Boccaccio’s Woman: A Liberated Woman?

Recorded history has carefully documented the fact that, in most civilizations, woman has been maintained in a position subservient to that of man. Of particular importance for our own society it can be shown that both the Graeco-Roman and the Judeo-Christian traditions included a specific social structure in which woman was regarded as inferior to man. An exception might indeed be noted in the Republic where Plato states that primary sexual differences do not imply that the woman is necessarily an inferior being; rather, he suggests that her inferiority results from social conditioning.¹ Only a few years later, however, Aristotle, in his De Generatione Animalium, presented an argument that influenced both the Fathers of the Church and the Schoolmen when he described woman as an "incomplete man" and, therefore, an inferior and subordinate being. According to the Stagirite, she was only an "impotent male," or, worse, a "mutilated male." He held that she is female because she did not develop properly before birth.² Thus was justified not only the Greek but also the Roman and medieval views of the relationship between the sexes.

From the Judaic, can be added the account of Eve’s creation and God’s injunction to her after the Fall, "and thy desire shall be thy husband, and he shall rule over thee."³ This concept is reaffirmed by St, Paul who concluded that, while man is created in the image of God, the woman is merely an image of man, and can reach God only through her husband.⁴

Unfortunately, not Plato, but Aristotle and the Bible provided the foundation for woman’s role in later Western society and it is only in relatively recent times that these authorities have been questioned and discarded.⁵ Even though the liberated woman, as understood today, is a phenomenon of our own time, however, she has not always blindly accepted the position in which society has placed her and while History is unquestionably the obvious source for information about woman’s position with regard to man through the ages, it is Literature that has portrayed much more effectively the feelings in the struggle between man and woman.

And in Literature, one of the finest examples of this struggle can be found in Boccaccio’s Decameron, the 14^th-century commedia umana, which portrays the battle of the sexes in all its varieties. The struggle, as seen by Boccaccio in some of his short stories, is similar to the one that continually occurs between man and woman in modern times. It consists of woman’s rebellion against male-dominated morality; such rebellion, it would seem, is possible only in times of great turmoil, when traditional values are losing ground and there is room for new and unexpected trends, The 14^th-century Italian civilization was, in fact, a time of transition, when the medieval world was collapsing, and the Renaissance was beginning to take shape. The emphasis was shifting from a vision of life which emphasized God, to be achieved through self-sacrifice, to the one which put man at the center.

In this turmoil, as is seen in the Decameron, the woman began to emerge as her own being. The very fact that the book was itself dedicated to the "graziosissime donne," was in a way revolutionary.⁶ It was unheard of, and the author was put on the defensive even before the work was completed; in fact, in the introduction to the Fourth Day, he had to defend his work because it was dedicated to women.⁷ A revolutionary ideology, though, is obvious in some of the novelle, in which the traditional male domination and the whole sexual code that considered the woman as a passive and necessarily obedient second-rate being was somewhat challenged. Boccaccio’s view of sex was antithetical to the one held by the Church, which considered sex outside the sanctity of matrimony as sinful. For Boccaccio, sexual intercourse did not have moral implications, unless it was sold for money. He held that sex is a natural need of the human body, a need that no limitation could quench. He implied that husbands and wives must satisfy each other, and not that wives must satisfy husbands regardless of their own feelings,⁸ In addition, some of the wives in the Decameron challenge their husbands’ exclusive authority and ownership over their bodies (VI, 7). This position, obviously revolutionary in the 14^th-century, is still a moral question today, In fact, in our times, husbands have been found guilty of raping their own wives. Although nothing of this sort would have been thinkable even in Boccaccio’s progressive ideas on women, something quite revolutionary does happen,

In the town of Prato, according to the seventh story of the Sixth Day, a law condemns to death a woman convicted of adultery. Madonna Filippa, "una gentil donna e bella ed oltre ad ogni altra innamorata,"⁹ was found in bed by her husband with another man, a worthy person named Lazzarino de Guazzagliotri. Rinaldo, the husband, controls his temper which urges him to kill them both; of course, he does so for fear of his own safety. But the next day he turns to the law for revenge. At that time to kill an unfaithful wife was the right of a husband. Summoned by the judge, Madonna Filippa admits her adultery, stunning everyone present at the trial, and challenges the laws of sexual discrimination. Her defense is described in this manner:

Messere, egli è vero che Rinaldo è mio marito e che egli questa notte passata mi trovò nelle braccia di Lazzarino, nelle quali io sono, per buono e per perfetto amore che io gli porto, molte volte stata, né questo io negherei mai. Ma come io son certa che voi sapete, le leggi deon esser comuni e fatte con consentimento di coloro a cui toccano; le quali cose di questa non avvengono, ché essa solamente le donne tapinelle costrigne, le quali molto meglio che gli uomini potrebbero a molti soddisfare; ed oltre a questo, non che alcuna donna, quando fatta fu, ci prestasse consentimento, ma niuna ce ne fu mai chiamata; per le quali cose meritamente malvagia si può chiamare.¹⁰

 

Sir, it is true that Rinaldo is my husband, and that last night he found me in Lazzarino's arms, in which I enjoy myself. And because of the good and perfect love I have for him, many times I have done this, which I would never deny. But as I am certain that you know, the laws must be fair and made with the agreement of those who are affected by them. In this case it is not so, since this law affects only the unfortunate women, who much better than men could satisfy many. And besides this, no woman agreed when the law was made, and no woman was ever consulted. Therefore, we could justly define this law as unfair.

One implication here is that men and women should be considered equal before the law. (This is still an issue six hundred years later.) Another implication suggests that in sexual matters the woman is superior to man: "le quali molto meglio che gli uomini potrebbero a molti soddisfare."

Moreover, it seems that Madonna Filippa also challenges the right of the husband to his wife’s body and her subservience to him in the Biblical and Aristotelian traditions, This challenge, however, is possible only in our society, not in Boccaccio’s. The husband’s right over his wife is unquestioned by all, including Madonna Filippa; only the exclusive right is challenged. In fact, she tells the judge,

vi priego che una piccola grazia mi facciate, cioè che voi il mio marito domandiate se io ogni volta e quante volte a lui piaceva, senza dir mai di no, io di me stessa gli concedeva intera copia o no.¹¹

 

I ask you that you grant me a small favor, that you ask my husband if each time and and every time he was willing, without ever saying no, I gave him my entire self.

When Rinaldo replied positively, she continued,

Adunque, ... domando io voi, messer podestà, se egli ha sempre di me preso quello che gli è bisognato e piaciuto, io che doveva fare o debbo di quel che gli avanza? debbolo io gittare a’ cani? Non è egli molto meglio servirne un gentile uomo che più che sé ama, che lasciarlo perdere o guastare?¹²

 

Therefore, ... I ask you, sir, if he has always had from me what he needed and liked, what should I have or should I do with what I have left? Should I throw it to the dogs? Is it not much better to serve a gentle man who loves more than himself than let it wither or go waste?

Madonna Filippa wins the case, and the law is changed. This is the story. We cannot assert whether such a thing happened in reality; however, the idea was there, and it shows that the seed of female rebellion has always existed potentially.

There are other instances in which the confrontation between husbands and wives illustrates the battle of the sexes: one of them is in Day 2, novella 10. A judge, Messer Ricardo di Chinzica, although an old man, marries Bartolomea, "una delle più belle e delle più vaghe giovani di Pisa."¹³ When his age turns out to be too much of a hindrance in performing the duty of a husband, he retorts to logic: he teaches his young wife a special calendar in which

niun dì era che non solamente una festa, ma molte non ne fossero, a reverenza delle quali per diverse cagioni mostrava, l’uomo e la donna doversi astenere da così fatti congiungimenti, sopra questi aggiugnendo digiuni e quattro tempora e vigilie d’apostoli e di mille altri santi e venerdì e sabati, e la domenica del Signore, e la quaresima tutta, e certi punti della luna ed altre eccezion molte, avvisandosi forse che così feria far si convenisse con le donne nel letto, come egli faceva talvolta piatendo alle civili, E questa maniera, non senza grave malinconia dell a donna, a cui forse una volta ne toccava al mese...¹⁴

Not knowing any better, the inexperienced girl reluctantly accepted the situation.¹⁵

Ironically for Riccardo, while on a fishing trip, she is kidnapped by a pirate, Paganino da Monaco who, when night came,

essendo a lui il calendaro caduto da cintola ed ogni festa o feria uscita di mente, la cominciò a confortar co’ fatti, ... e per sì fatta maniera la racconsolò, che, prima che a Monaco giugnessero, ed il giudice e le sue leggi furono uscite di mente.¹⁶

In the meantime Riccardo could do nothing but complain about the pirate’s cruelty. Then, when he heard where she was, he hurriedly left for Monaco to ransom her, Riccardo obviously assumed that his wife would go gladly with him, since he was her husband, But Bartolomea would rather stay in sin with Paganino. She defies the law and the moral code which makes her practically a prostitute, a woman of no status. Her reason for refusing to return was that Paganino honored her as his wife, while Riccardo had failed. Boccaccio is telling us that the laws of nature is stronger than the laws of society. Bartolomea has sexual needs proper to a young woman; her marriage to an old man, therefore, is against nature and for this reason, she is right in considering Paganino as her true husband, Again, this is a rebellion only against social restrictions on her sexual rights, not a rebellion against the woman’s position in the family and her subordination to her husband.

Another example of this attitude is present with Bernabò da Genova a (II, 9), who is tricked by Ambruogiuolo into believing that his wife Zinevra has been unfaithful. Bernabò orders her to be killed, but she, a very intelligent and wise person, talks the servant, who is supposed to kill her, into letting her go, and, disguised as a man, ends up in the East working for the Sultan. Here Zinevra, "in poco di tempo non meno la grazia e l’amor del soldano acquistò, col suo bene adoperare"¹⁷ that was made lord and captain of the Guard.

The novella, turns into a fairy tale: she runs into Ambruogiuolo who, unaware of her identity, boasts how he had tricked Bernabò. Hearing this, in order to revenge herself and keep her honor, Zinevra unmasks both Ambruogiuolo and her ungrateful husband in front of the Sultan, Ambruogiuolo is condemned to death while Bernabò is saved through her intercession.

In this story Boccaccio has presented a classic situation in which a woman has been made an object of display. At her supposed infidelity, she falls from the pedestal where her husband had put her, loses her position as a loyal wife, and is discarded. Nevertheless, in spite of all expectations, she overcomes her disgrace, saves her life through her own ingenuity, and subsequently reaches a position of superiority over her husband, thus overturning the traditional social order, At this point, instead of being vindictive for what he has done, she decides to take him again as her master. She reenters, by her own choice, the state of subordination, Zinevra’s attitude would certainly not be admired today, but she lived in a society with different values, when Aristotle, St. Paul, and St. Augustine were still unquestioned authorities,¹⁸ The then-natural order of existence had to be respected, Zinevra was being herself because as she accepted her position in nature, which coincided with that of a wife.

There is, finally, the tragic novella (IV, 1), in which Ghismunda, a young widow, falls in love with Guiscardo, a man "assai umile ma per virtù e per costumi nobile."¹⁹ Their love had flared up because Tancredi, Ghismunda’s father, had failed to provide another husband for her. The two lovers are discovered and Guiscardo was put to death, according to the custom. Ghismunda then decides to follow him in death, but before doing so, she stands up to her father for her right as a woman:

Esserti dovea, Tancredi, manifesto, essendo tu di carne aver generata figliuola di carne e non di pietra o di ferro; e ricordarti dovevi o dèi quantunque tu ora sie vecchio, chenti e quali e con che forza vengano le leggi della giovanezza; e come che tu, uomo, in parte ne’ tuoi migliori anni nell’armi esercitato ti sii, non dovevi di meno conoscere quello che gli ozi e le dilicatezze possano ne’ vecchi, non che ne’ giovani. Sono adunque, sì come da te generata, di carne, e sì poco vivuta, che ancora son giovane, e per l’una cosa e per l’altra, piena di concupiscibile disidèro al quale maravigliosissime forze hanno dato l’averla già, per essere stata fatto di maritata, conosciuto qual piacer sia a così si dèro dar compimento. Alle quali forze non potendo io resistere, a seguir quello a che elle mi tiravano, come giovane e femmina, mi disposi, ed innamora ‘mi ²⁰

Ghismonda’s defiance of the social values consisted in taking up a lover who would not be approved by her father because he is inferior to her. By doing so she is being herself in that she chose to follow the dictates of her own conscience rather than the mores of society. She rebelled also by taking things into her own hands once she realized that her father was doing nothing about providing a husband for her. Having to act by herself she chose a man whose values were in tune with hers. Guiscardo has a noble character, but he is not noble by birth. It is true that Dante had already touched on the same subject and reached the same conclusion,²¹ but it was revolutionary for a woman, a being whose virtue consisted in remaining silent, to break two taboos at once.²²

It might be asked, then, by way of conclusion, whether Boccaccio’s woman was indeed a liberated woman. The answer would have to be an ambiguous "yes" and "no," Obviously, today’s understanding of "liberation" can have no meaning when reading Boccaccio, but, when viewed within the context of the14^th-century society, several of the ladies in the novelle are at least atypical. Throughout medieval literature a woman was rarely given a developed character, or made the center of attention, except when she was taught to be subservient, or when she would be presented as a sexual sinner.²³ Boccaccio is the first writer who portrays a woman struggling to break away from a rigid position and to move, to some extent, toward her own independent identity. From this point of view she was liberated.

* From: Mid-Hudson Language Studies (1981), pp. 13-23

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Notes