Okay, I know it's early, and you might be wondering why I got up so early to write, but the truth is that I just got off work and finished The Decameron, and I will not be able to sleep unless I get some stuff off my chest. First of all; WHAT THE HELL????
So, the highly touted book that we derive our stories from, which is a favorite of so many of you, chose to highlight the first story on the first day, the eighth story on the first day, and the first story on the tenth day. So, even if there was only eight stories told on the first day, and one on every other, according to my 5 AM math that would mean there were at least almost twenty stories to choose from. AND THESE WERE THE BEST OF THEM?
Dr. Sanderson highlighted from Medea that Euripedes chose to end the story without any justice being one on behalf of Jason against Medea. In this story, the complete opposite of justice is done to Giultieri. He is the worst scum of the earth from any of our stories! He finds a beautiful woman that is so humble by her lack of nobility that she puts up with all of his shit, then endures incredible abuses from him and still stays faithful and says that she will do whatever he wills. Then in the end they just live happily ever after...WTF! I can think of about 1,721 better endings than that. Number one, she grabs a knife and he gets killed...number two, she backslaps him so hard that he trips over a tree root, lands face first in the punch bowl and instinctively gasps for air and he gets killed. Actually, about 1,715 of them would end up by him getting killed in some fantastical way. None of this "he's nobility so she's lucky to have him" bullshit. Suffice it to say that he is a despicable person and deserves the worst fate that someone can conjure.
Take away that one, which immediately came to mind because it was last, and what do we have? A story where 99% of a population die from plague, a tale in which a dreadful, cruel sinner dies a saint, and, lest we forget, the wonderful tale with the moral that "If I try to woo you, you better be wooed woman, or I'll hunt you down and kill you every Wednesday for eternity." That oughtta keep the women in line!
Now if that doesn't go straight to the heart, then nothing will.
END OF RANT.
