Short stories
The Decameron
Il Decameron
Boccaccio · 1353
Synopsis
In 1348, while the plague ravages Florence, seven young women and three young men withdraw to a villa in the countryside, outside the city. To pass the time, they tell each other stories: each day, one of them, having become king or queen of the company, sets a theme, and each tells a tale, making one hundred stories over ten days. There are tragic or licentious love affairs, practical jokes and witty remarks.
Context
The book was composed between 1349 and 1353, in the Florentine prose of its time, and bears the subtitle “Prencipe Galeotto”, from the name of the knight of the Arthurian legends who favoured the love of Lancelot and Guinevere. The tales draw on ancient and oriental sources and on European folklore. In French, Giovanni Clerico's translation is reissued in Folio; in English, Wayne Rebhorn produced a translation in 2013.
Who it is for
A long collection of one hundred tales, to be read day by day, for those who like lively and often bawdy stories.
Prizes and reception
According to Babelio, the book nourished European literature, from Chaucer to Molière.