Decameron: Sex and Temptation
1. Analyze the satire revealed in the bawdy tale of Alibech and Rustico (“putting the devil in hell”) from The Decameron. Of what does it make fun? What moral or lesson does it teach? The Decameron is a comedy that can can be taken in a variety of ways. It is a story of a The serious message underlying the comedy is Don’t entertain temptation! Monks practice religious asceticism. This describes a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from various worldly pleasures. They practice strict self-denial as a measure of personal and especially spiritual discipline.
The book mentions that Rustico was a young hermit. It is clear to see that he did not possess the strength to resist temptation. Instead he entertained the temptation by allowing a young beautiful virgin to stay with him. Each of the holy men prior to Rustico saw that Alibech was young and pretty and feared that if they kept her with them they would be tempted of the devil, so they each sent her on her way after helping her with food and drink. Rustico was a little prideful to think that he could test his test his spiritual strength and not send her away. Almost immediately after this, temptation began the struggle with his spiritual strength, and the hermit found that he had greatly over-estimate his powers of resistance. ” The battle was lost at first look. The temptation began when he simply saw her. At first glance he was filled with lust. The older monks knew that you cannot always prevent temptation, but knew the way of escape was to send Alibech on her way. Rustico thought the his faith was strong enough to overcome the temptation. You may have strong faith but you also have to know your areas of weakness, and that is where temptation struck Rustico.
His desires greatly conflicted with his obedience. 2. Analyze the satire revealed in the bawdy tale of Alibech and Rustico (“putting the devil in hell”) from The Decameron. Of what does it make fun? What moral or lesson does it teach? While I was reading the story, I paid attention to the fact that Rustico was trying to figure out how he could manipulate Alibech to get what he wanted and have her think she was serving God for giving it to him. This process reminded me of some of the cults out there who prey on simple minded people nd manipulate them to do what the cult wants and think that they are serving God for doing it. It reminded me of the Jeff Warner’s cult with having child brides or multiple wives and telling them that they are serving God by allowing it. So I would say that the underlying message would be that , there are people out there who would like to manipulate others to do what they want in God’s name but only benefit themselves 3. Although it begins as a joke, I believe the serious message underlying the comedy, is that females are not very different from males even in sexual terms.
This story demonstrates that abundance of female lust, which is normally considered a male trait. After Rustico originally talks Alibech into letting him “putting the devil into hell,” she begins wanting it more and more until Rustico cannot even preform the lustful act anymore and sends her away. Therefore, within this specific case he depicted the female character as being more sexual than the male character could even handle, trying to prove the point that women are not very different from men.
