Decameron, The

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | 566 words | Copyright

Decameron, The, a collection of tales from many sources by Boccaccio, assembled in their definitive form between 1349 and 1351.

Florence being visited by the plague in 1348, seven young ladies and three young men leave the city for neighbouring villas, and spend part of each of ten days (whence the title) in amusing one another with stories, each person telling one tale on each day, so that there are 100 tales in all. The work had much influence on English literature, notably on Chaucer, and many of the tales were incorporated in Painter's Palace of Pleasure.

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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Decameron, The." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Decameron, The." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-DecameronThe.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Decameron, The." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-DecameronThe.html

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