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Decameron and The Canterbury Tales Two very famous works, Decameron by Giovanni Bocaccio, and The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, indeed have a lot in similar. The issue whether Chaucer and Bocaccio knew each other is still widely debated. However, to my opinion, it is not necessary to be acquainted with each other in order to create two literary masterpieces that have lots in common. We will never find out the fact of their acquaintance, but the merits of their writings must be definitely appreciated. Chaucer read The Decameron when he visited Italy. Th structure of Th Canterbury Tal's is indeed to Bocaccio Decameron, a work by Chaucer's contemporary in which tn notes from Florence, to shop th page, stay in a country villa and amu's ach othr by ach thing tal's.
Bocaccio had a significant influence on Chaucer. Th Knight's Tal was an nish version of a tal by Bocaccio, will six of Chaucer's tal's hav possible source in th Decameron: th Miller's Tal, th Rv's, th Click's, th Merchant's, th Franklin's, and th Shipman's. How, Chaucer's pilgrims to Canterbury form a with rang of society compare to Bocaccio lit storytellers, allowing for great diffracts in ton and substance. Chaucer in the Canterbury Tales, a collection of short stories written from 1380, depicts many short stories of various pilgrims who make their journey to Canterbury to the shrine of Thomas Becket.
Among the various pilgrims featured in the Canterbury Tales, the Pardoner is one of the most fully realized characters. Set in the Middle Ages in the 14 th century this work reveals teachings that help the reader learn more about a fictional side of all of the pilgrims through short stories. Chaucer's pilgrim, the Pardoner, is described as being greedy, selfish, and self-loathing. Chaucer's assertion is that the Pardoner is not a moral man, but he nevertheless has a moral system to which he most certainly does not adhere. In the Canterbury Tales, the Pardoner hopes to motivate the travelers to pay the Pardoner to absolve their sins. The character of the Pardoner is omnipresent throughout the tale, which is told in oratorical style that intends to create a sense of horror at the consequences for sinful action.
Throughout the tale the Pardoner drifts in and out of the plot to go into sermons against sin. These details show the pilgrims habits throughout the tale. The Pardoner goes into these drifts in order teach the other pilgrims about the importance of ones social status. The Pardoner has little concern with actual religious matters and makes no real reference to Christianity. His concern is money, and the Christian religion is only the means to achieve this end. The Pardoner is not concerned with religion but more concerned in getting a message out to the people as he tells the story.
His habits should rather be more helpful to people and more religious. The Pardoners characterization reveals that his goal is not to save people from sin, but to gain money from them. Chaucer was a master of irony. The Pardoners Tale is an excellent example of his irony. It is ironical that the Pardoner does not get the point of his own story. The way the Pardoner ends his story is appropriate to his character.
He tells the pilgrims to buy relics and pardons from him and absolve themselves of their sins. He further says that it is their good fortune that he is present among them for the salvation of their souls. This is a rude challenge to the pilgrims since they know his true colors. Moreover the Pardoner addresses the Host and asks him to lead his gang of pilgrims by setting the example himself.
This angers the Host who humiliates the Pardoner by his cruel taunts about his sexual impotency and violation of his monastic vows. The Pardoners angry silence can only be interpreted as an acceptance of defeat. One of the most valuable tools for learning about past cultures and societies is through the literature of that period. When studying the fourteenth century, a surplus of good books exist revealing characteristics of life at that time. One of such books is The Decameron by Giovanni Bocaccio. In The Decameron, Bocaccio describes lifestyles in the fourteenth century through 10 days of stories told by various characters.
He covers all topics and even though he writes in fiction, the characters are similar to actual people of that period. In the "Eighth Day" of The Decameron, Bocaccio accurately depicts women's submissive role in the family, male dominance in society, and sexual promiscuity of the fourteenth century. In the "Eighth Day", a majority of the stories told represent women as submissive wives to what their husbands say. In the second story told, Bocaccio tells of a woman who had asked the priest for his cloak as a surety that he would pay her the five gold coins he promised. A servant of the priest came to retrieve the cloak without the payment. When the woman's husband found out that she had taken a surety from the priest, he ordered her to go give the cloak back.
She willingly did as she was told and fetched the coat to give back to the priest. (pg. 559) This is an accurate representation of the attitudes of the fourteenth century. Thomas Aquinas, a writer of the fourteenth century, advanced the idea of women as being passive and submissive. This idea was widely accepted and believed by most people and women began to fit into the role of obedient housewife. The third main characteristic of fourteenth century Europeans exemplified in The Decameron is that of sexual promiscuity. Six of the ten stories relayed by Bocaccio contain either extra-marital affairs or attempts at intercourse outside of marriage. The second story is based on the idea of a priest desiring to have sex with a man's wife.
He waits until the man leaves town on business, and then goes and seduces the man's wife into bed. In another such story, a woman agrees to have sex with a man who is not her husband for money. Bocaccio writes that, "She then went back to Gulfardo and conveyed him to her bedroom, where, not only on that occasion, but on many others before her husband's return from Genoa, she placed her person freely at his disposal. " (554) This suggests repeated sexual misconduct and affairs. This was an instance that was not uncommon at this time. The basic family included the husband, his wife and their children.
Included this also is any of the husband's illegitimate children. The fact that many husbands had illegitimate children would point to a widespread acceptance of extramarital sex. When writing The Decameron, Bocaccio made many references to sex outside of marriage and was possibly attempting to bring attention the fact that it had become so overlooked. Throughout the works by Chaucer and Bocaccio a reader can observe how each writer uses specific examples in displaying characteristics of people.
These characteristics are not merely fictional depictions, but accurate observances of people in the fourteenth century Europe. By comparing their works to historical data, one can develop a good understanding of life in the fourteenth century. Though its impossible to state firmly whether the writers knew each other in person, they were definitely acquainted with the works of each other. Bibliography: Chaucer, Geoffrey.
The Canterbury Tales. London: Penguin Group, 1987. Giovanni Bocaccio. The Decameron.
London: Penguin Classics, 1991.
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