Decameron- Day 3

3.3-

In this story the lady, who is unnamed, uses a friar to communicate with the man she is in love with. I find it interesting to note that the lady's name is hidden from the viewer. This presents the lady in the story with a level of anonymity that allows her to act as more than an individual. In a sense, she becomes representative of all women, and of the ways that women were forced to get what they wanted at the time. She also serves to show the intellect of women in a time period where that fact was often overlooked.

The way in which the lady used the friar as a means of communication was quite amusing. This way reminds me of the concept of self fulfilling prophesies in psychology. A self fulfilling prophesy is when the results of a test are false because they are expected, and therefore, unbeknownst to the researcher or not, actions are taken to create them. In this case the lady knew what she was doing and she fabricated stories about how she would like her lover to act. Once relayed to the friar, he unknowingly informed the man of what he should do to please the woman.This trickery is one that is designed to show the ignorance of the clergy at the time. This goal is one that Boccaccio might have taken due to the clergy's arrogance. I think that another reason for this is the rigid school of thought known as Scholasticism. During the Italian Renaissance this school was opposed by a school called Humanism. As a humanist, Boccaccio would have enjoyed portraying the clergy, who were Scholastics,as ignorant and clueless.