Parole e figure della passione. Fonti, temi e lessico dell'affettività nel Decameron.

My research focuses on the literary representation of passions in the Decameron, with particular reference to compassion and envy. Boccaccio’s depiction of these emotional states has been investigated not only in its rhetorical-formal aspects, but also in terms of the philosophical and literary sources to which the author may have drawn. This pair of passions was selected on the basis of two criteria. In the first place, I have tried to give priority to those emotive impulses that are narrative relevant, that is, they play a leading role in the diegetic construction of the plot. Among these, those passions with a certain consistency in the metatextual dimension of the novel book have been selected, as keys to interpretation of the text theoretically involved in the author’s interventions. The emotional states subject to this study, in fact, are not only widely represented within the novellas, but also play a central role in metatextual areas of the Decameron, such as the Proemio and the Introduction to the Fourth Day. In this perspective, considerations of compassion and envy can be taken as a vehicle for Boccaccio’s reflection on his work and his own literary work.