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Pampinea: Queen of the First Day

Pampinea, who is in her late twenties, is the oldest of the women and their natural leader. She is also a relative of one of the men. Pampinea instigates the plan to retreat to the countryside and persuades the three men to join them. In the country, she assigns tasks to the servants. Her maidservant, Misia, works in the kitchen. Pampinea also establishes the daily routine of the retreat and proposes that they take turns telling stories. She admits that she enjoys being in love, but she is wise to the ways of men and admires strong women who stand up to them. In Pampinea’s stories, she often adds advice to the other women about love and public conduct. At the end of the second day, Pampinea sings about the pleasures of burning with desire.

Filomena: Queen of the Second Day

Pampinea hands Filomena the crown, a sign that the new queen is close to Pampinea. Filomena’s maid Licisca works in the kitchen alongside Pampinea’s maid Misia. Filomena is prudent and pragmatic. In the decision to move to the country, she worries that the plan will fail because left to themselves women behave so irrationally and are restricted in their ability to get things done. On her day of rule, Filomena proposes limiting the topics for the stories and declares that she wants stories about people who suffer a series of misfortunes but achieve unexpected happiness. Filomena’s taste in stories is sometimes lurid. For example, she tells a tale of a woman who cuts off her murdered lover’s head and plants it in a pot of basil. Filomena’s song at the end of the seventh day begs a former lover to return.

Neifile: Queen of the Third Day

Neifile calls for stories about people who achieve their desires through their own efforts. On her day as queen, Neifile exerts great effort herself when she settles the brigade of friends into their new quarters at the palace with the magical walled garden. Neifile is highly organized and respects the established order of society. At the same time, she respects strong intelligent women like her heroine Gilette, a physician’s daughter who uses her intelligence to achieve both the man she loves and a higher status. Neifile’s song concludes the ninth day. She sings to a flower, using it to represent love as well as her lover.

Filostrato: King of the Fourth Day

Filostrato is the oldest man and the master of Tindaro, the manservant who looks after all the gentlemen and sometimes plays music with Dioneo. On his day of rule, Filostrato calls for stories about people whose love ended unhappily, but he begins the storytelling with a long, rambling speech about himself and his career as a writer. Filostrato sometimes matches wits with Fiammetta. His stories reveal a taste for the macabre (as with his horror story about a man who makes his wife eat the heart of her lover) as well as for rough humor (as with his bawdy story about a lover who hides in a tub). Filostrato sings for the company at the end of the fourth day about the pain of losing a lover.

Fiammetta: Queen of the Fifth Day

Fiammetta has long golden curls, rosy cheeks, and eyes that gleam like a falcon’s. She has a merry disposition and is easily amused. Fiammetta sometimes disputes with Filostrato and often plays music with Dioneo, singing duets and accompanying Dioneo’s lute with her viol. Fiammetta’s maid, Stratilia, is one of two maids who look after the ladies. Fiammetta is strong-minded and independent. For her day of rule, she calls for adventures of lovers who overcome misfortunes and attain happiness. Fiammetta tells stories with strong, independent female characters. Several of her stories involve tricks played by intelligent women as a way to handle their everyday indignities. Fiammetta’s song comes at the end of the tenth day. She sings of the pain of jealousy.

Elissa: Queen of the Sixth Day

Elissa has a haughty nature and traditional values about relations between men and women. When the women first plan the retreat, Elissa suggests that some men should come along. She sometimes idealizes male authority figures, as in her story about the noble Count of Antwerp. Elissa’s conventional traits are balanced by her tendency toward extreme passion. As queen, Elissa calls for stories about people who avoid danger, discomfort, or ridicule through prompt retorts or shrewd maneuvers. Elissa’s opportunity to sing comes on the evening of the sixth day. She sings about being love’s captive and accompanies her singing with heavy sighs.

Dioneo: King of the Seventh Day

Dioneo has several advantages over his companions. He is charming, witty, and flirtatious. His servant, Parmeno, is the steward who makes all the arrangements for the group’s comfort. Dioneo is in the confidence of Pampinea and close enough to Filomena for her to know she can count on him to liven things up. Dioneo is also the principal musician. He plays music with Fiammetta, Lauretta, and Tindaro, one of the manservants. Dioneo claims the right to tell the last story each day, so he makes sure each day ends on an amusing note. All but the last of Dioneo’s stories are about lust, and the stories are often bawdy. On the seventh day, when he is the king, Dioneo calls for tales about tricks women have played on their husbands. Dioneo’s star musical performance comes at the end of the fifth day when his song begs Cupid to intervene and make a woman love him.

Lauretta: Queen of the Eighth Day

Lauretta is a woman of balanced judgment. Her maid, Chimera, is one of the two maids who wait upon the ladies. Lauretta is a skilled musician who composes songs, sings duets with Dioneo, and often leads the dancing. Lauretta tells stories about strong women who stick up for themselves, as in her story about Monna Nonna de’ Pulci, whose retort shames a presumptuous bishop. As queen, Lauretta calls for stories about tricks that people in general play upon one another. She performs a special song at the end of the third day, of her own composition, about the pain of having lost a lover and being alone.

Emilia: Queen of the Ninth Day

Emilia is very beautiful, extremely vain, and not very popular, which is why she is the last woman to receive the crown. Her views on women’s roles are conservative in the extreme, and she also has a controlling nature. Emilia chooses stories that reinforce her point of view. On the ninth day, as queen, Emilia allows the storytellers to talk about any topic they like, mostly so that she can lecture the company about the need to obey men and then tell a story about King Solomon advising a man to beat his wife. Emilia performs a song at the end of the first day. In her song, she praises her own beauty.

Panfilo: King of the Tenth Day

Panfilo is, at least outwardly, more serious and devout than the others. He begins and ends stories with praises to God and often adds moral advice and social commentary to his narratives. Unlike the other two men, Panfilo tells stories about people other than lovers. He tells the first story of the first day, about Ciappelletto, a wicked notary who turns himself into a saint by lying in his deathbed confession. Panfilo’s topic for the last day of the retreat, when he is king, is people who have performed liberal or munificent deeds. In his special song on the eighth day, Panfilo sings of the joy of being in love, causing the others to speculate about the object of his affection.

Next section Protagonist Character Descriptions

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