Elegia di Madonna Fiammetta

In part a rewriting of Ovid and in part psychological novel

Composed in Florence circa 1343-44 the Elegia di Madonna Fiammetta or Elegy to milady Fiammetta inaugurates the writing of amorous elegies in the vernacular. Models of reference are the Heroides by Ovid, amply interpolated in translation within the work, in addition to the influence of other ancient Latin poets, through elegiac comedy, in particular Pamphilus, the protagonist of which has the same name as Fiammetta’s lover, and the De adversitate Fortunae by Arrigo da Settimello. Amongst the influential works in the vernacular, a particularly important role is played by Dante’s Vita nuova, which leaves noticeable traces at a lexical level, but which also gives substance to the narrative, dictating, for example, the time and place the lovers first meet, which happens, for Fiammetta as for Dante, in a church on a “solemn” day (I, 4[1]). The definition of elegy in the De vulgari eloquentia: II, 4 (“stilum [...] miserorum”[2]) gives further evidence as to the reasons behind the choice of title, if referred to the content rather than the style of the work, which would not seem to conform in Boccaccio to the lower tones prescribed by Dante’s treatise.

In a lengthy monologue Fiammetta tells the “women in love”, to whom the work is destined, the story of her love for Panfilo. The tone of the tale acquires the connotations of an outpouring and, at the same time, of a confession, as she recounts the highlights of her extramarital relationship through to the painful distancing caused by Panfilo’s transfer to Florence. The false news of the presumed marriage of her loved one, followed by the true news of a new love of his, lends the tale a dark atmosphere, which leads to Fiammetta’s attempted suicide. The detailed description of feelings, the true subject of the story, adds an introspective element to the prose, typical of the psychological novel.

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[1]Elegia di Madonna Fiammetta, ed. C. Delcorno, in Tutte le opere di Giovanni Boccaccio. Ed. V. Branca, vol. 5.2, Milan 1994, pp. 28-29.

[2]Dante, De Vulgari Eloquentia, ed. S. Cecchin, Turin 1983, p. 106.