The ten days

Decameron

IX. Towards the final goal

As for the novellas of the first day of the Decameron also those of the ninth alternate without following thematic limitations. If the novellas to be told under the regency of Pampinea are free in the choice of theme, this is probably so because this expedient allows Boccaccio to outline the psychological profile of the youths of the brigade, testing their preferences through their choice of story. With queen Emilia in the ninth day we instead see a concession which would seem to be a sort of gift, offered in exchange for the respect of the need to follow set themes in the preceding days’ decuries. The freedom of choice of theme, offered by Emilia, is also in some sense a prize, which marks the reaching of an important goal. This would seem to be confirmed by the fact that all the storytellers present themselves with crowns of oak leaves upon their heads:

Essi eran tutti di frondi di quercia inghirlandati, con le man piene o d’erbe odorifere o di fiori; e chi scontrati gli avesse, niuna altra cosa avrebbe potuto dire se non: «O costor non saranno dalla morte vinti o ella gli ucciderà lieti». (IX, Introduzione, 4[1])

The oak is traditionally a symbol of strength and wisdom, qualities achieved by the youths of the brigade, “sacerdoti della liturgia mondana e edonistica del novellare”[2] or priests of the mundane and hedonistic liturgy of storytelling. Fortified by the experience of storytelling, celebrated in the nine preceding days, the youths are now at the end of their stay in the country and about to return to Florence, a change which definitely sanctions  the closure of an existential cycle as well as certifying the end of this literary work.

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[1]Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron, ed. V. Branca, Turin 1999, vol. II, p. 1113.

[2]L. Surdich, Boccaccio, Bari 2001, p. 182.