Read Boccaccio's account of the plague in Florence at the link below. What can you tell about Boccaccio's values and concerns from this account? In what ways might seeing the kinds of things he describes affect his writing and his general view of life?Monday, April 11, 2016
Boccaccio's account of the Black Death (extra credit)
Read Boccaccio's account of the plague in Florence at the link below. What can you tell about Boccaccio's values and concerns from this account? In what ways might seeing the kinds of things he describes affect his writing and his general view of life?
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Reading about how people's reaction to the disease didn't work is where I thought that Boccaccio became more concerned in his writing. He wrote about how people from each camp (the people who fled, the people who lived like no tomorrow, the people who didn't change much) still fell ill. Then after that he wrote about how people would just abandon their loves ones. Wives would abandon husbands, sisters to brothers, and so on. That is where I started to pick up concern in my reading. This resulted with people on their death beds and no one to care for them or even care about them. Then he wrote about the lesser people being the most miserable spectacle. No one cared for them, they were infected by the thousands and would just die in the streets. Some would die in their homes and their corpse would just rot for days before anyone smelled it. The cemeteries even filled up. He also wrote that the countryside was hit just as hard as the cities.
ReplyDeleteSeeing what he saw would affect his writing drastically. He saw terrible things. He lived through some of the darkest days recorded in history. If that doesn't affect him then I'd be concerned about him as a person. Seeing that kind of death takes a toll on a man's spirit. His general view of life was affected drastically too. I'm sure he learned to cherish everyday like no other, but he also had to dread every day because he didn't know if he'd die soon, or if everyone he ever cared about would die soon. He probably lived in fear his entire life.
Right in the beginning he says that if he had not seen these things with his own eyes even if it was a trustworthy person telling it to him, he would not believe that this terrible thing actually happened. People were living in so much fear that they treated life like everyday was their last because it very well could have been. People were abandoning their spouses, children, and neighbors to die by themselves and not have anyone their to comfort them on their death bed. I can't imagine how seeing all these people die and seeing the mental effects of the disease on the people who weren't even sick could have affected him as a person. No one in their right mind could witness all of this happening and just remain normal and living the same way they had been.
ReplyDeleteWhen Giovanni Boccaccio described about the symptoms of the plague, he animatedly described how it hurts. It's a creepy story and can't imagine if the plague comes up here, how can we survive. "The symptoms were not the same as in the East, where a gush of blood from the nose was the plain sign of inevitable death; but it began both in men and women with certain swellings in the groin or under the armpit." And I'm also surprised what his response to treat the plague. He seems calmly describe the symptoms.
ReplyDeleteIn Boccaccio writing he was worried. he didn't believe that something this bad actually happened. People lived in so much fear. There were symptoms of swellings in armpit or groin and a running nose bleed. that they treated life like everyday was their last because it very well could have been. People died everyday, they would die alone so they won't be able to infect their spouse or children. People who witnessed this lived in fear their entire life.
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