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The parabola of pleasure : a study of the cornice of the Decameron

In this dissertation I examine the narrative parts of the so-called cornice of the Decameron. The core of my interpretation is to be found in Chapter I where I show that the frame story--the novella portante, as it has been called--with its "parabolic" rather than "rectilinear" progression is intended to illustrate the brigade's pursuit of pleasure, without any ulterior motive such as, for instance, the restructuring of the decaying Florentine society. A careful study of the members of the brigade (Chapter II) and of their songs (Chapter III) obviously forms an integral part of any analysis of the frame story. The Appendix deals with the illustrations of the cornice: the rich iconographic tradition of the Decameron, at least before this century, appears to have accorded more significance to the frame story than has literary criticism.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.74631
Date January 1991
CreatorsMuto, Lisa M.
PublisherMcGill University
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatapplication/pdf
CoverageDoctor of Philosophy (Department of Italian.)
RightsAll items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
Relationalephsysno: 001236836, proquestno: AAINN67690, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

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