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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page research paper that examines The Decameron, by fourteenth century Italian storyteller, poet and humanist Giovanni Boccaccio. The writer argues that this work serves as a window in time that reveals to modern readers the world of the Middle Ages and the horror that engulfed that world with the coming of the Black Death, as well as the social changes that this instigated. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: KE9_99bocdec.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
of the Black Death (bubonic plague), which reached the city of Florence, Italy in 1348. Brought to Europe from the Middle East by Geonoese and Catalan merchant ships, eventually the
plague killed 25 million people (Chubb PG). Even the two world wars of this century did not come as close as the plague of the fourteenth century to destroying
the human race. It should also be realized by modern readers that the people of that era had no conception of the true cause of this devastating pestilence. With no
modern conception of contagion, germs or how disease is actually transmitted, to the people of that era, it appeared that God, himself, had turned his back on them. The most
logical explanation, and the one that was endorsed by the Church, was that the plague was Gods punishment for human wickedness. Boccaccio has a lengthy discussion of the plague at
the beginning of The Decameron because this was an occurrence of monumental importance, which had far-reaching social ramifications. This was particularly true in regards to the women of that time.
While some individuals viewed the plague as a visible sign of Gods anger; and, therefore, turned to religion, others took a completely opposite stance. They embraced the spirit of "carpe
diem," or "enjoy the moment," and Boccaccio was among this group (Chubb PG). Some experts have argued that the morality pictured in The Decameron is based on "nature" and,
therefore, represents a new element in European society (Hastings 2). This particular view of morality, which is that it rests ultimately on nature, gives storytellers, particularly the women, greater freedom
than the more traditional codes of morality that had prevailed previously (Hastings 2). This dramatic social change is recorded in The Decameron. For example, Pampinea, who tells the tenth
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