The Decameron · Chapter
Day the Third Introduction explained
Under the governance of Neifile, the company travels to a magnificent palace and garden, where they marvel at its beauty and prepare to tell stories about those who have achieved or recovered something through diligence.
What happens
Under the governance of Neifile, the company travels to a magnificent palace and garden, where they marvel at its beauty and prepare to tell stories about those who have achieved or recovered something through diligence.
Themes in this chapter
The Power of Storytelling
The introduction sets the stage for the day's tales, emphasizing storytelling as a structured, communal activity that provides solace and entertainment.
Fortune and Fate
The theme of the day—achieving or recovering something through diligence—implies a struggle against fortune, a recurring motif in the Decameron.
Characters to notice
- Neifile
Serves as queen for the third day, leading the company to the palace and setting the theme for storytelling.
- Filostrato
Chosen by Neifile to tell the first story of the day.
- Pampinea
Part of the company enjoying the garden and palace.
- Dioneo
Among the young men accompanying the ladies.
- Lauretta
One of the ladies in the company.
- Fiammetta
Present in the company during the day's events.
Key passages
“The dawn from vermeil began to grow orange-tawny, at the approach of the sun, when on the Sunday the queen arose and caused all her company rise also.”
At sunrise on Sunday, the queen got up and had everyone else get up too.
Describes the start of the day's journey.
“The sight of this garden and its fair ordinance and the plants and the fountain, with the rivulets proceeding therefrom, so pleased the ladies and the three young men that they all of one accord avouched that, an Paradise might be created upon earth, they could not avail to conceive what form, other than that of this garden, might be given it nor what farther beauty might possibly be added thereunto.”
The garden was so beautiful that the group agreed it was the closest thing to paradise on earth.
Highlights the idealized beauty of the garden.