Concetti Chiave
- Both The Decameron and The Canterbury Tales are written in the vernacular, making literature accessible to the common people of their time.
- Chaucer uses varied language to reflect the social status and education of each character, while Boccaccio maintains a consistent elaborate style throughout his work.
- Chaucer adds realism by portraying himself as one of the pilgrims, enhancing the narrative's credibility for contemporary readers.
- Both works employ a frame narrative; The Decameron uses the backdrop of the plague, whereas The Canterbury Tales focuses on vivid character portrayals in its prologue.
- Boccaccio's characters are from the upper class, whereas Chaucer includes a diverse range of social classes, including clergy members, in his storytelling.
Differences between The Decameron and The Canterbury Tales
First of all both works are written on the vernacular, that is, the local language spoken by ordinay people. In an age when most English chose French, the language used at court, or Latin, the "lingua franca" used by educated people, Chaucer decided to employ the language spoken by the commoners, which nobody had dared to do before him. However, Boccaccio's elaborate style remains consistent throughout his works, Chaucer took a great care that each pilgrim should use the language according to his or her social position, cultural level and education, so that it becomes a means of characterization. Moreover, by pretending to be one of the pilgrims, he added a further touch of realism to the whole work as, in the eyes of his contemporary readers, he became a credible eye-witness.
Secondly, both works are stricter in a frame narrative, that is, is a main introductory story that serves the purpose of setting the scene for shorter stories. The Decameron opens with the description of the plague that ravaged Florence in 1348, which even young men and three women escaped by fleeing to a villa outside the city. To pass the time pleasantly, each of them will tell a story for every one of the ten nights spent together. This framing devices is certainly similar to the Prologue in The Canterbury Tales, but while Boccaccio describes the effects of the epidemic on the society at length, Chaucer focuses his attention on the people, presenting each pilgrim in such a lively Ms detailed way they the prologue becomes a full-size portrait of medieval England. Moreover, Boccaccio's story-tellers all belong to the same upper class, whereas Chaucer's include representatives from all social conditions, including several members of the clergy.
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