Katee Allen

Boccaccio’s Women as Virtues

 In The Decameron, the tale starts with an explanation of a particular law which condemns women to burn if caught in the act of adultery by their husbands. Filippa was caught in such an act by her husband Rinaldo, who did not want to kill his wife by his own hands but decided to let the law do it for him. All were summoned to court and Filippa “…who was of an undaunted spirit, resolved to make her appearance, contrary to the advice of her friends, choosing rather to die by a resolute confession of the truth, than abscond and live basely in exile or, by denying the fact, show herself unworthy of the lover with whom she had this intrigue” (Boccaccio). Her case looks to be lost since there is clear proof of her infidelity which the law clearly condemns, but Filippa has wit on her side. As Psaki says in her essay “Women Make All Things Lose Their Power”,

Madonna Filippa will be burned at the stake unless she can sway the judge of her case. Her defenses are plural: her own beauty and nobility, which predispose him to exonerate her if she will only deny the charge; her courage and sense of innocence, which make that denial impossible; her shrewd and eloquent recourse to principles of law; and finally her appeal to humor which wins over not only the judge but the entire populace (Psaki 8).

 Psaki argues that though Filippa has no legal standing and no true argument to fall back on, it is her clever wit and execution of her argument that win over the judge and townsfolk. Filippa is clever enough to turn the law against itself, pointing out just how hypocritical it is and the double standards which it employs. She calls her husband out for his lack of pleasure, claiming that is the reason why she strayed. She does this not just to give herself an excuse but to humiliate him in front of the town, making him look just as bad as he has made her look. Psaki explains this by saying,

The scope of transmitted female knowledge is vast and malevolent: cosmetics to disguise vile female physicality or aging; stratagems for entrapping a man into marriage, and for concealing pregnancy or sexual experience before marriage; strategies for putting men at a disadvantage in marital skirmishes and thus controlling them; tactics for emotional and erotic manipulation; and ways to so control men’s perceptions that they are quite unaware of being in any way controlled (Psaki 3).

Filippa employs tactics such as these to keep herself free from a death penalty and to continue seeing her lover, the reader assumes, after the law has been changed in her favor. Her wit overcomes the natural inheritance that man has during these times to win the hearing, a large step for a woman to take during those times. She also uses his lack of sexual fulfillment to ridicule him, a perfect example of erotic manipulation used to degrade her husband in front of the court. During her interrogation, the judge asks that she confess, for he cannot condemn her otherwise. She does so without hesitation, but turns the tables on her husband by asking him questions to prove her faithfulness as his wife. She asks the judge for a favor, saying,

...before you pass sentence, I entreat one little favour of you, that is, that you would ask my husband whether... I have not yielded myself fully to his desires, without ever saying him nay." Rinaldo, without waiting to be questioned by the provost, declared at once, that the lady had never failed to respond to his wishes in that respect (Boccaccio).

This admittance of fulfilled sexual pleasure is exactly what Filippa had hoped for, responding in kind, “Well, then, master provost... if he has always had from me as much as he wanted and wished, what, I ask, was I to do with what was left? Should I throw it to the dogs? Is it not much better to gratify with it a man who loves me more than himself, than to let it be lost or spoiled?” (Boccaccio).

This quote brings to light the idea of the female orgasm and that a woman can also be sexually fulfilled a radical idea up until the early 1900s. But it is the reaction to this statement that is most shocking. The people shout that she is right in her assessment and mocks the husband for not pleasing his wife. This mockery leaves Rinaldo walking out in shame and humiliation while Filippa is freed, the law changed in her favor. This is a radical thought for the time period and shows that Boccaccio believed in the idea of a strong female, not just as a character in his stories but in the real world as well. By admitting that women had strong sexual feelings and were free and open to orgasms, this left Rinaldo emasculated, leaving his own sexuality in question that he could not even please his own wife.

Secondly we have the tale of Ghismonda, the daughter of Tancredi, the Prince of Salerno. She is recently widowed but her father, so in love with his daughter, does not want her to remarry. But as young adults are oft to do, she finds a lover named Guiscardo whom she has relations with in secret. In this particular tale, there is an abundance of sexualized descriptions for how Guiscardo came to her room, through a cave covered in vines which led to a secret stairway that led to her room, an obvious analogy for the female reproductive organs. However, her father soon finds out by hiding in her room and catching the two in the act, and berates her for this, telling her that he has imprisoned Guiscardo. She tries to yell, plead, and reason with him, but Tancredi will not be swayed. Later, he brings Ghismonda a chalice with Guiscardo’s heart in it, a sign of ultimate power over his daughter. She then pours poison in the cup, drinking it and dying. Ghismonda is the epitome of passion and love, much like the famous play by Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet. Both were so in love with each other, they ultimately died for each other.

Though the romance between Ghismonda and Guiscardo can be argued, as the two had little relations prior to their sexual exploits, it is the passion with which Ghismonda uses to argue with her father for her freedom to love whomever she wants that sets this story apart, along with the cruel act of Tancredi. All three characters of this story hold a large amount of passion for one another, but it is how they act upon these passions that shows Ghismonda for the virtue she is, to teach the female readers of The Decameron that passion is a good thing when used in the right ways. Tancredi was so overcome by his passion that he was blinded for it, focused solely on Ghismonda as an object of his affections that he did not take her seriously when she threatened death. His actions can even be viewed as an almost sexual fondness for his daughter. When he desired to have a talk with her, he went into her room and waited for her alone, hiding himself behind the curtains of her window while he waited. This is where he was when Ghismonda brought Guiscardo back to her room and engaged in sexual relations with him. Most fathers would have been ashamed, disgusted, and might have chastised their daughters for having extramarital relations. But Tancredi was beyond furious. He later confronts his daughter after imprisoning Guiscardo. His actions were extreme to say the least, going from what a father would normally do to having his daughter’s loved executed and presenting her with the man’s heart as a sign of his power over her. There is dispute as to whether he was in love with his daughter from a sexual perspective or if he was a father so blinded by his love of her and protective of her that he could not see how his protection ultimately killed her.

In Meghan Masterson’s article “The Decameron: Balm for a Ravaged Society”, she talks about how the passion between Ghismonda and Guiscardo is ultimately shown with his heart in the cup that she drinks from, lessening the passion that Tancredi has for Ghismonda by favoring the passion Ghismonda has for Guiscardo. Masterson states,

...the removal of the heart can be seen as an attempt to physically remove the love from the relationship. In the case of Fiammetta's tale, this does not work, and Tancredi is the one who suffers the most in the end. Guiscardo's heart is raw, and when Ghismonda cries tenderly over it, she is paying homage to the love that the two of them shared. Ghismonda uses the removed heart of Guiscardo to allow their love to triumph over the jealousy of Tancredi (Masterson).

 Tancredi could not see the damage he was doing to his own daughter. But Ghismonda’s love and passion, whether lying with her dead lover or with the ideal of love and freedom that her father had barred her from, is what sets her apart and causes her to kill herself. It might not be the idea of living without Guiscardo but rather the idea of having to live under the stern and ever watchful eye of her father who will not allow his grown daughter to ever marry again or have another lover due to his jealousy.

 In Frederick Keifer’s article, “Love and Fortune in Boccaccio’s Tancredi and Ghismonda Story and in Wilmont’s Gismond of Salerne”, he talks of how adolescent love overcomes the overbearing behavior of a parental figure through the workings of Fate and Love together. Keifer argues that it is Fate and Love that sends Guiscardo to Ghismonda, since there are so many obstacles that stand in his way yet he is able to come to her and love her as he will.

 “For Boccaccio, love does not wrench the lover's personality, leaving him emotionally contorted and wasted. Rather, it represents entirely natural and humanizing behavior. Boccaccio's wholly sympathetic treatment of the mutual affection of Ghismonda and Guiscardo extolls the positive value of love and sex” (Keifer 37).

Lastly, we have the absolute patience of Griselda. She was a peasant girl, selected as the wife of Gualtieri, the Marquis of Saluzzo. However, Gualtieri wants to live a quiet life and wants to make sure that Griselda will be able to give him that. To do so, he puts her through years of grueling emotional abuse. When they have their first child, a daughter, he lies to her and says that the people are displeased and he is going to kill her. Griselda is upset but submits, bending to the will of her lord. This happens again years later with a daughter, who is also taken off to be “killed”, which Griselda allows without any complaint. For over ten years she is subjected to emotional and verbal abuse at the hands of her husband, which she suffers in silence with unwavering patience and obedience. Finally, Gualtieri gives her one last test. He throws her out of his home, stripping her in nothing but her undergarments, and sends her back to her father’s house, only to bring her back to attend to his “new bride”, who happens to be their daughter. She does this and speaks nothing but kind words about Gualtieri to the girl. Finally, he reveals his trickery to Griselda, telling her that she passed his tests and he truly loves her, taking her back into his home and revealing their two children, alive and healthy. The story ends with the family happy and united.

In Marga Cottino-Jones’ article “Fabula vs. Figura: Another Interpretation of the Griselda Story”, Cottino-Jones makes the connection between Griselda’s patience to that of a Christ-like figure. Cottino-Jones makes the statement of Griselda’s obedience is a link to her love for Gualtieri, saying, “Griselda's love is no desire to be fulfilled for her own personal benefit; it is an extension of love still in human terms, but replacing personal gratification with unselfishness and self-sacrifice. Griselda is not simply a woman in love; she is the embodiment of love on a sacrificial level” (Cottino-Jones 39). This quote perfectly describes Griselda’s patience in terms of her virtue. The female readership of The Decameron will see Griselda as a sort of Christ-like figure, something that is to be desired and strived for. By showing unending patience at the hardships given to her by Gualtieri, she becomes the epitome of a good wife.

Cottino-Jones even stretches the Christ-like figure by reminding the reader how Griselda is christened at the end of the tale with regal clothes befitting her station as she is reintroduced into the family unit by Gualtieri. Cottino-Jones explains,

On this apotheosis of human excellence, further magnified by a last vision of Griselda in shining apparel emblemtic of triumphant royalty, the narrative world of the one hundred novellas closes. The Decameron, dedicated to women, narrated mostly by women, centered largely around women's actions an feelings, concludes with the apotheosis of the perfect woman, a feminine figura Christi... (Cottini-Jones 50).

 This explanation sums up the entire purpose of this paper. Boccaccio uses Griselda as a sort of Christ figure, showing her as the ultimate example of a woman that the readership should follow. Griselda is like Christ in both her patience and her obedience, following her master’s orders without question and performing her tasks without complaint. Boccaccio’s heavy emphasis on her virtues pressures the reader to strive to be like her.

 However, none of these women should be used exclusively as examples of model behavior for women. They all in some way have their flaws but when put together, make a perfect combination that a woman’s relationship could strive by. Observe that these stories all center on love and relationships and loyalty. Although, these are all three virtues presented that a woman “needs” for a successful relationship, it doesn't necessarily point out that a woman has to just smile and nod as they are always portrayed to be in order to be an ideal wife. It shows that by taking up these virtues, women do have a say and a choice in what kind of relationship they want to lead.

 Filippa’s persistence and reasoning kept her from facing a horrible end, a good skill any woman should have especially with abusive husbands such as Rinaldo. If not for her outstanding sense of justice, she would have been sentenced to death or would have had to leave the city and live in exile. But Filippa’s persistence also flows into Ghismonda, who leads her life by whimsy passion, but her own persistence shows when she is trying to reason with Tancredi on her own life, wanting to love whomever she chooses, having already been widowed once. But both are complete opposites of Griselda, whose patience, obedience, and kindness far exceed that of Filippa’s or Ghismonda’s. She went the route of the fairer female, using traditional female traits to win out in the end, though she endured terrible hardships before getting her happy ending while Filippa and Ghismonda used traditional masculine traits, reason, logic, and passion, to get their way.

 Boccaccio’s usage of the female character in The Decameron is set to exemplify just how important specific virtues are to the female readership. Filippa shows that a strong wit and mindful reasoning can work in a woman’s favor, despite breaking a very serious law. Ghismonda exemplifies passion and love, having died for her lover Guiscardo after her own father’s passion kills him, a story very reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Finally, Griselda is the ultimate Christ figure, radiating patience, kindness, and obedience in the face of horrible abuse at the hands of her husband, only to end up regaining everything in reward for her patience. These women were used by Boccaccio to teach the female readers how to be better women, whether that was how to be better lovers, wives, daughters, or mothers.

Works Cited

"Full Text of "Stories of Boccaccio (The Decameron)"" Full Text of "Stories of Boccaccio (The Decameron)" Web. 25 Nov. 2014. .

Cottino-Jones, Marga. "Fabula vs. Figura: Another Interpretation of the Griselda Story."Italica 50.1: 38-52. Print.

Keifer, Frederick. "Love and Fortune in Boccaccio's Tancredi and Ghismonda Story and in Wilmot's Gismond of Salerne." Renaissance and Reformation: 36-45. Print.

Masterson, Meghan. "The Decameron:Balm for a Ravaged Society." Communication and Culture. Web. 3 Dec. 2014. .

Psaki, Regina. "Women Make All Things Lose Their Power: Women 's Knowledge, Men 's Fear in the Decameron and the Corbaccio." Heliotropia - An Online Journal of Research to Boccaccio Scholars. 1 Jan. 2003. Web. 13 Nov. 2014. .