Lit Theory - Giovanni Boccaccio - Early Modern

Giovanni Boccaccio

1.     Genealogy of the Gentle God: Book 14, Chapter V

a.     Philosophy is the “messenger of God and encompasses all knowledge.

                                               i.     To those who will listen she will reveal:

1.     Praiseworthy ideals of human character.

2.     The forces of Mother Nature.

3.     The true good.

4.     The secrets of Heaven.

                                             ii.     The environment of Philosophy provides opportunity for higher pursuits of the human mind; both speculation and knowledge.

                                            iii.     The character of people who have been awarded a seat at Philosophy tend to:

1.     Be few in number.

2.     Gentle in aspect and utterance.

3.     Are distinguished by seriousness, honesty, and true humility that elevate them above mortals.

4.     Give freely to others their fullness of their knowledge.

b.     The noise in the house of Philosophy are men of low character; also referred to as the noisy crowd.  They tend to:

                                               i.     Take scraps or samples of information and proclaim them as knowledge, without having a real understanding.  

                                             ii.     Use the perceived knowledge to lift their status.

                                            iii.     Be comfortable with taking advantage of people.

                                            iv.     Be comfortable with intimidating people.

                                             v.     Are ignorant of many things.

                                            vi.     Are judgmental of things they do not understand.

c.     Men of low character have the following opinion of Poetry.

                                               i.     Poetry has no meaning.

                                             ii.     Poets are liars.

                                            iii.     Poems are false, obscure, and lewd.

d.     Men of low character will defend themselves using the Philosophers, or “Plato’s Authority.”

e.     Giovanni knows his work will be criticized by people who are not qualified to make educated judgments on poetry, but are crafty, judgmental, and persuasive in other ways.

f.      Giovanni asks for divine strength to meet them with “Justice at my right hand.”

2.     Genealogy of the Gentile Gods:  Book 14, Chapter VII

a.     Poetry is:

                                               i.     A passionate expression.

1.     It proceeds from the divine.

2.     Few people possess the gift.

3.     True poets are few.

                                             ii.     Poetry is sublime:

1.     It stimulates imagination.

2.     Sharpens and illuminates the mind.

3.     It veils truth in an appropriate fiction.

b.     A poet must be skilled in his craft.

c.     Poetry comes from the divine and deals matters that apply to us all, even if we deny its use and purpose.

3.     Genealogy of the Gentile Gods:  Book 14, Chapter XII

a.     The noisy crowd claims poetry is obscure and that poets complicate the language.

b.     Boccaccio feels this claim is a perversion and a way to incriminate an idea they don’t understand.

c.     Boccaccio offers the following arguments:

                                               i.     Plato and Aristotle’s work is “tangled” and “involved” leaving room for interpretation.

                                             ii.     Holy Scripture is obscure as supported by Augustine.

                                            iii.     Philosophers have defenders and it’s a blasphemy to criticize Holy Writ; but, it’s easy to pick on the poets.

                                            iv.     Critics may not understand because:

1.     Perceive the clear as obscure.

2.     Some things are so profound that one needs developed skills to derive meaning.

3.     Some things are naturally clear, but veiled by the poet.

                                             v.     To remove common familiarity and cheapen the meaning, it is the poet’s duty to protect things and their meanings by removing them from casual gaze.

                                            vi.     Hidden meaning involves effort to decipher and provides higher rewards for discovery.

d.     The noisy crowd needs to:

                                               i.     Obtain an education in poetry.

                                             ii.     Open their minds to give meaning to common words.

                                            iii.     Understand that speech is different than fiction.

e.     Advice to those who would read poetry.

                                               i.     You must read.

                                             ii.     Persevere and inquire with effort.

                                            iii.     Develop alternate strategies to find meaning.

                                            iv.     Be patient and reread.