The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio

Summary

"The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio" by Giovanni Boccaccio is a collection of short stories written between 1348 and 1353. Ten young people flee plague-ridden Florence to shelter in a countryside villa, where they pass two weeks by telling one hundred tales. Their stories span love both tragic and erotic, clever wit, practical jokes, and life lessons. Through this frame narrative, Boccaccio creates a mosaic of medieval Italian life while satirizing the Church and exploring themes of fortune, human desire, and social tensions between classes. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Subjects

• Allegories
• Frame stories
• Plague — Europe — History — Fiction
• Storytelling — Fiction

Bookshelves

• Best Books Ever Listings
• Classics of Literature
• Short Stories

Translators