LIT 231
Prof. G. Steinberg

Response Paper:  Decameron, Days Four and Five

Day Four, under the rule of lovesick Filostrato, features stories "about those whose loves come to an unhappy end."  Day Five, under the rule of Fiammetta, Filostrato's beloved who doesn't return his love, features stories "about lovers who, after unhappy or misfortunate happenings, attained happiness."

Choose one of the following areas as the focus of your response paper:

1. How does Boccaccio understand and portray love?  We have read a lot of different writers writing about love (including Ovid, Marie de France, the Roman de la Rose, and Petrarch).  How does Boccaccio's concept and portrayal of love compare to other writers we've read?  What elements are similar and what elements are different?
2. Is there a recipe for happy love vs. unhappy love?  Why do some lovers enjoy happiness and other lovers suffer unhappy ends?  What do the stories on Day Four seem to have in common?  What do the stories on Day Five seem to have in common?  How do the lovers on Day Four contrast with the lovers on Day Five?
3. What do you make of the introduction to Day Four?  What does the story of Filippo Balducci tell us about Boccaccio's attitude toward human nature?  How does Boccaccio seem to view women?  What does the introduction have to do with the stories that are told on Day Four?

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