Name: The Decameron
Author: Giovanni Boccaccio

How you explore The Decameron on Literah

The cast, the places, the objects, the plot, and the author’s own words — each one a card in a feed you scroll on your phone. One at a time, at your pace, in any order you like.

Built for your phone. Literah is designed for mobile, so your worlds travel with you. On a laptop it shows a QR code to carry the world to your phone.
A feed, not a wall of text. 35 characters, 14 places, 11 objects and 8 plot beats, each its own card with its own illustration.
The author’s own words. 48 passages of The Decameron sit in the feed verbatim, exactly as Giovanni Boccaccio wrote them, each with a short reading of what it is doing. The map is ours; the prose is always the book’s.
The same scroll, a better world. The gesture you already give away to feeds, spent on Giovanni Boccaccio instead.

9:41

The Cast

Pampinea

Main · Storytelling company

The young woman who turns flight from plague into ordered communal life.

Locations

Florence

city

A city gutted by plague drives ten young people to flee and tell stories instead.

Passage

When even a touch can kill, where can the living find safety?

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The Author’s Pen

Infection by Mere Touch

And this pestilence was the more virulent for that, by communication with those who were sick thereof, it gat hold upon the sound, no otherwise than fire upon things dry or greasy, whenas they are brought very near thereunto. Nay, the mischief was yet greater; for that not only did converse and consortion with the sick give to the sound infection of cause of common death, but the mere touching of the clothes or of whatsoever other thing had been touched or used of the sick appeared of itself to communicate the malady to the toucher.

Reading

What frightens people here is not the sick but their belongings. Boccaccio is describing the plague that struck Florence, the disaster that drives his young storytellers out of the city, and he keeps pushing past what you would expect: it is bad enough that being near a sick person kills you, but then a discarded rag or a used object does the same, all on its own. The danger has come loose from any body you could avoid, spreading through ordinary things you would never think to fear.

World Index

The Plot

The Plague and the FlightWit, Faith, and FortuneDesire and IngenuityThe Day of Tragic LovesHappy Loves and Sharp WordsTricks and DeceptionsMagnificence and GriseldaThe Return to Florence

The Cast

PampineaFiammettaFilomenaEmiliaLaurettaNeifileElisaPamfiloFilostratoDioneoGriseldaSer CiappellettoGhismondaFederigo degli AlberighiLisabettaMadam FilippaCalandrinoNastagio degli OnestiMarquis GualtieriThe Friar ConfessorAbrahamJehannot de ChevignéMelchizedekSaladinMesser TorelloTancredGuiscardoMonna GiovannaLorenzoLisabetta's BrothersBrunoBuffalmaccoMaso del SaggioGriselda's ChildrenTessa

Locations

FlorenceMessinaParisPaviaRome and the Papal CourtSaluzzoThe First Countryside VillaThe Florentine ChurchThe MugnoneThe Neighboring ChurchThe Pinewood of ChiassiThe Prato CourtThe Second Villa and GardensThe Storytelling Garden and Fountain

Objects of Note

Calandrino’s Heliotrope StonesFederigo’s FalconGriselda’s ShiftLisabetta’s Basil PotMadam Filippa’s StatuteMusical InstrumentsSer Ciappelletto’s ConfessionStorytelling CrownStorytelling SeatThe Golden BowlThe Three Rings

Core Concepts

Desire Under Social ConstraintFortune Tests Human AgencyGenerosity Revalues PossessionGrief Made PhysicalOrder Needs ExceptionPatience, Authority, and Moral DiscomfortReligious Authority Under SatireReputation Can Defeat TruthStorytelling as Refuge from CatastropheWit as Social Power

The Author's Pen

Shut Away From the SickSeven Young Ladies in ChurchHonourable DepartureFortune Favours Their GoingThe Palace PreparedPampinea Crowned ChiefThe First Day of StorytellingAbsolution And Burial OfferThe Jew Surveys RomeThe Three RingsThe Making of Saint CiappellettoHome With the RingThe Walled GardenThe Friar's LessonCalandrino Seeks the StoneA Monstrous FollyReturn To FlorenceAn End of WordsFortune Turned to JoyThe Displayed PurseA New Theme ProposedThe Lady's ComplaintLove's Unhappy EndingsGhismonda Defends Her LoveThe Basil PotFiammetta Commands Happier TalesThe Pursued DamselThe Good Falcon ServedElisa's Theme of RetortsMadam Oretta Set DownThe Lady Is In The RightIn Your Own HouseFra Cipolla and the CoalsTomorrow's Theme of Wifely TricksA Wider Theme of TricksWhere Is CalandrinoCalandrino Laments His ChildStories of Generous DeedsThe Abbot Embraces GhinoShame Before NathanConstrained to HospitalityThe Ring Reveals TorelloSent Away in Her ShiftGriselda Restored At One StrokeGriselda and GualtieriReturn To FlorenceAnswering Unspoken Objections

Plot point 01

The Plague and the Flight

As the Black Death shatters Florence, ten young nobles flee to a country villa and agree to pass the days by telling stories.

Objects of Note

Storytelling Crown

A laurel wreath that hands one storyteller a day's worth of gentle rule.

The Cast

Fiammetta

Main · Storytelling company

A poised storyteller whose voice keeps love’s pleasures and sorrows in view.

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The Decameron

Giovanni Boccaccio

The cast, locations, objects of note, core concepts, and selected passages in the Author’s Pen - at your own pace.

One of 128 classics in the Literah library

The Decameron feed, as it appears in your mobile

The plot of The Decameron

The story beat by beat, as Literah maps it.

The Plague and the Flight
Wit, Faith, and Fortune
Desire and Ingenuity
The Day of Tragic Loves
Happy Loves and Sharp Words
Tricks and Deceptions
Magnificence and Griselda
The Return to Florence

The author's pen in The Decameron

The passages themselves, Giovanni Boccaccio's own words, as Literah maps it.

Infection by Mere Touchch. 1
Shut Away From the Sickch. 1
Seven Young Ladies in Churchch. 1
Honourable Departurech. 1
Fortune Favours Their Goingch. 1
The Palace Preparedch. 1
Pampinea Crowned Chiefch. 1
The First Day of Storytellingch. 1
Absolution And Burial Offerch. 1
The Jew Surveys Romech. 1
The Three Ringsch. 1
The Making of Saint Ciappellettoch. 1
Home With the Ringch. 1
The Walled Gardench. 1
The Friar's Lessonch. 1
Calandrino Seeks the Stonech. 1
A Monstrous Follych. 1
Return To Florencech. 1
An End of Wordsch. 1
Fortune Turned to Joych. 2

The characters of The Decameron

Who is who, as Literah maps it.

Pampineamajor
Fiammettamajor
Filomenamajor
Emiliamajor
Laurettamajor
Neifilemajor
Elisamajor
Pamfilomajor
Filostratomajor
Dioneomajor
Griseldamajor
Ser Ciappellettomajor
Ghismondamajor
Federigo degli Alberighimajor
Lisabettamajor
Madam Filippamajor

The locations in The Decameron

Where it happens, as Literah maps it.

Florencecity
The Florentine Churchchurch
The First Countryside Villavilla
The Second Villa and Gardensvilla and gardens
The Storytelling Garden and Fountaingarden
The Neighboring Churchchurch
Saluzzomarquisate
Rome and the Papal Courtcity and court
Pariscity
Messinacity
The Prato Courtcourt
The Mugnoneriverbed
Paviacity
The Pinewood of Chiassiwood

The core concepts in The Decameron

What the book keeps returning to, as Literah maps it.

Storytelling as Refuge from Catastrophe
Fortune Tests Human Agency
Wit as Social Power
Reputation Can Defeat Truth
Religious Authority Under Satire
Desire Under Social Constraint
Grief Made Physical
Generosity Revalues Possession
Order Needs Exception
Patience, Authority, and Moral Discomfort

The objects of note in The Decameron

The things that carry meaning, as Literah maps it.

Storytelling Crown
Storytelling Seat
Musical Instruments
Ser Ciappelletto’s Confession
The Three Rings
Federigo’s Falcon
The Golden Bowl
Lisabetta’s Basil Pot
Madam Filippa’s Statute
Calandrino’s Heliotrope Stones
Griselda’s Shift

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How you explore The Decameron on Literah

The plot of The Decameron

The author's pen in The Decameron

The characters of The Decameron

The locations in The Decameron

The core concepts in The Decameron

The objects of note in The Decameron

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