Boccaccio and Chaucer are both great writers. Some of their works such as, Decameron and The Wife of Bath are still appreciated today. This essay will discuss how artifice reveals truth in Decameron, Day 10, Story 10 and The Wife of Bath. Boccaccio’s Decameron Day 10, Story 10 is a great example of how artifice reveals truth. In the story, Gualtieri tries to find out if his wife will always do her best to please him. He does this by making her go through a number of cruel tests. For example, he makes her believe that he has both of their children killed, “When the lady heard the servant’s words and saw his face, and when she recalled what her husband had said to her, she concluded that the man had been ordered to put her child to death”(Puchner, 1842). After Gualtieri’s cruel tests, the truth was revealed; that she would always do her best to
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In this story the wife tells the knight she will tell him the answer to his question, on the condition that he does what she asks, “here in my hand, and swear to me the next thing I demand, you shall do it if it lies in your might, and I’ll tell you the answer before night”(Chaucer, 1015-1018). However, because the wife has the appearance of an old hag the knight, once saved, does not want to keep his end of the bargain. That night the wife asks the knight, “…of these things, one of two: Till I die, to have me foul and old, too, and be to you true and humble wife, and never displease you in all my life, or else you can have now a fair, young thing, and take your chances with the visiting that happens in you house because of me…”(Chaucer, 1225-1231). Because of this, the knight let the wife choose, “…Choose yourself which one may be most pleasing and most honor to both you and me too”(Chaucer, 1238-1239), she became “…both fair and good, as will be plain”(Chaucer, 1247). This shows a unique way of how artifice can reveal
In this story the wife tells the knight she will tell him the answer to his question, on the condition that he does what she asks, “here in my hand, and swear to me the next thing I demand, you shall do it if it lies in your might, and I’ll tell you the answer before night”(Chaucer, 1015-1018). However, because the wife has the appearance of an old hag the knight, once saved, does not want to keep his end of the bargain. That night the wife asks the knight, “…of these things, one of two: Till I die, to have me foul and old, too, and be to you true and humble wife, and never displease you in all my life, or else you can have now a fair, young thing, and take your chances with the visiting that happens in you house because of me…”(Chaucer, 1225-1231). Because of this, the knight let the wife choose, “…Choose yourself which one may be most pleasing and most honor to both you and me too”(Chaucer, 1238-1239), she became “…both fair and good, as will be plain”(Chaucer, 1247). This shows a unique way of how artifice can reveal