Not everyone read Decameron. At school, this obviously does not happen, and in everyday adult life there is practically no place for books. Yes, and it’s not fashionable for today's youth to read ... It reminds me a bit of the Middle Ages, when people who know a lot, were condemned by society. But this, however, is lyrics. It is very difficult to bring the summary to Decameron. After all, the book itself is a collection of short stories dedicated to the theme of love in all its manifestations.
History in history
The Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio is the author of the Decameron. The summary, in fact, could not be cited by the author himself, since the structure of the entire work is a lot of small short stories that are united by the main line of the plot. This book was published in the Renaissance, around 1354. The Decameron content is very controversial, since for those times such literature was, on the one hand, and quite excusable, but on the other, it was considered somewhat vulgar. The name itself is translated as "Ten Days" and is a kind of sarcastic mockery of the author over the church "Six Days". The work tells about the creation of the world, but not by God, but by the then society, and not in six days, but in ten.
Book in brief
And now directly to the Decameron. Summary of short stories: events occur during the reign of the plague of 1348. Three noble youths and seven ladies leave the sickly city for a villa two miles from it. In order to spend time with interest, they take turns starting to tell each other interesting stories. By the way, a lot of short stories were created on the basis of folklore, ancient jokes, religious and moral examples from sermons of priests and much more.
"Decameron" - a brief summary of the life of storytellers
Each new day begins with a small screen saver that talks about how young people spend time. It is worth noting that the description is quite utopian, in the framework of morality and education. But the short stories themselves are directly opposed to this utopia. Figuratively speaking, a “feast during the plague” appears in them, piercing each line with a red thread. The story begins on Wednesday morning and there are ten short stories for each day. In them you can see all manifestations of love - from the sexual context to the tragedy of cruelty.
Every day, except Fridays and Saturdays, a king (queen) is selected who sets the themes for the story and must be followed by all participants except Dioneo, who has the privilege of "free storytelling." After listening to all the stories, young people sit and discuss them, share their impressions. At the end of each day, one of the ladies present sings a ballad. These songs are examples of Boccaccio's lyrics, and they tell of pure love or the suffering of those lovers who are unable to unite. Given the weekend, young people spend two weeks in the villa, after which they still decide to return to the city.
The Decameron. Brief conclusion
All short stories are made in a special style. For the Renaissance, this was some kind of innovation, since the book was not written in a generally accepted literary language, but in rich spoken Italian. Boccaccio himself spoke of his brainchild as a "human comedy."