The Decameron on Netflix: Popular but Censored, Do You Know the History of This Masterpiece?

It’s one of Netflix’s hot new series, and it’s already hitting the top viewership charts on the platform. Titled The Decameron, this zany historical comedy follows a group of nobles and servants who are isolated in a villa in the Italian countryside in 1348 as the Black Death sweeps through the land.

Away from the pandemic, the gang plans to spend a luxurious and lavish vacation. But as social rules fade, what begins as a wine-soaked sexual adventure in the Tuscan hills turns into a battle for survival.

Created by Kathleen Jordan, who has already signed on for the excellent Teenage Bounty Hunters, The Decameron is an opportunity for fans of the series to revisit some familiar faces such as Saoirse-Monica Jackson (Derry Girls), Zosia Mamet (Girls), Tanya Reynolds (Lily in Sex). Education), Tony Hale (Arrested Development, Veep), Leila Farzad (Black Mirror) and Amar Chadha-Patel (Wheel of Time, The Willow).

“The Decameron” is adapted from the forbidden story!

You should know that The Decameron is loosely inspired by the very famous collection of one hundred stories of the same name written in Italian by Boccaccio between 1349 and 1353. It was the Great Plague that gave him the inspiration for this “Book of Ten Days”. “Beginning in this apocalyptic context, seven young girls and three young men are driven to retreat to an isolated village to escape a contagious virus that is ravaging Florence.

For two weeks, these young people will meet each day and be entertained by ten stories, one for each, free or with a predetermined theme. These constructed statements are an opportunity to use fiction to evoke themes as diverse as love and illness, money and social conditions, while also reflecting the society of the time.

But these stories are distinguished by their rather erotic and rough tone with “vulgar” and “rough” language at the time. The Catholic Church has made no secret of its disdain for the collection, which is clearly anti-clerical and which highlights the hypocrisy of a society bent on wealth and lust.

Decameron It appeared on the Church’s official list of condemned, banned and censored texts, but in the face of the work’s popularity, successive popes demanded several revisions of the work so that the representation of the clergy was changed in the edition, where ecclesiastics were replaced by laymen. people.

But that’s not all, Boccaccio’s work also caused violent reactions while it was still being written for a very surprising reason. He has been criticized for being a philologist, that is, he appreciates, admires, and enjoys the company of women, therefore the very opposite of virginity.

Some critics believed that Boccaccio called women muses, and the author responded to his critics in his work, in certain chapters and in the conclusion, reaffirming his position and love and friendship for women and female characters.

Despite criticism and censorship, DecameronComposed of tragic, erotic and heroic stories, it is widely distributed in Europe and the world. Stories full of wit, humor and lessons contribute to his popularity among readers (and especially female readers!), but also to the emergence of new literary trends.

More than mainstream entertainment, Boccaccio’s work is also a testament to the life of an era marked by one of the darkest episodes in human history. written in the vernacular of the Florentine language, Decameron Considered a masterpiece of Old Italian prose, it has been praised and criticized for 675 years.

The series “The Decameron” is available on Netflix.