The Decameron Selected Tales Essay

The Decameron tales by Giovanni Boccaccio are a collection of fictional stories that are meant to satirize certain aspects of society as well as impart crucial knowledge. The author employs a technique whereby he uses days to tell his stories. Two of those tales are taken into consideration in this particular case.

1. Master Ciappelleto’s Confession

The story unravels through the mouth of Panfilo. The story, according to the author happens on the first day. The whole set focuses on deception as well as gullibility. The author employs the services of Ciapelletto, who is painted as a merchant. He travels from one town to another so as to conduct his business. He is also brought out as a wicked man who seems to think doing evil can lead to some pleasure (Boccaccio, Robert, and Rigg 5). The author uses this particular composition as a means of ridiculing the practices prevalent in the Roman Catholic Church. The canonization of individuals seems to be the target of the author.

While, on a business trip in Burgundy, Ciappelleto falls sick, and he feels that he cannot make it out alive. He loses hope in his life and the failing body. As per the Christian doctrines at the time, the two Florentine brothers who were hosting him had got a friar. The friar is from a nearby convent and comes to listen to his confession (Boccaccio, Robert, and Rigg 13). Ciappelleto spins a story and paints a picture of himself as a pious individual. The friar believes him and even goes ahead to spread the news of his good nature to other people. The characters in this composition seem gullible enough to believe the words of a dying man. Ciappelleto is also deceptive enough to spin a believable lie.

2. Archangel Gabriel’s Feather

Dioneo tells the story, and it mainly revolves around the theme of blind worship. The author also spices it up with some humor as well as an aspect of gullibility. He delivers the message through the use of Saint Anthony. The saint used to visit Certaldo so as to get alms. As was his ritual, he went to the town at one time and entered the places of worship. Being the cunning man that he was, he started preaching to the people about offerings and giving to Saint Anthony. He emphasized his point by stating that if they were to give offerings to the Saint then he would show them an extraordinary relic. The relic was in the form of Angel Gabriel’s feather. He claimed that the feather had been left in Mary’s room in Nazareth when the angel came for the Annunciation (Boccaccio, Robert and Rigg 145). The people were overwhelmed by this, and they were willing to give their offerings so as to see the feather.

Two men Giovanni Del Bragonier and Biagio Pizzini decided to play a trick on the man. They devised a way to get the feather. All they wanted was to see what the man would do when he found out that the feather was missing in front of the crowd (Boccaccio, Robert and Rigg 147). On a fateful day, Anthony discovered that he had no relic. He was able to outwit the crowd by manipulating the story so as to come up with a new relic in the form of coal. He claimed that the coal had been used to grill martyr Saint Lawrence. The people fell for the play, and they still offered what they had to him. The story shows that the people worshiped relics so much that they would be duped using the same. The two men who stole the feather were cheeky as explained by the author.

Works Cited:

Boccaccio, Giovanni, Robert Blaisdell, and J. M Rigg. The Decameron. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover, 2011. Print.