The Hypocrisy of Marriage in Renaissance Literature

The literary works of the Renaissance period, such as Boccaccio's The Decameron and Marguerite de Navarre's The Heptameron, give frequent mention to the subject of love and marriage in the general scheme of male-female relations. One theme that pervades this subject is deceit and infidelity, caused primarily by the people's lack of belief, or perverted belief in the sanctity of marital vows and the double standard in regards of male and female fidelity.

One of the themes that are noticeable in The Heptameron is the double standard between the marital obligations of men and women. While women are supposed to remain virtuous and honorable, men are allowed, at least in their own circle, to cheat on their wives. One of the reasons for it, as the Story Eight suggests, is that husbands misinterpret the marriage vows to mean that they are called upon to protect and preserve their wives' honor rather than worry about their own. Bornet in Story Eight is a good example, as "he held" his wife's "honor and reputation very dear" (The Renaissance, 1962). The narrator adds that he is not the only one to act so, and that "all husbands here hold the honor and reputation of their wives dear" (The Renaissance, 1962). In other words, men made an effort to make sure that their wives are faithful to them.

The issue of marital fidelity and its relation to honor and reputation is deeper than simply keeping spouses from extramarital relationships. At the end of Story Eight, Bornet tries to make sure that news of his wife's transgression does not become public knowledge. One of the reasons for this, of course, is that he himself caused his wife to be unknowingly unfaithful. This, however, is not the most important reason by far. His decision to keep his wife's infidelity a secret is caused by the difference in what can cause the ruined reputation for men and women. The main part of women's reputation consists of being chaste when unmarried and faithful to her husband when married. For married men, on the other hand, the most important part of good reputation is not as much being faithful themselves, but rather to have a faithful wife. In fact, the ability of unmarried men to persuade women, by various means, to give up their chastity or fidelity - depending on their marital status - comprises a significant part of their bachelor reputation. The fact that it goes against the socially accepted norms of women's good reputation and honor is a good indication why the double standard in determination of what is honorable and reputable for men and women exists. Consistent with this analysis, then, would be to presume that Bornet tries to hide his wife's infidelity not only because it would ruin her reputation, but also, and probably mainly, because it would ruin his. As the story tells the reader, when the affair does become public, Bornet gets branded as a cuckold. At the same time, the storyteller does not say anything about his wife's loss of honor because of the affair.

While the double standard described above appears unfair to women, it is consistent with the belief of the time, that women, in general, were not as intelligent as men. The conversation between the seven women in church in the First Day of The Decameron indicates this. Discussing the possibility of leaving Florence to escape the plague, the ladies justify the need for male escort by denigrating their own abilities. One of them, Filomena, presented as no less than the most prudent of the group, says, "Remember we are all women: and any girl can tell you how women behave together and conduct themselves without the direction of some man. We are fickle, wayward, suspicious, faint-hearted and cowardly" (The Renaissance, 1837). Replying to this, another lady, Elisa, says, "Indeed men are a woman's head and we can rarely succeed in anything without their help" (The Renaissance, 1837). Therefore, men are perceived as the ones not only carrying on the success of the society, but also caring for women in it because the latter cannot take good care of themselves. Moreover, men must carefully monitor women, namely their wives and, possibly, other female relatives, so they would not commit any dishonorable or disreputable acts, which they tend to do due to their devious nature. Thus the double standard is created; men are expected to be creative, assertive and aggressive, and that does not exclude the pursuit of women other than their wives. By the same token, men who get cheated upon by their wives show themselves as weak or lacking intelligence, or both, which is a clear indication of bad reputation. Moreover, such situation can be the result of a wife having a stronger will than her husband, and this is not only disreputable, but also dishonorable for him.

Of course, men do not always have to seek intimate relations with multiple women in order to appear strong and assertive. An indicator of their strength can be their persistency in trying to obtain the favor of just one woman, as is the case in the Story Eighteen of The Heptameron. Of more interest, however, is not the lord's determination to the lady of his choice, but rather this lady's behavior. By forcing her suitor in various types of tests in order to check if he is truly committed to being only with her, the lady reaffirms the traits of female character presented earlier by one of the ladies in The Decameron. She is indeed fickle and wayward, and her suspicions in regards to the lord's honest nature do not go away after the first test, which causes her to make up the second one. It is fair to speculate that she would have designed more tests if, after the second one, the lord did not show his assertiveness and simply left her, angered by her plotting. Therefore, the lady's decision to see him again, ask his forgiveness, and grant him the favors he seeks is the result of not only him passing her tests, but also of her being confronted by a will stronger than her own.

More information on this subject comes out in the discussion that takes place after the story is completed. The fact that women are presumed to be dishonest is exemplified in remarks by Simontaut, who claims that the reason the lady created these tests was "so she could make herself look more virtuous than she really was" (The Renaissance, 1980). In other words, she was trying to catch the lord at being lustful and dishonest in order to cover up her own indiscretions, or at least to make them look not so bad. Saffredent, in turn, reaffirms the accepted need for men to be persistent and assertive to the point of resolving to use force with women who turn down all other, more civil, types of advances. According to Saffredent, such men should not be looked upon as rapists and criminals, but rather be admired for the risks they take by acting in such fashion: "You shouldn't think the worse of a man who risks his life like that in order to give vent to his love" (The Renaissance, 1981). The reply by one of the women in the group, Ennasuite, can be seen as an overview of the social situation in regards to love, marriage, and gender relations of the time, when she complains, "it would seem that all the love-affairs in the world are based on the kind of wicked passion that Simontaut and Saffredent have just been talking about" (The Renaissance, 1981).

Such situation made a mockery out of the sacrament of marriage given to people by God, because apparently only women had to follow it, and even they had to be supervised by men because, supposedly, they did not possess mental or emotional capacity to do so on their own. The Second Tale of the Fourth Day in The Decameron exemplifies this mockery because it is a heavenly being, namely Angel Gabriel, who forces a woman to cheat on her husband. The fact that Angel Gabriel is just a clever invention of a lustful friar does not change matters because Madonna Lisetta, the deceived woman, thinks that it is an actual angel that comes to have sex with her. In fact, it makes matters worse by adding to mockery and hypocrisy of the church by having a servant of faith initiating fornication and participating in it. It is symbolic that he is discovered in a disguise of a wild man at a carnival, because, ideally, it is only a man without reason that can act in such manner.

Such thing as ideal marriage does exist, according to the Tenth Tale of the Tenth Day in The Decameron, where in the end both spouses acted with love and respect toward one another. Even here, however, the double standard is preserved. Gualteri, the Marquess of Saluzzo, puts his wife through a series of emotionally devastating tests, making her believe that her children are murdered and she is no longer welcome as his wife. Gualteri does have some regrets about what he is doing because he seems to actually love his wife. However, he thinks that this is the only way to be sure that his wife is indeed honorable and that the only way she can prove this is by acting with humility and respect toward him as her husband and master. It is interesting to note that, although Gualteri is happy at his wife's passing all of his tests, he is also surprised by it. Apparently, he conformed to the accepted opinion on women's character until his wife proved him to be wrong.