The Decameron (Day 6)

Based upon the happenings of this tale, the image of nuns and the church is made obscure, as several key components are dissolved. By taking the priest's breeches, the abbess cross-dresses, which supports the theme of homosexuality, which is against religious beliefs. Apart from this, the abbess's action are deceptive in nature, something which is against the ten commandments. Slowly, throughout the sotry the abbess changes from being a woman of strong, devout faith to a woman of lying and deception, almost that of an anti-religious figure.
Boccaccio tries to show that women are not subjective to a specific brand of a lifestyle. In fact, the men do not always create the trouble for the women. At times, roles can be reversed, thus leaving the woman as the dominant figures within the context of the stories. The fact the women show domination to an extent, is the exact opposite of the roles they are seen in, in texts such as Erec and Enide or Yvain. For example, the women troubling the men by making them think things such as them being falsely preganant show that they have some role of power, while in other tales, a specific example of the reverse is the sparrow-hawk contest in which Enide is made to be an object and nothing more than some petty aid to help Erec win the contest and claim his prize.

The Decameron (Day 5)

8:7 This story shows that a person can only be intelligent to a certain extent, but when fueled by other emotions, said person's intelligence can drop to the bare minimum, and in doing so, harm the intelligent person. Meanwhile, the intelligence of others can drop to the point at which they cease to take into account the various outside factors which can affect those that they love, or can drop to the point at which they no longer care about what happens at the present time. In both cases, pain can be derived from a lack of intelligence as a result of being overwhelmed. This is evident in the first case (the former description of the lack of intelligence) and the second case (the latter description of the lack of intelligence). However, intelligence is used in part with the second case, as Elena is made to do such acts by way of deception.
8:7  The reader is supposed to take neither side within the context of this story, as both parties cease to be intelligent, and act as fools. Despite this, Rinieri does show more intelligence when it comes to the entire story, even if such intelligence comes at the cost of being stupid. Boccaccio creates empathy by creating vivid situations and emotional disturbances within the characters as they mourn for the disappearance, or rather, lack of appearance for their loved ones, due to the fact that they chose not to be intelligent, and are thus, being combated with intelligence. At the end of the story, however, no one is clearly being intelligent.

All About My Mother

The film establishes a distinct community of women, in the fat that each one of them has had a rather traumatic past in some form or manner. Each is not like the other, as some, such as Rosa, were pure for most of their lives, before being seduced by the other women, such as Lola, thus causing Rosa's death. Lola, on the other hand, was the man that Manuela loved, and thus, when Lola became a woman, Manuela was left by him, alone to care for her son. Meanwhile, the man whom Lola became a woman with, Agrado, was left by Lola, and this brought Manuela and Agrado back together. Meanwhile, Lola's son's death brought the two back together, only going to show that each woman is linked together. Despite the vast nature of each of their differences, they are still woman, and still remain in each others lives, whether it be in a past tense, future tense, or present tense. If it were not for all the women, such as Agrado and Lola, becoming women, the film could not establish all of the connections it does, and the lives of these women would be very different.

The Decameron (Day 4)

2) 5:9- What is your interpretation of the quote, “…I would much rather have a man who lacks money than money that lacks a man”? (pg. 431)

This quote shows a woman's desire to have a real man, as opposed to a man who can bring in money with a stable job, and not provide any kind of emotional support or expression to the table. A woman always desires a man who can be sensitive and be expressive of their feelings toward their significant other, without material items having to get in the way of such a relationship. The aforementioned material items do not have to be money, but can be anything, such as gifts like shoes, shirts, et cetera. When a relationship is built upon material items, is it falsified and becomes stale at a rapid rate, while a relationship which thrives on emotion continues thus, becoming something that is sought out often by woman.

4) 6:7- How does this story show an example of how women have power and how they stand up for their rights?

While women do not deliberately have power in this story, it illustrates how social statute affect those who only belong to a certain gender, without taking into account the other gender's same flaws and feelings in conjunction with their own satisfaction, at least when it comes to intercourse. Women approach these sorts of matters in a respectful, honest way, allowing them to be persuasive, when supporting their rights with logical evidence and examples.

The Decameron (Day 3)

3.3- "I shall tell you this story dear ladies, not only in obedience to the order imposed upon me but to also make you aware that even the clergy in whom we place too much trust out of our excessive credulity, are capable of being cleverly deceived, as actually they sometimes are, not only by men but also by some of us women" suggests that trickery is often used as getting what you want easily, while lying is viewed as being rather well-supported way of getting ahead in life, going as far as to trick those who are seen as authoritative or rather held in high esteems (Boccaccio, 207). This, in itself, suggest that lying is a good thing.

4.9- "Though each man lived in his own castle, seperated by a distance of a good ten miles, Sir Guiglielmo de Guardastagno happened, nonetheless, to fall totally in love with the very beautiful and charming wife of Sir Guiglielmo Rossiglione, and notwithstanding the friendship and brotherhood that existed between them, he managed in one way or another to bring his love to the lady's attention..," displays that a rather interpersonal relationship was shared by the two before a woman came into the picture (Boccaccio, 350). This shows that is always a struggle for male-male dominance, even between friends. Revenge is seen in the harshest of ways, as a forbidden love can 'cause bonds such as the aforementioned brotherhood between the two Sirs to become to submissive.

The Decameron (Day 2)

3.2.7: Femininity has been a focal point of society, as most women are told that they need to constantly improve upon their appearances in order to attract the opposite sex. However, the more feminine women become, the more they are lusted after, and the less a man will seek a woman out to be their mate. The mute woman in the story, Alatiel, relies on getting out of bad situations by constantly relying on her looks to help her find men from whom she can benefit, as she cannot speak the languages which these various men speak. However, in doing so, a male dominance is created with the fact that these men totally disregard the woman as a woman, but rather look upon her as a sexual device which they may exploit freely. The lust derived from these men may also expand to the point at which they become violent and kill one another in order to satisfy themselves.

“Although the lady was pale and disheveled as a result of harrowing experience at sea, she nevertheless seemed most beautiful to Pericone; and because of this he immediately decided to take her for his wife, if she had no husband, or to have her as his mistress, if he could not have her as his wife” exemplifies the generalization that just because a woman does not possess some specified form of intelligence or skill, that the woman can be made a servant to the man and to their needs, sexually, as they are made to be an object, based upon their looks, with no personality  (Boccaccio, 131).

5.3.1: The previous story shows a woman who is taken advantage of, because of the fact that she cannot communicate with those who take her into their care. The man, Masetto, on the other hand, is able to take advantage of women sexually by pretending to be dumb and deaf. This, of course, is the “muteness.” “The place is far away from here and no one knows me there; if I can pretend to be deaf and dumb, they’ll certainly take me in” shows that muteness, when in both stories, is the advantageous role of lust, as Masetto was pleasured from acting mute, as was the woman, even if this did not occur on purpose, in reference to acting (Boccaccio, 195). The point that can be concluded from both stories is that men will always take advantage of women, regardless if the women are helpless or not, and they will do by acting in such a way that makes them look frail.

The Decameron (Day 1)

1.1
"Nor should we believe that such special grace descends upon us and within us through any merit of our own, but rather it is sent by His own kindness and by the prayers of those who, like ourselves, were mortal and who have now become eternal and blessed with Him, for they followed his will while they were alive" (Boccaccio, 25).

This quote is ironic in the fcat that Ciapelleto confessed himself to be a saint to the friar while approachine death, proclaiming that he could do no wrong, and professing that he the most commonplace sins were heinous. Meanwhile, none of the aforementioned claims were true, as Ciapelleto was am evil man during his life. Due to the lies told by Ciapelleto, after his death, his is reverred by all who know of his name as nothing more than a saintly man. The moral, in this instance, is that we, as a people, should not believe all we hear, because our modern culture could be dictated by an institution founded on the basis of lies, thus causing us to have inhumane ethics and morals.

1.2
"Now see here, Giannotto, you want me to become a christian. Well, I am willing to do so on one condition: first I want to go to Rome to observe the man you say is God's vicar on earth; I want to observe his ways and customs and also those of his brother cardinals; and if they seem to me to be such men that, between your words and their actions, I am able to comprehend that your faith is better than my own, just as you have worked to demonstrate it to me, I shall do what I told you; but if this is not the case, I will remain the Jew I am now" (Boccaccio, 39-40).

In contrast to the first story, Giannotto is able to convert to the Christian religion at the end of the tale, despite its faults, for he believes it will spread as more of a popular trend than anything. As opposed to what I previously stated for the first tale, this tale supports the theme that a person should conform to the standards of others only if they appear to be right and justifiable by the actions of others who seem to be right in th eyes of others, no matter who corrupt they may be.

1.3
"And let me say the same thing to you, my lord, concerning the three laws given to three peoples by God our Father which are the subject of the question you put to me: each believes itself to be the true heir, to possess the true law, and to follow the true commandments, but whoever is right, just as in the case of the rinfs, is still undecided" (Boccaccio, 45).

This quotes forms the basis of the whole tale, as the fact that Saladin belived he could trick Melchizedek was rooted in the fact that he was jewish. Thus, in response, Melchizedek proclaimed that a person's beliefs do not alter their opinions on anything, and do not make them more susceptible to trickery based upon what they believe to be right or wrong in a particular situation. Melchizedek justifies this by stating that no religion is actually right and the humanic relations are nothing more than humanic relations.

Talk to Her Blog

Talk to Her is a modernized version of Sleeping Beauty. The figure of comatose is central throughout the film, suggesting that there is an altered state of reality when a person falls into such a thing; that life continues and the person is aware of what is happening around them when this is not the case. Marco, who met and associated himself with Lydia is symbolic of the sleeping aspect of the film, as he does not yet know what he wants or what those who surround him mean to him, thus, effectively making Marco unaware and in a conscious comatose. This theme is personified with Marco’s venture to Jordan once Lydia falls into the coma, since Marco completely cuts himself off from the life he was living up until that point. Simultaneously, Beningno is consciously aware of his surroundings, while the woman he’s loved throughout the years of his life, even from afar, is in a coma. Beningno, in contrast to Marco, is completely and utterly aware of his surroundings and all of his actions. Beningno is aware to the point at which he feels that he can transcend the boundaries of reality by, for example, speaking to Alicia while she is in her coma, or reading Marco’s travel guides, as if to be with him at all times and learn what he is learning, without physically being present at Marco’s locations. The theme of Sleeping Beauty is displayed by the fact that it takes the death of a loved one to wake someone up to reality in any sense, as displayed by the deaths of Lydia, Beningno, and Beningno’s child. By creating new life, Beningno is able to give Lydia a second chance at life and make her away, while simultaneously, giving up his awareness to bring Marco back to reality, by committing suicide. The films displayed loss both as a mechanism for the fall from reality and the return to reality, and the culmination of this is the moment at which Alicia and Marco are seated within the theater, two rows away from each other. The loss is given its own seat, to further show that the two are aware of each other’s presence.