Neifile’s Tale in Boccaccio’s Decameron
The second story of Day 1 in Boccaccio’s Decameron is about a Jew named Abraham who becomes a Christian after his friend, Jehannot, convinces him to visit the court of Rome. At first glance, the storyteller, Neifile, presents it as a tale of a Jew’s conversion. On closer inspection, it becomes evident that the story focuses on language, labels, and popularity. In Neifile’s story, Boccaccio represents language as a way of labeling socially unpopular religious ideology (like Judaism) as more acceptable doctrine (like Christianity), a fact that Abraham takes advantage of to increase his popularity in order to conform to society.
Before she even begins her story, Neifile sets up a dichotomy between what people are said to believe and what they actually believe. She acknowledges the "shortcomings of those who in word and deed ought to be [loving-kindness’] witness and yet behave in a precisely contrary fashion" (1.2.37). Here, Neifile is making a reference to Abraham, who according to her has not witnessed "loving-kindness" since he is a Jew. There are two noteworthy points about Neifile’s comment. First, Neifile introduces the concept of God’s loving-kindness, yet nowhere in the story is there an example of either loving or kindness in the religion. When Abraham visits Rome, he observes how the Pope, cardinals, and church dignitaries are all "gluttons, winebibbers, and drunkards" (1.2.40). The extent of corruption within the church is certainly not god’s loving-kindness toward Abraham in his conversion. Then what is? Perhaps Neifile is suggesting that the church, no matter how corrupt, can be declared to have loving-kindness. This declaration alone may be all that is necessary for the...
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...ption is important. Neifile’s story itself is an example of this type of labeling. Perhaps Neifile realizes that if she does not label the story as an example of God’s loving-kindness, her readers might think that the message of the story is about the pitfalls and corruption of Christianity. From the reader’s perspective, perhaps one of the inherent purposes of language is to make it easier for people to connect with each other. There is a certain appeal in fitting into the norm of society, and language helps people achieve this goal. When labeled differently, certain socially unpopular religious beliefs no longer seem threatening to society.
Works Cited and Consulted
Bernheimer, Richard. Wild Men in the Middle Ages. New York: Octagon Books, 1979.
Boccaccio, Giovanni. Decameron. Ed. Charles Singleton. Trans. John Payne. Berkeley: U of California P, 1982.
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