SOURCE: Shklovskij, Victor. “Some Reflections on the Decameron.” In Critical Perspectives on the “Decameron,” translated by Ronald Walter and Robert S. Dombroski, edited by Robert S. Dombroski, pp. 61-68. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1976.

In the following essay, originally published in 1959, Shklovskij argues that, with the opening tales of the Decameron, Boccaccio subverts traditional Christian piety and its accompanying sexual morality.

The very first tale of the Decameron leads us into a world full of conflict, irony, and contradictions. The novella's content is anticipated in its title: ‘Ser Cepperello deceives a holy friar with a false confession, then he dies; and although in life he was a most wicked man, in death he is reputed to be a saint, and is called Saint Ciappelletto.’

Boccaccio presents the time and the story's entire band of circumstances with the utmost precision. He tells us that a certain Musciatto Franzesi, compelled to...