Analysis - Giovanni Boccaccio, "The Onset of the Black Death"
Boccaccio's Decameron is a masterpiece of early 14th century European literature; its bawdiness and its sheer wit are a wonderful, funny indicator of what life was like in 14th century Italy. However, the central framing device of the book itself - the Black Plague, which ravaged Europe around the time of the book's setting and publication - plays a somber but vital role in this important work. The importance of the plague to the story is no less evident than in the introduction, which demonstrates the awesome power of the sickness. Boccaccio's account of the plague during the time it hit Florence ...
