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EMERGENCE MIDTERM
Question 1: Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio is a writer embedded in the notion of theMiddle-Ages, even though his conceptions of different life points aremainly forwarded to the Renaissance. His writing embodies his role inthe renaissance and how he attempts to bridge the gap between themodern form literature languages and the classical literature throughsetting his standards. In his stories, in the Elegia de MadonnaFiammetta, Ninfale Fiesolano, and the Decameron, he hastaken an everyday tragedy, experience, and comedy to create aliterature piece that picks a period of the Renaissance. Without hisworks, there would be no culmination in the Italian Renaissance, andit would be entirely incomprehensible. Here we will be addressing hisrole as a storyteller and writer and how he uses characters from hisstory to form his identity through his work.
Ninfale fiesolano (1344-1346) and L`elegia de MadonnaFiammetta (1343-1344) are some of his works that mark hisdeparture from allegory. In Federigo, one of the stories inthe Decameron, he showcases his ability to be a dreamer andvery ambitious when he creates a character who has desires to achievethe impossible. In this story, he reaches new heights in creating acharacter that is also willing to accept the reality of things whenhe realizes that his goals are unattainable. Boccaccio’s writing isfilled with compassion and elements of romance as a way of setting animpression in the mind of his readers.
“Madam, ever since it pleased God to make me love you, Fortunehas been my enemy inmany ways, and I have lamented that but theywere all light blows compared to what is happening now, because ofwhich I shall never make my peace with Fortune…” (Baccaccio &McWilliam, 1972).
Boccaccio aims to show what love can do when it is expressed in thepurest way. The way he sets up the plot to his stories shows howstrongly, his emotions are set up in his mind and the way heunderstands the human psychological need to love and to be loved. Inconclusion, his works are a detailed personification of his emotionsand character and what he thought of the world and culture at thetime.
Question 2: La Mandragola by Machiavelli
In the La Mandragola author tries to draw connections to thebroader aspect of political theory. Even though, the story is basedon an ancient tragedy in the histories of Livy about Lucretia, whichis represented as a comedy in this aspect. To the author, this is aform of remedy that he offers to the Florentine politics of the timethat was devoid of virtu. In The Prince, Machiavelli talks about theprinces who had become rulers with the help of their powers. In oneof the instances, Moses who is one of the princes mentioned becomes aprince with unclear ways since the author only says about him havinga good teacher. Politics is held as a tool for power in this piece ofwork by Machiavelli.
La Mandragola is one of the greatest works of Machiavelli. Theplay shows how Machiavelli expresses a sense of modesty, whichusually is a way of ensuring that he does not enter into muchdiscussion about the nature of power that is held by theecclesiastical government. Machiavelli addresses the significance ofOccassione, in the last chapter, where he claims that the time isright to have a prince who can deliver the Italians from theBarbarians (Machiavelli & Machiavelli, 1978). His view is that ina world that is full of tragedy and is corrupted there is a need fora private counselor that is played by the stock character, inLigurio. He embraces the idea that the end will always justify themeans and incorporates comedy in a paradoxical manner to show thatthere can always be hope even when there is a great tragedy in astory.
References
Boccaccio, G., & McWilliam, G. H. (1972). The Decameron.Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Machiavelli, N., & Machiavelli, N. (1978). The mandrake.New York: Dramatists Play Service.
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