Day 1 - Pampinea
Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 11:43 am
Hello readers!
This thread will include the Prologue, the Author's introduction, as well as the stories.
According to the notes in the back of the book, it was common for medieval writers to open with a proverbial saying. And so, with Harry Potter magic wand held high... 'opus illustrant proverbia!!!' (proverbs illustrate the work).
Opening Proverbial Saying:
"To take pity on people in distress is a human quality which every man and woman should possess, but it is especially requisite in those who have once needed comfort, and found it in others."
This sentence, for me, was a little enigmatic. Knowing Boccaccio's history as an artist who relied on wealthy men to sustain him and keeping in mind his father's bankruptcy - this sentence seems like it was written to scold those too proud to part with wealth for the benefit of men in some form of need. It most likely isn't. This book's stories are filled with comedic and romantic comfort for those that were able to survive the plague. Boccaccio was 'comforting' as best he knew how... by telling stories that would stir, tickle, and titillate those trapped in a nightmare. He may have, to some, overstepped the boundaries of what is proper. He didn't overstep them so much as he bounded over them with conscious negligence. It was his duty to meet this intense wretched state with something of equal intensity. If the plague had cast mankind's hopes and humor down into the furthest reaches of Tartarus, Boccaccio would provide a ladder long enough to enable them escape. This book, for those people, was 'escape' and we see our 10 doing just that in the subsequent Author's introduction - physically escaping the atmosphere of the plague and then mentally leaving it behind as well.
You'll notice Boccaccio talking about a most lofty and noble love in the Prologue. Apparently he's made up an imaginary lady of noble birth that he was supposed to have had an intimate liaison with. hehehe. It may have been true but the book believes the lady he past off as his lover never existed. Ha! How do you like that for a story teller?
"And it pleased Him..." Boccaccio acknowledges god. For all the clergy bashing he does throughout this book, Boccaccio does believe in god. He's a satirist making fun of men - not god. This is a noteworthy distinction for those interested.
"And what was once a source of pain has now become, having shed all discomfort, an abiding sensation of pleasure." More words of comfort and probably my favorite line in the Prologue. Boccaccio on love and life - he was in his 30's when he wrote this. Far too young to be looking back but disaster does have a way of aging a man. Besides, I think aging himself has benefits considering the scandalous tales he's about to lay on us.
You'll catch a glimpse here in the Prologue of B.'s thoughts on the ladies. They're treated somewhat like children. Men were married to girls as young as 11 in these times, maybe even younger? They weren't well educated and were expected to stay at home. B. doesn't pay them many compliments throughout the book, at all. They can be tricked easily (for the most part - sometimes they do the tricking!), they're fickle and untrustworthy, they can be wooed even though they're married, and their sexual desire seems to match a man's; which is no cause for concern today but back then I just imagine it to be different. B. says the ladies have no mental escape as men do with all their outside activities such as hunting and fishing and so these stories will provide them with just that.
This is B.'s seminal work. He poured his genius into this book and although it is original it pays homage to the likes of Dante and Virgil. He didn't write this as some comic book trifle. It is too well constructed and thought out. The seven girls and the seven virtues, the ages of the girls in relation to the bible, the days in which the girls read... there's too much in this book to decipher. On the surface it's tales of lust and folly but you can peel back its layers ad infinitum. It is genius. This book, like its hidden treasures, is literally a story, within a story, within a story. In short, B. had everlasting fame in mind - not 'just' to make some young damsel blush. This book was NOT written with the intent it speaks of in the prologue.
End of Prologue. More to come later on the Introduction of the First Day.
This thread will include the Prologue, the Author's introduction, as well as the stories.
According to the notes in the back of the book, it was common for medieval writers to open with a proverbial saying. And so, with Harry Potter magic wand held high... 'opus illustrant proverbia!!!' (proverbs illustrate the work).
Opening Proverbial Saying:
"To take pity on people in distress is a human quality which every man and woman should possess, but it is especially requisite in those who have once needed comfort, and found it in others."
This sentence, for me, was a little enigmatic. Knowing Boccaccio's history as an artist who relied on wealthy men to sustain him and keeping in mind his father's bankruptcy - this sentence seems like it was written to scold those too proud to part with wealth for the benefit of men in some form of need. It most likely isn't. This book's stories are filled with comedic and romantic comfort for those that were able to survive the plague. Boccaccio was 'comforting' as best he knew how... by telling stories that would stir, tickle, and titillate those trapped in a nightmare. He may have, to some, overstepped the boundaries of what is proper. He didn't overstep them so much as he bounded over them with conscious negligence. It was his duty to meet this intense wretched state with something of equal intensity. If the plague had cast mankind's hopes and humor down into the furthest reaches of Tartarus, Boccaccio would provide a ladder long enough to enable them escape. This book, for those people, was 'escape' and we see our 10 doing just that in the subsequent Author's introduction - physically escaping the atmosphere of the plague and then mentally leaving it behind as well.
You'll notice Boccaccio talking about a most lofty and noble love in the Prologue. Apparently he's made up an imaginary lady of noble birth that he was supposed to have had an intimate liaison with. hehehe. It may have been true but the book believes the lady he past off as his lover never existed. Ha! How do you like that for a story teller?
"And it pleased Him..." Boccaccio acknowledges god. For all the clergy bashing he does throughout this book, Boccaccio does believe in god. He's a satirist making fun of men - not god. This is a noteworthy distinction for those interested.
"And what was once a source of pain has now become, having shed all discomfort, an abiding sensation of pleasure." More words of comfort and probably my favorite line in the Prologue. Boccaccio on love and life - he was in his 30's when he wrote this. Far too young to be looking back but disaster does have a way of aging a man. Besides, I think aging himself has benefits considering the scandalous tales he's about to lay on us.
You'll catch a glimpse here in the Prologue of B.'s thoughts on the ladies. They're treated somewhat like children. Men were married to girls as young as 11 in these times, maybe even younger? They weren't well educated and were expected to stay at home. B. doesn't pay them many compliments throughout the book, at all. They can be tricked easily (for the most part - sometimes they do the tricking!), they're fickle and untrustworthy, they can be wooed even though they're married, and their sexual desire seems to match a man's; which is no cause for concern today but back then I just imagine it to be different. B. says the ladies have no mental escape as men do with all their outside activities such as hunting and fishing and so these stories will provide them with just that.
This is B.'s seminal work. He poured his genius into this book and although it is original it pays homage to the likes of Dante and Virgil. He didn't write this as some comic book trifle. It is too well constructed and thought out. The seven girls and the seven virtues, the ages of the girls in relation to the bible, the days in which the girls read... there's too much in this book to decipher. On the surface it's tales of lust and folly but you can peel back its layers ad infinitum. It is genius. This book, like its hidden treasures, is literally a story, within a story, within a story. In short, B. had everlasting fame in mind - not 'just' to make some young damsel blush. This book was NOT written with the intent it speaks of in the prologue.
End of Prologue. More to come later on the Introduction of the First Day.