. One night when they both know that Giacomino will be out, they each make plans to allow their respective gentleman to see Agnesa. On the appointed evening, Giannole, Minghino, and their friends approach the house.
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Themes
Crivello lets Giannole di Severino in first and he immediately seizes Agnesa. But when she struggles and screams, Minghino di Mingole hears the commotion from the street and rushes in. Minghino’s men attack Giannole’s, and the chaos draws the attention of the whole neighborhood. Minghino manages to snatch Agnesa from Giannole and put her back in the house before the young men are arrested. When Giacomino da Pavia returns home, all is quiet, but he nevertheless plans to marry Agnesa off as soon as possible to prevent a reprise of the night’s events.
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Themes
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In the morning, the families of the young men visit Giacomino da Pavia hoping to soften his desire for retribution against their sons. Giacomino responds that they haven’t wronged him, but rather one of their own, since his friend rescued Agnesa from Faenza. When the worthy men ask how Agnesa came to be in his care, he tells them that his friend, Guidotto da Cremona, found a two-year-old child while plundering houses in the city during the last war. Taking pity on the abandoned girl, he rescued her and brought her to Fano—along with the plunder, which he planned to use as her dowry. In the crowd, Guiglielmino da Medicina (who was with Guidotto at the time) asks another listener, Bernabuccio, if the story sounds familiar, since Bernabuccio lost a daughter around that time, who might be Agnesa.
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Themes
Guiglielmino da Medicina asks Bernabuccio if his daughter had any distinguishing birthmarks or scars; she had a cross-shaped scar above her left ear. Giacomino da Pavia gives him permission to examine Agnesa for this scar, which he finds. He tenderly embraces the surprised girl and then reveals that Agnesa is the daughter he thought had died in the earlier violent period. It turns out that Giannole di Severino is Agnesa’s brother. The magistrate frees him and brokers a peace between him and Minghino di Mingole. Soon afterwards, Agnesa and Minghino are married, subsequently living comfortable and peaceful lives.
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