Gender roles and sexuality in Boccaccio's "The Decameron"

Medieval Literature

Gender and Sexuality in Medieval Literature

Cultural norms and gender roles have changed considerably since the medieval period. Literature is defined by the cultural constructs surrounding it. In order to understand a work of literature from a different time period and/or culture, one must first examine the cultural constructs that influenced the author at the time of writing. Sometimes, there are few clues as to culture and gender roles, other than the work itself. The following will examine the clues as to gender and sexuality found in works from Giovanni Boccaccio's "The Decameron" and Visnu Sarma's "The Pancantantra." It will address the hypothesis that, contrary to the opinions of several modern historians, the writings of Boccacio represent accurate medieval thought regarding the status and treacherous nature of women.

Boccacio: An Exploration in Florence, Italy

Giovanni Bocaccio lived in the early to mid 1300s. He was embroiled in the precarious glory that embodied the city of Florence, Italy during that time. Boccacio's works provide the reader with a candid glimpse of politics, morality, and gender roles of the time. There are several differences between beliefs about sexuality in Boccacio's time the modern era.

The first difference is the modern stereotype that males are more likely to experience insatiable sexual desire than women. During the Middle Ages, it was believed that women were much more susceptible to sexual desire than men. Men were considered to be more rational and closer to the spiritual realm than women. Women were considered to be carnal and materialistic, even if they were nuns.

A man to live with women! he might as well live with so many devils: six times out of seven they know not themselves what they want"(Decameron, III:1:12).

The "Decameron" contains many examples of women who's desire were insatiable. This passage highlights how stereotypes have changed since the Middle Ages regarding gender roles.

Fairest ladies, not a few there are both of men and of women, who are so foolish as blindly to believe that, so soon as a young woman has been veiled in white and cowled in black, she ceases to be a woman, and is no more subject to the cravings proper to her sex, than if, in assuming the garb and profession of a nun, she had put on the nature of a stone: (Decameron, III:1: 002).

Although women were considered to be illogical and insatiable, they were also expected to posess a certain "softness" that made it natural for them to assume a more submissive role during sexual acts (Salisbury, p. 85). The ideal that women were more sexually insatiable than men undoubtedly led many families to lock up their unmarried daughters in order to avoid trouble (Brundage, p. 428).

The second difference between modern ideology about the genders and medieval concepts is the idea that men are associated with heat, whereas women are associated with coldness. According to Salisbury (p. 91), if a woman's womb was warm the baby would be male. Likewise, a cold womb would produce a female child. It was believed that through sexual intercourse, the woman gained the heat that she lacked (Salisbury, p. 90). These qualities were used to explain many differences between males and females from psychological traits to physical traits.

The "Decameron" differs from other contemporary medieval texts in that its expression of sexuality and sexual acts are more direct and explicit. Sexuality was typically suggested through inuendos and allusion, but seldom was it as directly stated as in Boccacio's writing. There are differing opinions as to why this may be the case. The first contention is that Boccacio's presentation of sexuality and gender roles in a true reflection of societal ideals of the time. It may be that he was a writer that represented a more straight forward approach to what was going on in society than his contemporaries. However, it may also be the case, that Boccacio was simply crying for greater freedom of expression. In Italian lyric poetry the sexual act is never stated, although it is understood.

Even with an understanding of sexuality in Medieval Florentine society, it is difficult to determine whether Boccacio's portrayal of recurring themes of adultery and overt sexuality among the clergy are reality or whether they are a comic exaggeration of society is difficult to determine. One can be certain that Boccacio's decidedly male perspective was reflected throughout the work. The sexuality of women is portrayed as evil. In the Decameron, III; 10, Alibech develops a taste for "putting the devil back in hell" as a euphemism for taming womanly sexual desire. Men are decidedly the "victim" of the women's temptations. Although, it is ironic that they must be the ones to make the first moves and act as aggressor in sexual acts.

Conclusion

There are vast similarities among the women portrayed in Boccacio and those portrayed in the Panchantantra. There are also clues that this is a decidedly male perspective. Boccacio gives us clues through the narrator. The Panchantantra tells us through third person references to women. It is also easy to discern a male author by the content. It is unlikely that a woman would write of women in such a manner.

The real question is whether these references reflect societal views of women, or if they are simply the opinion of the author. In order to analyze this question, one must look at the entire body of work during the time period. When one examines Boccacio, there are only a few references that are an explicit and straightforward as Boccacio. Most references are more subtle. Boccacio may have intentionally written in the manner that he did for shock value.

However, the Panchantantra is strong evidence that these attitudes prevailed in society. The sheer number of references found in the Panchantantra are evidence that this is what men thought of women. The Panchantantra is from multiple authors and changed over the years through the various cultures that translated it. Given this evidence, it is difficult to dismiss Boccacios' work as a mere fantasy. Although other writings did not take the direct approach found in Boccacio, the references are still there and cannot be ignored.