SOURCE: Bergin, Thomas G. “An Introduction to Boccaccio.” In Giovanni Boccaccio:“The Decameron,” A New Translation, 21 Novelle, Contemporary Reactions, Modern Criticism, translated and edited by Mark Musa and Peter E. Bondanella, pp. 151-71. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1977.
In the following essay, originally delivered as a lecture in 1975, Bergin reviews Boccaccio's career and reflects on the historical and environmental foundations of the Decameron, characterizing it as a work that conveys the solace that can be provided by art in the face of intolerable reality.
This is a free excerpt of 86 words. There are 10,024 words (approx.
33 pages at 300 words per page) in the full critical essay.
Read the rest of this Criticism with our The Decameron: Lecture by Thomas G. Bergin Access Pass.
