The Decameron (Day One / 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.3)

Playing catch up, for the win~

Day 1.1 tells the story of the wicked Ser Cepparello who tricks a friar into absolving him of his sins by a false confession. Truly, the entire story is quotable just because of all the irony in the exchanges; however, to keep from getting carpal tunnel, I’ll stick to one said by the friar in response to Ciappelletto’s admittance of having once accidentally spitting in the house of God. The so-called holy man laughs at him and says, “My son, that is nothing to worry about; we priests, who are religious men, spit there all day long” (35). This shows us a bit of Boccaccio’s view on religious folk which becomes more and more pronounced as the Decameron continues: religious men are just like other men and not to be put on a pedestal. If they were truly saint-like, that holy friar wouldn’t have been so amazed and willing to grant Ciappelletto sainthood; instead, he would’ve just appreciated him as a man like himself. This story also shows us that holy men are easily fooled by wicked men (or perhaps they can just be considered fools.) Here we get the first instance (of many) in which Boccaccio shows his disdain for – not the religion itself but for – the religion’s clergy.

Day 1.2 speaks of the Jew Abraham who converts to Catholicism in spite of (or more likely, because of) the corruption of the ‘holy’ men in Rome. He says to his friend upon returning from Rome, “…I have observed that in spite of this [their corruption], they do not succeed but, on the contrary, that your religion continuously grows and becomes brighter and more illustrious” (42). At first glance, his speech at the end seems a bit ironic – why after seeing that terrible scene could he believe that there was anything good about Christianity? What sort of salvation could possibly come from such corruption? But that is exactly the point. By the first story, Boccaccio already shows disdain for the so-called holy men; however, he did not show it towards the religion itself. And that is because he feels there is nothing wrong with the religion – it is fundamentally good and therefore continues to flourish despite the fact that its followers are not necessarily fundamentally good. If something can continue to become brighter despite the dark seeds of corruption which are prevalent, then obviously it serves an important purpose.

Day 1.4 was the most amusing of this first set of stories: an monk gets out of trouble for indulging in the sins of the flesh by catching the Abbot who’d accused him in the same act. At the end, the monk shows how he’s outsmarted the Abbot by remarking: “And up until a moment ago, you never showed me how monks were supposed to support the weight of women as well as fasts and vigils.…I promise that if you forgive me this time, I shall sin no more in this respect….I shall always behave as I have seen you behave” (49). Once again, Boccaccio is showing that holy men are more deeply connected to the ‘man’ aspect than the ‘holy’ one. Putting on monk’s garb doesn’t automatically bring about the end of desire; monks and abbots are still men like other men and are just as susceptible to lust and the pleasure of the flesh.