Boccaccios Decameron and the Ciceronian Renaissance [Paperback]

Boccaccio's  Decameron and the Ciceronian Renaissance  demonstrates that Boccaccio's puzzling masterpiece takes on organic consistency when viewed as an early modern adaptation of a pre-Christian, humanistic vision.Preface Introduction: Cicero and the Decameron Ingegno: The Individual and Authority: Decameron Day I Ingegno: Wit as the Soul of Action: Day II Ingegno: Wit as Misdirection and Iconoclasm: Day III Reason's Debt to Passion: Day IV The Shock of Recognition: Day V Misrule and Inspiration: Day VI Valley of Ingegno: Day VII Boccaccio's Ship of Fools: Day VIII Truth, Lie and Eloquence: Day IX The Ciceronian Synthesis and 'Author's Conclusion:' Day X The Decameron and Italian Culture Bibliography

Boccaccio scholars and all readers interested in the Decameron who are tempted to dismiss this study for its title's last words - the Ciceronian Renaissance in the Decameron - should take heed: This substantial volume by Michaela Paasche and Robert Grudin, a wife and husband team of scholars, succeeds in offering what many other studies of comparable length have failed to do, namely, a comprehensive analysis of Boccaccio's masterpiece in its entirety from a novel perspective, which is appealing and which explains many challenging elements of Boccaccio's masterpiece. - Annali d'Italianistica

By exposing Boccaccio's debt to Cicero, Grudin and Grudin offer a fresh and thought-provoking contribution to Decameron studies. - Speculum