In the following excerpt, Scaglione explores Boccaccio's attitude towards spiritual and sexual love as they are expressed in the Decameron.

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.

In the following excerpt, Almansi presents a psychological interpretation of Boccacio's first novella of the fourth day in the Decameron, theorizing that Tancredi's murder of his daughter's lover is rooted in his own incestuous feelings for her.

In the following excerpt, Nissen argues that the Decameron reflects a time of shifting values in a society in flux, with Boccaccio exploring some ethical possibilities offered by that society.

In the following excerpt from an essay originally published in 1955, Moravia argues that the defining quality of Boccaccio's literary sensibility is a love of adventure rather a than concern for morality or for depicting character psychology.

In the following excerpt, Smarr argues that in the Decameron Boccaccio further explores his distrust of the power of reason, a theme previously expressed in many of his minor works.

In the following essay, Auerbach offers a close textual analysis of how Boccaccio's style and syntax influence the tone and momentum of his narrative.

In the following excerpt from an essay written in 1871, De Sanctis celebrates Boccaccio's earthy comedy, contrasting it with the high seriousness of the works of Dante and Petrarch.

In the following excerpt, Forni examines Boccaccio's opening strategies for the stories in the Decameron, focusing on his ability to move from the familiar to the unusual.

In the following excerpt, Marino examines how Boccaccio's depiction of the various narrators in his cornice or frame-text, amplifies and enriches the Decameron.

In the following essay, originally published in 1959, Shklovskij argues that, with the opening tales of the Decameron, Boccaccio subverts traditional Christian piety and its accompanying sexual morality.