Stereotypes In The Things They Carried By Boccaccio

Boccaccio retells the same tale of a women getting tricked after having an affair with another man for money in three distinct environments to show the economic differences between village, city, and international commerce. In the second story of the eight day, Boccaccio not a priest depicts Monna Belcolore, a married women, having sex with her local priest. However, this is not easily done, as she asks him to "lend me(her) five pounds" (Boccaccio, 557), as a return for her adultery. Although this may seem like a very rational thought, it is more important to see that she needs the five pounds to "get my spinning wheel mended" (Boccaccio, 557). Normally, Belcolore would never have sex with anyone outside of marriage, especially not a priest,

Gulfardo, a mercenary man from Germany, is deeply in love with the wife of Guasparruolo, a wealthy merchant man. It is interesting that Boccaccio choose the character as German mercenary, as not only did Italians hate Germans in this time period, but mercenaries were "extremely (un)loyal to those in whose service" they "enrolled" (Boccaccio, 557). Despite these realistic stereotypes, Gulfardo was still able to borrow this money from a wealthy Italian merchant at a low interest rate. In both day one and day two, there is a common theme that northern economies of Italy are very honest and more straight forward. (can connect later to southern economy which prey off of lying). Even though both days seem to be based in honest economic system, the women of the stories are both deceived, in no small part because of the high amount of decency within them. Once again, in order to sleep with Madonna, she requires him to pay him "two hundred gold florins"(Boccaccio, 553). The introduction of currency in this story shows a stark contrast between day one and day two in the view that Milan uses an economic standard, while Varlungo uses a barter system. Upon giving her the money he instructed her to "give it to your husband when he returns" (Boccaccio, 553), which allows Gulfardo to immediately repaying his debt. He tells Guasparrullo that the loan was "not needed after

All three of the women had sex for money, not love. In the eyes of Boccaccio, his is reprehensible, as the women eventually get tricked. Moreover, the women of the first and second stories still remain in wedlock, and still love their husbands. Therefore, their punishment is significantly less harsh. Madonna and Belcolore have made a mistake, and will be penalized for this, but they are fairly pure still. On the other hand, Jancofiore, has made a livelihood off fortification. These sexual acts, because they are not in the name of affection, are treated with unrelenting repercussions for the rest of her