An Attempt at a Historicising Reading of Novella IX, Day II (Bernabò and Ginevra) from Giovanni Boccaccio’s “Decameron”

I attempt to restore elements of the horizon of perception that readers and listeners of the Bernabò and Zinevra novella (IX, Day II) from Decameron may have had in Italian cities in the mid-14th century. The novella provides opportunities for relating to values, beliefs, knowledge, behaviours, and life experiences within the historical environment in which it was created; these are what interest me. I discuss topics such as sustainability in social roles, cruelty and justice, the image of wolves, topography, the relationship between fairy tale and authenticity, the importance of the exemplum, the function of money. The novel exemplum conveys experience, indicates a norm and its violation. Speaking of truth, deception and punishment, the short story establishes a pattern of behaviour. I dwell on some of the interpretations of the novella. I am trying to make clear the fundamental difference between a reconstructive reading and the interpretations that modernise the novella. I compare Boccaccio’s novella with a novel by Franco Sacchetti’s and a novel by Giovanni Sercambi’s.