- Griselda in the tenth story of the tenth day is being tested by her husband, Gualtieri, so that he may find her adaptable to his way of living and suited to his temperament. Being unable to judge one’s character based on her parents he relies alone on her actions. On the day he chooses to marry her in her father’s presence he asks her a few certain questions: 1) If he were to marry her would she always try to please him? 2) Would she never be upset by anything he said or did? 3) Would she obey him, and so forth. All of this, she agreed to and they were married. Gualtieri was still suspicious and wanted proof of her promises so he devised the testing. His testing is very sever but through it all Griselda sticks to her original promises. In the end he sees she is true and honest and able to keep her word even in circumstances most would break under. Patience was a virtue he sought in Griselda and one he found.
- The tales in both the Decameron and The Thousand and One Nights are told for a purpose. In the later the tales show a side of humanity and change the beliefs of the King, where as in the former they started out as tales for entertainment to escape the present and they end up showing sides to humanity as well. In each case they accomplish the purpose that they intended; the King has a change of heart, and the group forgets the horrors of the plague and can escape into the worlds of imagination for a short time. The relationship between the tales and the teller is very important. In The Thousand and One Nights the teller puts herself in the position of sacrifice and it is her skills as a bard that saves her from certain death. Because of her understanding and skillful tales she is able to convey a new truth to the King. If she had not been his wife and the teller of the tales the outcome would not have been achieved. It is different for the Decameron, in that the tales let the teller share their view on the world around them and most importantly how they view love without any risk to their life, plus the tales are for entertainment and pleasure. The stories are about how each person relates to the world around them, making them all important.
- The Nightingale is a symbol of the love the wife can never have. She dreams and wants to be free like the bird, to do more than gaze at her would be lover and talk to him through the walls. She finds herself in an arranged marriage to a man who cares not for her as a woman but only as property. When asked why she spends so many nights beside the window she tells her husband it is because of the bird and the pleasure she gets from it. Out of spite he traps and kills the bird throwing the broken body at his wife. The stain it created on her chest is representative of the broken heart she has knowing she can now not stand by the window and gaze upon her would be lover. It is an end to her affair, and the would be lover has the broken corpse of the nightingale placed in a decorative vessel he carried with him as a memory of a long lost lover and what they could never have.
I love all the pictures you have here! I agree, the nightengale presents a really powerful symbol. And what’s with the husband, seriously!?
I think it would probably be good to test a person that you are going to marry that they will stay faithful, but definitely not to the extent that Gualtieri did. I think his testing was way too severe for the situation even in that time period but at least she prevailed and was able to rewarded for it all. I don’t like that her children were taken away from her though. That seemed way too unfair. I like your reaction to the symbol of the nightingale. It is such a sad story that she is locked in a relationship with a man that she doesn’t love. At least she was able to talk to the man that she did love for a good while. Once she got caught and the nightingale was caught and killed it just ended as a rather hopeless story.