In Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron, each day is foucused around a theme, which the members of the lieta brigata seek to incorporate into that day’s stories (with the exception of Dioneo). For the sixth day, the theme is decided to be people who employ a witticism to escape punishment or discomfort. To convey this message, many of the tales employ the usage of a bon mot, or a brief, humorous phrase. Throughout this day, unsightly persons, frequently employ the bon mot, which contrasts their wit with their less than desirable appearances. In addition to this, people of inferior rank are often shown to be more intelligent, and make better use of the bon mot than their masters, or other noble persons. All of these uses of wit go to show to the power of words, which is a recurring theme throughout the Decameron. In the sixth day of Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron, the lieta brigata tells stories wherein the characters escape humiliation or pain by means of a witticism. This theme is summed up in the use of the bon mot and people of less than desirable appearance, and of a lower class often uses the use of this device; all of these things go to show the power of words.
This power of words is most often shown in the sixth day through the use of the bon mot. A bon mot (literally French for “good word”) is a witticism used at the right moment, which often provides a humorous comment to the goings-on in a story. The sixth day of the Decameron specifically focuses on the use of the bon mot by a character to escape unpleasantness or punishment. Although the bon mot is central to all stories in the sixth day, Chichibio perhaps best exemplifies the use of the bon mot in the fourth story. When Chichibio’s position as chef is threatened, “in some...
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... who are of ugly appearance or lesser rank, perhaps to level the playing field in life. Boccaccio uses Fortune’s gift of wit to members of lesser rank to upset the social order of his time, and to display his encouragement of women to realize themselves as independent persons. Finally, Boccaccio teaches us that the power of words ties the creator of the words with his creation, and allows him to better himself through practice. In the sixth day of Boccaccio’s Decameron, all of the uses of words, especially the use of the bon mot, allow persons of various appearances and ranks to realize the power of words and use them to escape physical or emotional torment.
Works Cited
Boccaccio, Giovanni. The Decameron. Trans. G.H. McWilliam. 2nd ed. New York: Penguin Books, 1972. Print.
Ferrante, Joan M., “Narrative Patterns in the Decameron.” Romance Philology May 1978. Web.
Vannatta, Dennis. "Theme and Structure in Tim O'Brien's Going After Cacciato." Modern Fiction Studies 28 (Summer 1982): 242-246.
Few words can be more humorous, or more upsetting, than a well thought out and witty phrase. The only skill that matches Cyrano’s skill with a sword, is his skill with his tongue. With a wit unmatched by any poet, Cyrano made enemies wherever he went, simply by out-smarting all who came against him. In the first act of the play, Cyrano crashes a performance of the well-known actor Montfluery. After many insults, Cyrano heaps upon them by saying, “I would never venture out in public with a soiled conscience, a tarnished honor, or scruples grimy and dull. I do not adorn myself with gems and ribbons, like you. Instead, I decorate myself with truth, independence, and a clean soul.”
Long, Ryan F. "A Conversation With Juan Villoro." World Literature Today 85.1 (2011): 16-19.Literary Reference Center. Web. 13 May 2014.
5. Lesley Adkins, Roy A Adkins, Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome, Oxford University Press, 1998. (pg. 304)
This essay will closely study and describe Rosso Fiorentino’s The Descent from the Cross. The painting depicts the process of Jesus Christ being taken off of the cross.
3)Dionysius, Earnest Cary, and Edward Spelman. The Roman Antiquities. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard UP, 1937. Print.
In his Earlier Rule, Francis encouraged the friars to preach through their actions rather than their words (Let all the brothers, however preach by their deeds). For Francis, gestures and symbols were as important as the words themselves. In the Franciscan sources, Francis depended as much on dramatic gestures and images as he did upon words he spoke (or didn’t speak) to preach his message. The meal at the Greccio provides an excellent example of how Francis used both of these elements, as well as words to make manifest “sermon”. This paper will examine this Greccio meal through the lens of two sources, the earlier Assisi Compilation and the later work, The Remembrance of the Desire of a Soul by Thomas of Celano. The Greccio meal will be compared and contrasted in these two sources, especially with regards to the significance of Francis unspoken actions within these writings. For Francis, actions did indeed speak louder than words.
Events throughout this chapter should leave the reader with a feeling of disbelief and make start to question the philosophy of Leibniz. The irony displayed in the shipwreck was then exaggerated by Pangloss’s explanation for James death in the Lisbon Bay. Voltaire used of descriptive words such as flames and topsy-turvy painted images in the readers, which made them, ask themselves how is this the best possible outcome? The combination of the lack of rational in Pangloss’s sulfur explanation with the sailors grotesque behavior completed the attack on the Enlightenment period and their view of optimism. As all of these examples and literary devices produced a chapter full of satiric examples that left the reader flabbergasted with their
Decameron is a "fictional record of the stories that ten Florentine men and women told to entertain
Irony is defined as words or actions that convey a reality different from appearance or expectation. The use of such device in the story gives it humor and wit. The continuous use of irony is detected through style, tone and the use of exaggeration from Montresor, the narrator. From the start we can blatantly see the irony in the story. The name Fortunato implies that this man is of good luck, when in actuality he was about to face the end of his life. The setting itself in which the story takes place also contains an ironic element. It is during Venice’s Carnival that the characters meet. Carnival is supposed to be a time of celebration and happiness for everybody. However, in the tale it is a time for revenge and death. The mood changes drastically when the two characters leave the carnival for the d...
Boccaccio's tenth story, "Locking the Devil Up in Hell," depicts a young women who has been manipulated by pious men into doing sexual acts as her righteousness to please God has overwhelmed her wits. Boccaccio characterizes the women as naive as one can be, she is obsessed with pleasing God that she will listen to anyone who speaks on how."Oh, Father," replied the girl in all innocence, "if I really do have a Hell, let's do as you suggest just as soon as
The second type of irony used in this short story is dramatic irony which irony is when the characters do not know and the people reading the story or watching the play does know. Fortunato appears with an ill-looking “He had on a tight-fitting parti-striped dress, and his head was surmounted but the conical cap and bells.”(1200) He dresses like a jester, and there are a big joke on him soon.
Grimké, Angelina. “Tenebris.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. 11th ed. Ed. Kelly J. Mays. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2013. 1277. Print.
Acknowledging Barthes’s theory allows the reader to break free of dictatorship the author may posses by promoting the reader to freely think about the pieces of literature such as Balthazar’s Marvelous Afternoon. Autonomous thinking gives the reader the advantage of discovering the duplicity of a potential underlying connotation or simply deciding not to delve deeper for hidden implications that may be sought out by the author. Barthes’s, The Death of the Author, provides the reader with knowledge and enlightenment in order to have the freedom to dive and think critically about the subject and characters written about in the narrative by Balzac. Barthes’s, The Death of the Author, proposes literary theories that can be directly related to the subjectivity of how a reader chooses to synthesis the meaning or meaninglessness of Balthazar’s Marvelous Afternoon.
Bosola's inconsistency makes him different to some of the other characters in the play; the Cardinal is always cold and calculating, Antonio is honorable and benevolent and Ferdinand is fierce and aggressive, even in his mad state. There is no change in their characters, yet Bosola reaches beyond the confinements of the stereotypical role of `black malcontent', as Antonio describes him, altering his opinion of the Duchess as a prostitute, `this precise fellow is the Duchess' bawd', to seeing her as a noble woman and feeling compassion for her in her last moments of life, `Return fair soul from darkness, and lead mine out of this sensible hell!' Bosola's capricious nature makes him more convincing and realistic as a character. At the beginning of the play, the audience will probably dislike Bosola's cruel, pessimistic look on life. His change in opinion t...