Summary: The Tale Of The Falcon

The families of Italy lived in fear. They were afraid to be separated and not seeing them ever again, but would sacrifice everything if they know their family will be safe. Italian culture and literature reflect these values of love, sacrifice and death. These values have contributed to the world of literature including the short story, “The Tale of the Falcon” by Giovanni Boccaccio. Boccaccio was one of the first great Humanist writers to influence the modern world with his influence still strong in today’s society.
To begin, at the time “The Tale of the Falcon” was set, life in Italy was nerve-racking and overwhelming because of the Bubonic Plague and the Renaissance. The Bubonic Plague caused immense changes in culture. The streets of Italy

A short story was usually written in vernacular, also known as prose. Short stories usually are meant to be read all in one sitting. In this case, “The Tale of the Falcon” is part of a frame story, a story that is bind together to several other short stories or narratives (Reader’s Guide). “The Tale of the Falcon” is part Giovanni Boccaccio masterpiece, the Decameron. The Decameron is a “collection of one hundred tales told by ten wealthy Florentines, seven women and three men, who have retreated to a villa in the hills of Fiesole to escape” the Bubonic Plague (“Giovanni

In the short story, a man, Federigo, used his wealth to try and gain affection from a woman, Monna. Federigo ended up losing his wealth and became poor. He has nothing except for a small farm in Canpi and a falcon left to his name. During the time Federigo became poor, Monna’s husband became ill and died soon after. Monna went to the countryside with her son for a year to live on a property she owned, which was near to Federigo’s farm, . Her son soon became ill. The only thing the son wanted before he died was to see Federigo’s falcon one more time. All Monna wanted to do in life was to make her only child happy. So Monna set out to go and ask Federigo if he could bring his falcon to her son in hopes of saving the child. When Federigo heard the news that the woman he loved was coming to see him, he was electrified. He soon realized that he had wasted his wealth and nothing to honor the lady for the occasion. The only item that he thought could honor Monna was his prize possession, the falcon. Federigo wrung the poor falcon’s neck and gave the falcon to his servant to prepare for dinner. The two began to eat dinner went Monna ask the question, “to ask of you a gift which I know is most precious to you:.. This gift is your falcon...” When Federigo learned the reason why Monna came to him, he began to cry because he had killed the falcon Monna wanted