The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio

Ten storytellers, one plague, a hundred tales.

Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron explained with story summaries in just a few minutes! Course Hero Literature Instructor Russell Jaffe explains Giovanni Boccaccio's short stories The Decameron. Written during the mid-14th century outbreak of the Black Death, the tales in the collection The Decameron are set in frame narrative. A group of people waiting out the plague in a villa swaps stories to pass the time. They amuse themselves by anointing each person king or queen for a day, choose a theme and that person and the other nine members of the group supplies a related parable. The wide array of stories very from comical to dark, from uplifting to critical. Each offers insights into the human condition, providing a rich tapestry from which later writers have frequently drawn. Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron was written 1349-53. Boccaccio was one of the great writers of the Italian Renaissance. The Decameron is among the most influential and widely cited works of Western prose. His works influenced other writers like Shakespeare, Chaucer, Keats and Longfellow. The short story collection The Decameron contains many important themes including religion, as The Catholic Church and its clergy hold tremendous power; deceit, as many characters practice the art of deception to get their way; love, as true love is deep and lasting, while lust is fleeting; and class, as the social hierarchy shifts in the Middle Ages with the growing merchant class. Symbols include gardens/growth and fortune/wheel of fortune. Course Hero helps empower students and educators to succeed! We’re fueled by a passionate community of students and educators who share their course-specific knowledge and resources to help others learn. Learn more at Master Your Classes(TM) with Course Hero!

Language
English
Studio
Course Hero
Genres
Historical
Episodes
44
Views
191K

Episodes on YouTube

  1. Clip 1 · Brief Plot Summary
  2. Clip 2 · Preface
  3. Clip 3 · Introduction and First Day, First Story
  4. Clip 4 · First Day, Second Story
  5. Clip 5 · First Day, Third Story
  6. Clip 6 · First Day, Fourth Story
  7. Clip 7 · First Day, Fifth
  8. Clip 8 · Introduction and Second Day, First
  9. Clip 9 · Second Day, Fifth Story
  10. Clip 10 · Second Day, Sixth Story
  11. Clip 11 · Second Day, Seventh Story
  12. Clip 12 · Second Day, Eighth
  13. Clip 13 · Introduction and Third Day, First Story
  14. Clip 14 · Third Day, Second
  15. Clip 15 · Third Day, Tenth Story
  16. Clip 16 · Introduction to Fourth Day
  17. Clip 17 · Fourth Day, First Story
  18. Clip 18 · Fourth Day, Second Story
  19. Clip 19 · Fourth Day, Third
  20. Clip 20 · Fourth Day, Fifth Story
  21. Clip 21 · Fourth Day, Sixth
  22. Clip 22 · Introduction and Fifth Day, First
  23. Clip 23 · Fifth Day, Fourth Story
  24. Clip 24 · Fifth Day, Fifth
  25. Clip 25 · Fifth Day, Ninth Story
  26. Clip 26 · Fifth Day, Tenth Story
  27. Clip 27 · Introduction and Sixth Day, First
  28. Clip 28 · Sixth Day, Fifth Story
  29. Clip 29 · Sixth Day, Sixth
  30. Clip 30 · Sixth Day, Tenth Story
  31. Clip 31 · Introduction and Seventh Day, First Story
  32. Clip 32 · Seventh Day, Second Story
  33. Clip 33 · Seventh Day, Third
  34. Clip 34 · Seventh Day, Tenth Story
  35. Clip 35 · Introduction and Eighth Day, First
  36. Clip 36 · Eighth Day, Third Story
  37. Clip 37 · Eighth Day, Fourth
  38. Clip 38 · Introduction and Ninth Day, First Story
  39. Clip 39 · Ninth Day, Second Story
  40. Clip 40 · Ninth Day, Third
  41. Clip 41 · Ninth Day, Tenth Story
  42. Clip 42 · Introduction and Tenth Day, First
  43. Clip 43 · Tenth Day, Tenth Story
  44. Clip 44 · Conclusion