The Decameron First Day Summary & Analysis

Summary: All First-Day Stories

Pampinea, the queen of the first day, proposes that the group while away their warm afternoons by telling stories. After the young people agree to the proposal, Pampinea tells them that they are free to speak on any topic they prefer. She invites Panfilo to tell the first tale. The second storyteller, Neifile, tells the tale of Abraham, a pious Jew who travels to Rome and observes the folly and corruption at the highest levels of Christianity. Next, Filomena provides a tale about Melchizedek the Jew and his verbal sparring with the great sultan Saladin. The next two stories, told by Dioneo and Fiammetta, also feature people who cleverly outwit their superiors. The stories continue until all ten young people have taken their turns.

Summary of Selected Story: First Day, First Story

Panfilo begins his tale by offering praise to God. He then introduces Ser Ciappelletto, one of the worst men ever born. Ciappelletto, a notary, is proud of his ability to falsify documents. He will stop at nothing, even murder, to get his way. Because Ciappelletto has these qualities, another businessman, Musciatto, hires Ciappelletto as a debt collector. Ciappelletto travels to Burgundy to collect Musciatto’s money. In Burgundy, he stays with two Florentine brothers who are Musciatto’s friends.

Before Ciappelletto can conclude his business, he falls seriously ill. The two brothers are alarmed. They cannot ask Ciappelletto to leave because that would make them look bad, but they fear that if Ciappelletto dies, no church will accept his body for burial because of his wickedness. Ciappelletto sets their minds at ease by calling for a priest. An old friar comes to Ciappelletto’s side to take his dying confession. Ciappelletto tells the priest a string of lies but confesses to very minor sins to make his story more credible. For example, the old priest asks Ciappelletto about the sin of gluttony. Ciappelletto, notorious for eating and drinking too much, confesses that once in a while he craves a dainty salad.

Ciappelletto dies. The priest is so moved by his final confession that he delivers a stirring eulogy about Ciappelletto’s holiness. Before long people begin praying to Saint Ciappelletto and claiming he can work miracles. Panfilo ends the story with his opinion that Ciappelletto is probably in hell. However, because a last-minute change of heart is possible, Panfilo praises the mercy and grace of God, who perhaps answers the prayers of the faithful even when they are ignorant of the true wickedness of the saint they are praying to.

Summary: Conclusion of the First Day

After the last story, Pampinea passes her crown on to Filomena. The new queen has the servants keep the roles assigned by Pampinea. Filomena proposes that instead of random tales, each day will be devoted to stories on a single theme. She decrees that the next day’s stories should be about people who suffer misfortune but then unexpectedly find happiness. All agree except Dioneo, who asks to end each day with a story of his choosing. Filomena agrees because she knows they can count on Dioneo to conclude the day with laughter. The first day ends with a song by Emilia, who imagines gazing into a mirror and sings in praise of her own beauty.

Analysis: First Day

Although the storytellers are free to speak on any topic, the storytellers usually choose stories that pick up themes or character types from the previous story. For example, after Panfilo tells the story of how Ciappelletto becomes a saint, Neifile tells the tale of Abraham, a pious Jew who travels to Rome. The theme that connects the two stories is the hypocrisy of holy people. The ten stories of the first day are loosely connected in this manner.

The story of Ciappelletto provides amusing twists on stock characters and standard plots. The stock characters are the wicked merchant and the wise fool. Panfilo portrays Ciappelletto as a devil in human form and the ancient priest as an angelic presence. In the standard plot, the greedy merchant repents on his deathbed. Ciappelletto is so skilled as an actor and liar that he converts the priest to belief in his holiness. As for the priest, he is gullible in accepting Ciappelletto’s story. However, in the end, the priest delivers a moving sermon that motivates pilgrims to visit the shrine of Saint Ciappelletto, so the foolish priest in one sense reaps the benefits of Ciappelletto’s lies.

Panfilo’s manner of delivery suggests that he is both serious and cynical. Panfilo begins and ends his tale with references to God and expressions of piety. However, the tale itself features a totally wicked hero who gets away with his lies (although he cannot avoid death). A total hypocrite becomes holy, and the holy man might be a hypocrite. Panfilo leaves the judgment up to God.

The story of Ciappelletto reflects the overall themes of The Decameron, portrayed against the backdrop of death and the plague. Life is fragile, and death and misfortune happen to even the most successful of men. Holiness is easy to imitate if someone is hypocritical enough. In the background is the awareness that at this time of total upheaval, people can easily get away with erasing and rewriting their history.

The first day of stories sets the pattern for the remaining days of the retreat. After the first day, the next queen, Filomena, keeps Pampinea’s domestic arrangements in place, a tacit acknowledgment of Pampinea’s leadership. Filomena’s proposal for each day to have a different theme makes the remaining days more purposeful. The next rulers receive their crowns at the end of the day, after which they announce the next day’s theme. Another pattern is set by the performance of a love song at the end of the day. The love songs add another column to the mental structural grid of the book. The Decameron has ten days of storytelling, with ten characters who tell ten stories each—plus ten love poems. Even more structure, texture, and pattern come from intervals of music and dancing, which take place throughout the day and before and after the day’s featured song.

The song at the end of the first day can be interpreted in different ways. The singer, Emilia, looks at herself in the mirror while singing of beauty, a clue that she is a vain person. However, Emilia performs this song under the shadow of death. So Emilia might also be looking in the mirror for reassurance that she is still well or be wondering who she is and how long she will live. The mirror is a symbol of self-awareness and fragility as well as vanity.

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