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Day 5: 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
Pampinea, noting the power of love to induce people to face risks and endure great hardships, begins her tale next. On Ischia, Restituta—daughter of Marin Bòlgaro—and Gianni are in love. Gianni frequently swims the channel between his island and hers at night just to catch a glimpse of the walls of her home.
Restituta’s name literally means “something stolen or lost having been returned to its rightful owner,” so even before the story truly begins, readers are primed to expect that she will be lost, then recovered, by Gianni. His swimming across the channel at night recalls the Greek myth of Hero (a virginal priestess of Aphrodite, the goddess of love) and Leander, who would swim across the river to woo her. Their love ended tragically, but on Day 5 of The Decameron, the audience can expect a better fate for Restituta and Gianni.
Themes
One day, Restituta is surprised and kidnapped by a band of Sicilian pirates. When they argue about who gets to keep her, they decide to present her as a gift to King Frederick of Sicily, a man “much addicted to pretty things of that sort.” He likes this gift, but as he’s currently feeling somewhat unwell, he puts her in a villa inside his garden for safekeeping until he can enjoy her. Learning about the abduction, Gianni hires a frigate and sets off to find Restituta. When he learns that she was given to King Frederick in Sicily, the power of his love narrowly keeps him from despair.
Although Restituta’s abduction is bad luck, her fortunes improve somewhat when the pirates’ argument prevents them from raping her themselves and when King Frederick’s illness prevents her from immediately becoming his concubine. The pirates and the king, all men, consider Restituta not as a human being but as a pretty “thing,” which highlights her vulnerability and reduces her to an object rather than a human being. The pirates attempt to leverage the power of gifts when they offer something so pretty to King Frederick, which can only enhance their reputation in the eyes of their sovereign. And until he can enjoy his new toy, the king stores Restituta in a walled garden. This both forms her prison and suggests the amorous plans he has for her in the future, since gardens are places for love in The Decameron. Gianni proves his worthiness as a lover when he immediately sets out after Restituta, and when the strength of his love keeps him from losing all hope.
Themes
In Sicily, Gianni catches sight of Restituta when he’s walking past the garden one day. She shows him how he can enter the garden and climb through her window. In the past, she had “treated him rather cruelly” because she wanted to preserve her chastity. But now, knowing what to expect from King Frederick, she feels that it’s lost anyway. Between this and her gratitude towards Gianni for coming after her, she decides to “gratify his every desire.” But in the middle of the night, a recovered King Frederick remembers her existence. When he enters the room preceded by a “blazing torch,” he discovers her entangled in Gianni’s arms.
Themes
Speechless with horror and rage, King Frederick nearly kills Restituta and Gianni right then. But feeling that killing sleeping victims is a coward’s act, he decides to burn them at the stake publicly instead. The lovers are arrested and tied back-to-back (still naked) to a stake to await their execution. Everyone in the city hurries to gawk at them. While they hang their heads in shame and curse their misfortune, the public admires her beauty and his good figure. Among the crowd is Ruggieri de Loria, who recognizes Gianni. Gianni explains that he’s there because of his love for Restituta and the wrath of the King. He asks Ruggieri to beg one last favor for him: that he and Restituta be allowed to face each other as they die.
Themes
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Ruggieri de Loria, at that time Admiral of the Royal Fleet, uses his clout to stay the execution while he talks to King Frederick. Acknowledging the wrong that the King has endured, Ruggieri nevertheless urges clemency towards Restituta and Gianni, since their families are politically important to the King. Moreover, they “sinned” under the power of love, not out of disrespect. Horrified, King Frederick repents the sentence and orders the immediate release of the lovers. Dressing them in fine clothes, he holds their wedding in Sicily and gives them magnificent gifts before sending them home to live happily.
Themes
