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Giovanni Boccaccio Trivia Quizzes

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Boccaccio was a 14th century Italian writer, known for the fact that he wrote in the Italian vernacular (as well as the more widely used Latin), and used realistic rather than conventional dialogue. He is probably most familiar as the author of "The Decameron", a collection of 100 stories presented as being told by a group of three men and seven women holed up in a suburban villa near Florence to stay secure from the Plague.
3 Giovanni Boccaccio quizzes and 40 Giovanni Boccaccio trivia questions.
1.
  The Princely Tales of the Decameron editor best quiz    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Ten days, ten companions, ten novels per day - this is Boccaccio's "Decameron". For the following ten questions, I have selected the ten stories told by the daily chosen queen or king - the "princely tales", if you so wish.
Average, 10 Qns, WesleyCrusher, Apr 14 14
Average
WesleyCrusher editor
306 plays
2.
  The Decameron    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Questions about Giovanni Boccaccio's famous novel: "The Decameron".
Average, 10 Qns, club_soda, May 31 06
Average
club_soda
597 plays
3.
  For Decameron Lovers    
Multiple Choice
 20 Qns
A challenging quiz about the 'Decameron'...and if you haven't read it yet, well...start reading! NOTE: When refering to stories the roman numerals are the day and the number is the story. If there are any errors please bring them to my attention!
Tough, 20 Qns, magari420, May 31 06
Tough
magari420
363 plays
trivia question Quick Question
What does Ellisabetta grow in the pot that contains her lover's head (which she digs up after her brothers kill him)(IV,5)?

From Quiz "For Decameron Lovers"




Related Topics
  Italian Literature [Literature] (7 quizzes)

  Literature Before 1900 [Literature] (50 quizzes)


Giovanni Boccaccio Trivia Questions
1. Day 1, Queen Pampinea: Master Alberto da Bologna falls in love with a fair lady despite his advanced age. When teased about it, he has a rather witty retort by comparing men with which vegetable?

From Quiz The Princely Tales of the Decameron

Answer: Leek

The fair Madonna Malgherida de' Ghisoleri could certainly take her pick of lovers, so when the seventy-year-old Master Alberto showed up at her house enamored, she and her friends made fun of him. However, he has a witty reply that puts the shame back on the one who tried to shame him: "My hope in thus old aspiring to love you, who are loved by so many young men, is founded on what I have frequently observed of ladies' ways at lunch, when they trifle with the lupin and the leek. In the leek no part is good, but the head is at any rate not so bad as the rest, and indeed not unpalatable; you, however, for the most part, following a depraved taste, hold it in your hand and munch the leaves, which are not only of no account but actually distasteful. How am I to know, madam, that in your selection of lovers, you are not equally eccentric? In which case I should be the man of your choice, and the rest would be cast aside." Sometimes admitting one's shortcomings can be the best weapon!

2. Where in Italy does this story begin?

From Quiz The Decameron

Answer: Florence

Boccaccio was actually born and grew up in Florence, so it's natural that he sets his stories there.

3. For some warm up questions...What catastrophe is the setting for the 'Decameron'?

From Quiz For Decameron Lovers

Answer: Black Plague

The ten friends that set out to the country are trying to escape the Black Plague in Florence.

4. For what reason do the ten storytellers leave the city?

From Quiz The Decameron

Answer: A plague is sweeping through the city.

The bubonic plague hit Florence in 1348 and killed about three quarters of the city's population. Boccaccio's step-mother died from the plague. Boccaccio survived by leaving the city and retreating to a house in Ravenna.

5. Day 3, Queen Neifile: Count Bertrand de Roussillon is married, against his will and at the order of the king, to a woman he perceives beneath his stature, but who loves him with all her heart. How did she secure the king's blessing on this union?

From Quiz The Princely Tales of the Decameron

Answer: She cured the king of a fistula

Gillette, daughter of Bertrand's father's physician, had loved Bertrand from childhood. When the old count died, Bertrand moved to the king's service, leaving his county unattended. Years later, Gillette heard of the king's ailment and cured him for the price of the marriage she desired. Bertrand was married to her but never returned home, leaving his wife to rule in his stead (a task she did well at). Only when she resorted to a ruse was she finally able to prove to him that she truly loved him and was in fact worthy of his love. Sometimes it takes just too long to realize what you have received!

6. How many stories are in The Decameron?

From Quiz The Decameron

Answer: 100

The prefix 'deca' should have given you some hint as to what the name meant. The word actually means a volume consisting of ten parts, or books. In this case, the ten days, with ten stories in each day.

7. This is a give away...Who is the author of the Decameron? And to make it at least a little bit challenging, give both the first and last name.

From Quiz For Decameron Lovers

Answer: Giovanni Boccaccio

Boccaccio was born in 1313, they think in Certaldo (an enchanting Tuscan hill town near Florence) and died in 1375. He wrote the Decameron in 1351.

8. Who is the King/Queen of the first day's storytelling?

From Quiz The Decameron

Answer: Pampinea

The group came to a consensus and elected Pampinea to be the queen of the first day and she in turn decided who would become the king or queen of next day's stories. The king or queen also decides the theme of the day's stories.

9. How many stories are there in the Decameron?

From Quiz For Decameron Lovers

Answer: 100

There are ten stories for ten days.

10. On the first tale of the third day, Filostrato tells a story of a young man pretending to be dumb who finds a job intending to reap benefits from his lies (which he does). Where does he work?

From Quiz The Decameron

Answer: A convent

Thinking that this man is dumb, some of the younger nuns wish to sleep with him because none of them have had sex since they joined the convent. They think that since he is dumb, he won't be able to tell anyone about it, and he's perfectly happy to remain silent.

11. What city are the storytellers from?

From Quiz For Decameron Lovers

Answer: Florence

12. In the first tale of the fourth day, Fiammetta tells a story in which a king murders his daughter's lover and sends her his heart in a golden cup. What does his daughter do when she receives the cup?

From Quiz The Decameron

Answer: She pours poison on it, drinks it, and dies.

This day's theme was that the storytellers tell tales of lovers whose relationship ends in disaster.

13. In the tenth tale of the third day, Dioneo tells the story of how a priest named Rustico came to sleep with a young woman. How does he convince her to do this?

From Quiz The Decameron

Answer: He tells her that it will help put the Devil back in Hell.

Rustico tells the naive girl that his private parts are the Devil and that hers are Hell. So by sleeping together, they are actually helping God to put the Devil back into Hell. Perhaps the most bawdy tale of the Decameron.

14. In the fourth tale of the first day, Dioneo tells a story of corrupt clergy. A young monk sleeps with a woman and he finds out that the abbot was outside of the room and heard everything. What happens to the monk?

From Quiz The Decameron

Answer: The monk tricks the abbot and makes him appear to be a hypocrite, avoiding punishment.

The monk locks the girl in his room and tells the abbot he is leaving. While the monk is away, the abbot unlocks the room and has sex with the girl as well. The monk sees everything and later, when the abbot is ready to punish him, the monk reveals that he saw the abbot and the girl together. Therefore, the abbot cannot punish the monk, because he would seem like a hypocrite.

15. In the fourth tale of the third day, Panfilo tells the story of how a man came to sleep with a friar's wife. How was he able to do this without attracting the attention of the woman's husband?

From Quiz The Decameron

Answer: He distracts the friar by teaching him to do penance, which takes up all his time.

While the friar is spending all his time doing penance, the man is able to have an affair with the wife, since her husband is hardly there. The theme of this day was stories in which by their wit, people are able to achieve their long-desired goals.

16. What is Father Gianni doing when Compare Pietro speaks out and thus ruins the spell to turn his wife into a mare (IX,10)?

From Quiz For Decameron Lovers

Answer: Sticking on the tail

After a thorough examination on Pietro's wife, while she is on all fours on the floor, Father Gianni begins to 'stick the tail on the mare', at which point Pietro says he doesn't want to do the spell anymore. Father Gianni tells him that by speaking out he has completely ruined any chances for the spell to work...how convinient for Father Gianni. This story is a classic example of Boccaccio's disdain for the clergy.

17. What condition does Masetto da Lamporecchio claim to have in order to be the gardener at a convent (III,1)?

From Quiz For Decameron Lovers

Answer: deaf and mute

If he can't speak or hear he can't tell! Which works out well as all the nuns end up ravaging him.

18. What does the final monk that Alibech lives with get her to help him do (III,10)?

From Quiz For Decameron Lovers

Answer: Put the devil back in hell

This is one of my favourite stories which I first read in high school. I think it is so funny because it's such a great euphemism for sex, one of his wittiest, though 'sticking the tail on the mare' is pretty good too.

19. Who does Brother Alberto say his is in order to lie with a vain lady of Venice (IV,2)?

From Quiz For Decameron Lovers

Answer: Angel Gabriel

He says that the Angel Gabriel comes to possess him and thus the lady is laying with the Angel in Alberto's body. Eventually the ruse is discovered and he is publicly humiliated.(Down with the clergy!)

20. What does Ellisabetta grow in the pot that contains her lover's head (which she digs up after her brothers kill him)(IV,5)?

From Quiz For Decameron Lovers

Answer: Basil

She keeps his head in a pot with basil and waters it everyday with her tears until her brothers discover it and take it away. At which point she dies from grief for her lost lover. This is one of the sad days...

21. When Simona and Pasquino die from rubbing sage leaves on their teeth, what is discovered to be the cause of their deaths (IV,7)?

From Quiz For Decameron Lovers

Answer: Toad

After they die they dig up the plant and discover a huge poisonous toad living under it. It had contaminated the plant and been the cause of their deaths.

22. What vision does Nastagio degli Onesti see that eventually prompts the lady he loves to marry him (V,8)?

From Quiz For Decameron Lovers

Answer: A woman being hunted by a knight and his dogs

He sees a vision of a knight and his dogs hunting a woman, the curse of their eternal souls that is repeated over and over. It is a result of the lady mocking the knight's love for her, the same situation that Nastagion is in with his lady. After Nastagio arranges for her to see the vision, she realised her errors and agrees to marry him.

23. In the 9th story of the 6th day, who is the poet that delivers the witty remark?

From Quiz For Decameron Lovers

Answer: Cavalcanti

The famous florintine poet in that story is Guido Cavalcanti, a contemporary of Dante Alighieri.

24. What English author used the Decameron as a basis for his popular collection of short stories?

From Quiz For Decameron Lovers

Answer: Geoffery Chaucer & Chaucer

Apparently Chaucer thought that Boccaccio was onto a good thing because he based another of his works,'Troilus and Creseida', on Boccaccio's 'Filostrato'.

25. What Italian director made a movie of the same title based on some of the stories from the Decameron?

From Quiz For Decameron Lovers

Answer: Pier Paolo Pasolini & Pasolini & Passolini

During the 70s Passolini did a great movie of the Decameron. It's a lush visual representation of the stories with some of his own touches. Passolini makes an appearance as Giotto. Though I do warn that there is lots of nudity and sex. This was the first in a series of three he did, the other two are 'Arabian Nights' and 'Canterbury Tales'.

26. Extra Credit for the die hards: What is the dedication at the start of the Decameron?

From Quiz For Decameron Lovers

Answer: Al lettore malevolo & Al Lettore Malevolo & al lettore malevolo

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