The Decameron (1971) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

The film is set across several Italian locations, with Naples serving as the central hub for most stories. Other tales take place in Prato, Messina, and the Valbona region, while one episode briefly moves to Germany. The frame story follows a pupil of Giotto traveling to Naples to paint a mural, connecting all the episodic tales.

• italian locations
• naples
• Setting
• medieval italy

The film is set in 14th-century Italy, depicting a medieval world of merchants, convents, and noble households. This era grounds the stories in the social norms, humor, and morality of the period, connecting them to medieval art and storytelling traditions through the Giotto frame.

• 14th century
• medieval
• time period
• historical setting

The film explores several interconnected themes: sexual cunning and deceit used to manipulate others; moral hypocrisy among religious and lay figures who conceal self-interest behind virtue; the relationship between art and narrative, emphasized through the Giotto frame; and social satire that lampoons convent life, merchant culture, and aristocratic pretensions through bawdy humor.

• themes
• sex deceit
• moral hypocrisy
• satire
• art narrative

The Sex Deceit theme shows how desire and sexual cunning drive characters to manipulate others for advantage. Andreuccio is lured by a wealthy widow, while Masetto's convent experience explores the power dynamics of bodies. The film uses bawdy humor to critique how sexual appetite intersects with social reputation and vulnerability.

• sex deceit
• seduction
• desire
• manipulation

Moral Hypocrisy appears through characters like Ciappelletto, who stages fake piety to achieve posthumous sainthood, and the Mother Superior whose comical missteps trigger confessions. The film satirizes how reputation can be manufactured through deceit, exposing social pretensions around virtue in religious and secular contexts.

• moral hypocrisy
• religion
• deceit
• satire
• corruption

Giotto's Pupil serves as a framing device who travels to Naples to paint a mural, binding the episodic tales together. This connects the anthology to medieval art traditions and invites reflection on how stories are crafted and remembered. The final scene gazes upon the completed artwork, pondering the nature of creation and the line between dreams and finished art.

• giotto
• frame story
• art
• medieval art
• narrative structure

Ciappelletto is a roguish old thief and fraud who uses lies and fake sanctimony to survive. He orchestrates a scheme that results in his posthumous sainthood, exposing how deceit can masquerade as virtue within a corrupt social order. His story satirizes religious hypocrisy and the manufacturing of reputation.

• ciappelletto
• fraud
• saint
• deception

Masetto is a young gardener who seeks work at a convent while pretending to be deaf and dumb to avoid suspicion. Inside, his silence makes him the subject of sexual curiosity from the nuns, highlighting themes of desire, power dynamics, and the fragility of virtue within religious institutions.

• masetto
• convent
• deaf mute
• desire
• power dynamics

Peronella is a cunning housewife who manipulates her husband through a clever ruse involving a large pot and a hidden lover. Her scheming maintains social order in the domestic sphere while exposing her husband's gullibility and complicity. Her story centers on wit, sexuality, and social cunning.

• peronella
• housewife
• cunning
• domestic plot

Caterina di Valbona and Ricciardo fall in love, but their relationship requires careful orchestration to bypass her family. Caterina devises a plan to meet Ricciardo secretly, and her father's practical consent, driven by the need for a dowry, leads to a socially strategic marriage. Their tale centers on youthful risk and pragmatic romantic arrangements.

• caterina
• ricciardo
• love
• marriage
• family

The anthology format presents multiple unrelated tales tied together by a framing device, reflecting the structure of Boccaccio's original medieval text. This allows the film to explore varied aspects of human foibles, desire, greed, hypocrisy, and cunning, through distinct stories that collectively function as a carnival of human behavior, rather than a single linear narrative.

• anthology
• structure
• format
• boccaccio
• medieval tales

The film maintains a predominantly light tone despite dealing with serious subjects like murder and revenge. It uses bawdy humor and earthy sensuality to examine how people navigate desire, luck, and social judgment. The episodic nature creates variable pacing, shifting between comedic farce and more sobering moments while maintaining a satirical, often comic approach.

• tone
• style
• humor
• satire
• comedic
• bawdy