6. The Decameron and Its Early Critics

Abstract

The ten young men and women who tell the tales that constitute the Decameron do so in order to gain pleasure, which in turn promotes their well-being. We have looked at this reasoning as it appears in the ihtroduction and at the end of the storytelling, but they are not the only places where the brigata discusses its motives. At the beginning of the fifth story of the ninth day, Neifile asserts that "we are assembled here for no other purpose than to rejoice and be merry" (p. 701). In an interesting passage located halfway through the hundred tales, Dioneo introduces the last story of the fifth day with a reference to the group's central concern: