Boccaccio's Decameron. A Guide to Living Well: syllabus
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Laurie Shepard, Boston College
Week 1 Introduction to Boccaccio and 14th-century Florence
Boccaccio & Dante: The project to rescue Francesca
Week 2
The plague as a metaphor for social corruption and the “Lieta Brigata”
Week 2 The plague as a metaphor for social corruption and the “Lieta Brigata”
The problem of judging “the worst of men”
Week 3
The “witty response” as a weapon of the weak and a civilizing tool
Fortune and talkative merchants
Week 4
Fortune and passive women
Wit: its use and abuse I
Week 5
Wit: its use and abuse II
The power of Nature
Week 6
What is new about Boccaccio’s “Novella”
The power of love
Week 3 The “witty response” as a weapon of the weak and a civilizing tool
Fortune and talkative merchants
Week 4 Fortune and passive women
Wit: its use and abuse I
Week 5 Wit: its use and abuse II
The power of Nature
Week 6 What is new about Boccaccio’s “Novella”
The power of love
Week 7 The art of narration and prepartion for the oral midterm
The failure of words
Week 8 Oral Midterm
Applying merchant ethics to marriage
Week 9 Women and words
Break
Week 10 Words that Save?
Week 11 Fortune and Largesse
Friendship and Boccaccio’s Earthly Paradise
Week 12 The Conclusion of the Author
The Decameron: A Guide to Living Well in Troubled Times?
