I. A parody of the Vita nuova

If the avarice of Erminio de’ Grimaldi (8) and the ferocity of an inquisitor (6) are silenced with a prompt reply, in the case of Abraam the Jew it is rather a case built upon the logic of an exemplum et contrario that leads to the recognition of the supremacy of the Christian religion. Instead of extinguishing itself, as it would be logical to imagine, this faith dragged down by the bad conduct of the clerics of Rome reveals itself to be in continuous expansion, and thus, according to Abraam, it can only be that “lo Spirito santo esser d’essa” or that the Holy Spirit must be its (I, 2, 26[1]).

The final novella of the day appears to be constructed upon the model of Dante’s Vita nuova. The elderly and esteemed doctor Maestro Alberto (10) loses his head for the young and lovely Malgherida de’ Ghisolieri. The sentiment, ill suited to his age and decorum, exposes him to the ridicule of women. The same narrative situation had already been used by Dante in the episode of the “gabbo” (Vita Nova: 10[2]), where the love manifested for Beatrice had made the poet the subject of public derision. Whilst Dante found solace from being gilded  in the poetic and intellectual comfort of rhymes of praise, thus sublimating his amorous transportation, quite different is the solution dreamed up by Maestro Alberto. The Bolognese doctor instead uses reprimand with which to sting Malgherida’s aloofness, obtaining her capitulation. The original model is here turned about, leading to a far more worldly solution to the contrast between the lovers. The way in which Boccaccio parodies his contemporaries’ and others’ literary works is visible right from the start in the Decameron and is a distinctive aspect of the author’s style. This approach not only has its effect on style but also in the way the narrative patterns are constructed and topoi certified, which realign themselves, taking on various characteristics, within a new repertoire of reference for the genre of the novella.

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[1]Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron, a c. di V. Branca, Turin 1999, vol. I, p. 76.

[2]Dante Alighieri, Vita Nova, a c. di G. Gorni, Turin 1996, pp. 85-106