Decameron Blog #1

In all honesty, I have never laughed as much as I have while reading the Decameron purely out of bafflement.  It is clearly evident that Giovanni Boccaccio's style of writing completely varies from Chretien de Troyes' style of writing.  One quote that peaked my interest is when Giannotto di Civigni tries to convert his friend Abraham.  Abraham tells Giannotto that he is going to visit Rome and if he likes it then he will convert to Christianity.  When Giannotto hears this, he thinks to himself that "If [Abraham] goes to the court of Rome and sees the wicked and filthy lives of the clergy, not only will he not convert from a Jew to a Christian, but if he had already become a Christian before, he would, without a doubt, return to being a Jew" (Boccaccio 40).  I was drawn to this quote because of its' irony.  Giannotto begs Abraham to convert to Christianity relentlessly, yet when Abraham agrees to go to Rome, Giannotto does not want him to go? This makes no sense whatsoever.  Right from the beginning, the reader is being shown the hypocrisy of religion which tends to be a continuous theme in Boccaccio's Decameron.  Another quote that I like is after Abraham returns from Rome.  During his stay in Rome, Abraham sees all the bad deeds done by the cardinals.  When he returns, Abraham tells Giannotto that he was disgusted by the cardinals, and he did not think that they are holy at all.  However, Abraham becomes baptized, and "he learned quickly and became a good and worthy man who lived a holy life" (Boccaccio 42).  To be honest, I disliked this story the most because I could not understand this ending.  This quote truly astonished me.  For an entire paragraph, Abraham rants about how unholy the cardinals are and how he would never want to be a part of such a religion, yet a couple of sentences later he says that he wants to join them.  I do not understand this sudden change.  I feel like Boccaccio should have eased this transition smoother because I do not understand how Abraham's feelings could change so quickly.  The other quote that I was drawn to is when the Abbott pursues the girl from the garden.  In his mind, he makes the situation okay by telling himself that "A sin that's hidden is half forgiven" (Boccaccio 48).  I was drawn to this quote specifically because of its' baffling quality.  Typically a man of high rankings in the church should know better than to break his chastise rules.  What really makes me laugh about the quote,though, is how faulty the logic is.  Boccaccio really shows how corrupt religion is which is a major theme throughout most of his stories.  All in all, I like all these quotes because they show the true character of religion.  All the stories unveil the facade that the church perpetuates.  Thus, showing how religion is based on lies.  While Chretien's work are still enjoyable, the heavily based influence in Boccaccio's works makes for a more interesting read.