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Discussion Questions
Marguerite de Navarre. The Heptameron.
- Compare the handling of "bawdy" materials in the first two selections and in
Boccaccio's Second Tale of the Fourth Day (p. 1883). Compare, especially from the point of
view of style in narrative and in dialogue, the handling of love and matrimonial
situations in Boccaccio's Ninth Tale of the Fifth Day (p.1888).
- The characters of Parlamente and Hircan are generally identified with Marguerite de
Navarre herself and with her second husband, Henri de Navarre. Take these two characters'
words as they appear in some of the quotes from the prologue and the conversation
following the third selection, and describe the implied notions of what constitutes a
rational, successful matrimonial relationship in the world of the Heptameron. Also
use contributions from other characters surrounding this central couple.
- Compare the attitudes toward cuckoldry with the one in Canto V in Dante's Inferno. How
does each author handle the reasons for and moral consequences of adultery?
- The complications of Story Thirty resemble in different ways the plot of Oedipus the
King. How would you compare the moral response to incest in each work? How do they reflect
divergent attitudes toward fate human responsibility?
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