HUI 235 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

HUI 235 - Essay Example cio’s tales illustrate what could happen in that strange medieval period in a society where power and morals were quite different to how we consider them today, and where fear was a very real emotion in women and those who occupied the lower strata. Political correctness and formal ethics had not been invented yet, and it was certainly not an egalitarian society. The first tale from Day Four, when Filostrato tells his story, shows exactly how unequally people dealt with each other. He recounts the plight of Ghismonda, the daughter of Tancrede the King of Salerne. Daughters were under their fathers’ power whether they were servants or kings. Women had very little say in the direction of their lives: the reason for Ghismonda’s tragic fate. Although she was already widowed after an arranged marriage, her father made all decisions about her life, choosing her husband: ‘Neverthelesse, at length, he matched her with the Sonne to the Duke of Capua.’ She could not simply fall in love with any man who came her way. When she did form a secret liaison with Guiscardo - who was not even a nobleman, and occupied a lower position in the palace - she was taking an enormous risk. Secrecy and lies, subterfuge and concealment were vital: a father was seen to be justified in killing his children if they went against his will or trespassed on some social more. There was no freedom and very little fairness. Tancrede blamed his daughter for his anger: ‘...thou hast meerly murthered the unfeigned affection I bare thee, as never any father could expresse more to his childe.’ Her tragedy came from social inequality and the perception - by all - that men were superior and fathers (especially if they were kings) almighty. In the fifth tale of the day, Philomena’s tale about Isabella (Lizabetta in some versions) and her herb pot, her brothers have power to do what they liked with her and anyone who got in their way. It was a world where people died like flies from the plague,