The Decameron [5.8, 5.9, 5.10, 6.7, 6,10]

5.8 Question: What do you think about Nastagio's plan to trick the maiden into marrying him? Do you think that this is right? What do you think of the story that the knight told Nastagio?

I thought that Nastagio's plan in tricking the maiden into marrying him was very sneaky and sad. When the knight was telling Nastagio of the heartbreak that he had gone through with the maiden and how they were condemned to do this for the rest of their lives, I knew that Nastagio began thinking about how this story could be of use to him in his personal life. I think that it was very sinister and upsetting that he would trick the woman that he was in love with into believing that if she would not take him for his wife then after death, she would be condemned to the same fate. I think that it was unfair of him to do this to the maiden. I think that the story that the knight told Nastagio was very interesting in that the maiden was being torn to pieces every day for being unfaithful to the knight. I think that this is very interesting because a lot of the stories in "The Decameron" deal with women fooling their men. Many times in these stories, the women have the upper hand.

5.10 Question: What do you think this story states about gender and how women were perceived in society?

I loved this story because of the opinions that the speaker gave in the beginning and the end of story. I thought that it was funny how the speaker, Dioneo, was very raunchy in explaining what she thought. She says, "a woman can wear out a number of men, while a number of men cannot wear out one woman" (434). I think that this is a very loose representation of femininity during those times. I feel as though Dioneo focuses mainly on the uses of women for sex and not for their use in society. She refers to their only talent is sex and giving birth.