In The Decameron, Boccaccio’s different themes discussed in the novelles are able to interconnect with one another. In the novelles 1.1 and 6.10, I argue that Boccaccio encourages deception through the use of rhetoric and discourages the worshipping and validity of relics. In 1.1, the story of Cepparello explores the power of language. Cepparello talks his way into sainthood through his confession. He builds on the lies and through language is able to construct an image of a perfect and almost sinless person. His ability to string together words eloquently allow Cepparello to talk himself into sainthood. Boccaccio makes an interesting point and appears to encourage the deception. Cepparello gets quite arguably the best reward for deceiving religious authority. Instead of condemning Cepparello or exposing the truth later on, Boccaccio offers great praise. Construction of an image of this holy person is now a motivation for people One could argue that his bad deeds outweighed the good that came from the lies. Cepparello’s so-called “life story” influenced a community. Rhetoric allowed him to deceive and reinvent himself in any way he saw fit. Given the circumstances, Cepparello was able to work out a favorable solution for all …show more content…
When the people hear of Cepparello’s story they take pieces of his clothes as relics. The people value objects from the corrupt and terrible man. Boccaccio plays with the idea that people will believe anything stating, “each one thinking himself blessed if he just got a little piece of it,” (36). Boccaccio offers the alternative perspective on relics, where he hints that relics are worthless. Boccaccio poses the question of the value of relics as he shows the reader how value can be placed on superficial items based on the lies someone lied. This makes the relics appear meaningless. Therefore Boccaccio discourages the behavior through the action of the
“The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas” is a document written in ancient Roman times that exhibits the role religion plays in the forming of a culture and the lives of individuals in the ancient world. For her belief in Christianity, they throw Perpetua into jail. Her execution is fighting animals in an arena. She does not renounce her faith in the face of persecution and thus becomes a martyr. This text is a unique key into the past in many ways. Part of it is written by a woman, it gives a detailed account of her martyrdom and gives us some insight into the culture of ancient Rome. For these reasons, this document provides us with valuable knowledge, specifically concerning the purpose for the composing and preservation of this document.
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Born in the year 354 on African soil, Augustine spent his earlier years in the care of his Christian mother, Monnica. He spent his time blissfully living the life of any normal child; doing mischievous deeds and remaining apathetic to life’s worries. He despised Greek education, and by extension, those who attempted to mandate a need to obtain one. But not for superficial reasons, rather, Augustine’s animosity towards his instructors was related to irrelevant subjects taught in the schools. According to him, Greek instructors failed to adequately expound on topics that hold honest meaning. One was fiction, which Augustine found to be quite contradictory to one who hoped to escape the sin of lying. However, Augustine did give positive feedback on Greek scholar’s inst...
The Decameron was a collection tales written by Boccaccio. It was one of the best records of the
Cephalus is presumed to be the role model of Book 1 in Plato’s Republic: he examines his past with admirable insight, uses holy diction when discussing secular topics, and dutifully attends his sacrifices. In fact, Cephalus’ only fault seems to be teaching Polemarchus the wrong definition of justice: “doing good to one’s friends and harm to one’s enemies” (332d). Nevertheless, Socrates easily forgives this transgression as he respects Cephalus very much. However, through Glaucon and Adeimantus’ invalidation of Cephalus’ righteousness in Book 2, followed by Socrates’ direct rebuttal of Anytus’ claim from Meno, Plato reveals Cephalus is actually the most unjust character of Book 1.
... However, these justifications appear fabricated and rather pathetic, as many comrades believe the source of income for such a magnificent article to be a wealthy mistress of Porthos’s rather than his own pocket (22-23). The inclusion of these oppositions to Porthos’s account serve as a ridicule of the gravity placed upon materialistic items as a measure of self worth and authority, as such articles are obtained through the value of currency, as opposed to the values of intellect and character.
Despite Boethius’s initial resistance, Lady Philosophy shows that because Boethius did not own his wealth or position, he was subject to Fortune’s transitory...
The decursio sides are representations of Antoninus Pius’ deification and funerary rites. The depiction consists of the cavalry circling the standing figures, two of whom carry military standards, while the rest are wearing their cuirass. These scenes represent the ceremony that is essential for the deification of the imperial members. The style that is used within these sides is in relief form, yet they also break from the traditional Classical style. The variation of the Classical style is prominent by depicting stocky human forms and using two types of perspective within a single space. The figures also lack the gracefulness of other works during this time that follow the Classical style. The perspective of the piece is unclear where the figures seem to be suspended in space for what seems to be an overhead view while at the same time using a single perspective. Despite the deviation of the Classical style this p...
While the relationship of the Gothic to the Romantic is debatable, the persistent desire of some critics to see it as pre-Romantic should not disguise the possibility that the genre is “actually sending out very contradictory impulses about its own intentions, [and] adopting certain strategies that thwart the very perceptions it seems to be on the brink of achieving” (Napier, 4). This uncertainty in form and intent has produced imprecision and imbalances in Gothic novels that are partly the result of instability within the Gothic form. Although the Gothic achieves stability by repeating a certain pattern of accepted conventions, leading to remarkable coherence in the “routine likeness of one romance to another” (Napier, 4), one must be mindful that the Gothic is “formally and stylistically marked by disequilibrium” (Napier, 4). The imbalance, dissolution, and formal unevenness of the Gothic genre, which some scholars claim are recurrent issues within the genre, are found as early as the first Gothic novel in The Castle of Otranto. Their existence in Otranto suggests the profound uncertainty Walpole had about the intent of the genre as he perceived it and hints at the immense task the author faced in establishing a new genre that required the “difficult and uneven breaking away from the more carefully structured and considered narratives of the preceding period” (Napier, 5). Walpole’s inability to provide a thorough theoretical explanation of the intent of the genre and breakaway cleanly from pre-existing narrative norms accounts, in part, for the presence of tonal and modal incongruities within the textual body of Otranto.
The primary function of monumental portraits in Ancient Rome was to honor political figures of power through repeating social and political themes. The Romans expressed these themes through a form of “realism”. Relics of this era were found depicting the elderly conservative nobility that lived through civil disruptions and war, elaborately individualized through detail of the face expression. Through the features of grimacing heaviness, wrinkles, and effects of old age, the Romans were able to express the reality of their political situation felt by the people whose faces were sculptured into stone. Furthermore, Nodelman discusses the use of sculpture portraits to depict the ideology behind Roman conservative aristocracy. Artists would portray the virtues of gravitas, dignities, and fides, through the use to physical expression and symbolic meaning, rather than through words. A statue of Augustus, for instance, displays the militaristic, powerful, godly perception of the conservative ideology through the use of symbolic detail. The decorative, rich, military outfit on Augustus, represents the power of the military and Augustus’s role as imperator in it. The freely held masculine arm and pointing gesture towards the horizon are Rome’s expanding dreams, clashing with the overall powerful and sturdy stance of the body. The bare feet bring about the impression
Fragment of a Fresco is a piece created in one of the more turbulent and evolutionary times in Roman history. Painted during the time of transition, this piece does not depict a scene of glorious combat, but rather provides us with a sense of the art and culture of the time. This fresco also provides us with detailed insight to the interior design and decoration of Roman structures from this time period. While the Fragment of a Fresco may lack notable historical importance, it's present value could be exploited more ferociously. This particular piece has characteristics of both the First and Second Styles, yet is only classified in the Second Style. It should be used, along with frescos that share similar characteristics, to discredit the system of classification currently in place.
The Decameron, by Boccaccio, is a frame story written in the mid fourteenth century. There are a hundred stories told over a span of ten days. On the second day, a man tells a story about a princess, Alatiel, who was sent away to marry a king. Before Alatiel reaches her destination, she has sexual experiences with a lot of different men. Alatiel is treated like an object and allows this objectification to happen because she is so fickle and does nothing to stop the men. The fickleness of Alatiel and the treatment of her as an object is evident throughout the story.
We will show how Fish's theory defeats itself by applying it to a curious fragment from Marguerite Yourcenar's Mémoires d'Hadrien, a long, imagined meditation from the dying Roman emperor Hadrian. In the original French, Yourcenar writes,
Thus, during the course of this essay it is best not to think of allegory in terms of the size of a body of writing, but as writing with a “second distinct meaning partially hidden behind its literal or visible meaning”(Baldick 6). Whilst reading for political and religious allegory is key in understanding Spenser’s message, reading for moral allegory also provides readers with detailed insight into the text. It is because of this that I have chosen to focus not only on political and religious allegory but also the moral allegory that accompanies episodes in Book One focused on Una and Duessa. The two characters represent a multitude of allegories; truth and falseness, and Protestantism and Catholicism being the most prominent. Una and Duessa represent a binary opposition, and it is because of this that they help to produce a wealth of allegory when read closely. The characters represent conflicting ideas, yet neither of which would be conceivable without the other. Both characters can only function in the poem when supported by one another, if one character were to be removed, the binary opposition would be removed and the allegory drawn from either Una or Duessa would be less productive. The two episodes I will be investigating are Canto I, Stanzas 4...