"The novel is set in Italy during the plague of the middle ages. A group of rich youths flee to the woods to escape the plague and tell each other stories to keep themselves entertained. The stories delve into sex and make fun of religion. The youths use these stories as a means of survival in taking their minds off of the plague and as life lessons.
"
Daniela Lo Presti, Resident Scholar
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Review Analysis of The Decameron
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- very sensitive (sigh)
Time/era of story
- distant past/middle ages
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
War/Revolt/Disaster on civilians
Yes
Exploring into the wild
Yes
kind of story
- surviving natural elements
Conflict:
- Environmental Disaster
Religion theme?
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- wealthy
Age:
- a teen
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Italian
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- natural phenomena
Age:
- long-lived adults
Profession/status:
- killer
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- almost none
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 6 (an above average amount)
Europe
Yes
European country:
- Italy
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- explicit references to deaths
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
- descript of kissing
- touching of anatomy
- licking
- orgies
- impregnation/reproduction
- actual description of hetero sex
- descript. of female anat. (the big B's)
- descript. of nude males (the big P)
Lot of foul language?
Yes
Unusual Style:
- a lot of stream of consciousness
- No single main character?
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
