The Decameron is a brilliant, beautiful show that deserves way more praise than the lukewarm reviews. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a love story so beautiful and characters who subverted expectations in the most satisfying ways.
Every time you think a character is an unforgivable lout, you'll be surprised at how human they'll be. The character you think is a buffoon and whom you wish would die because they're THAT level of annoying ends up making you bawl with their words a single episode later, and it still feels in character.
I dunno, the show has pretty mixed reviews, but if you like dark humor and a study on humanity, this show is for you. Also, if you like love stories of any sort, because this show contains several of the single most unique love stories I could have ever imagined. Yes, including queer and... ace love.
*yes i have read boccaccio's work on which it's based
Spiritual, Agape Love: Neifile and Panfilo
I genuinely think the sexless marriage and partnership of a gay man and a devout, neurotic straight woman is one of the most beautiful love stories I've seen in media, ever. They genuinely want each other to be happy, and they aren't content just being each other's "beard" or financial security. They want to know each other more. They want honesty. They want to be together and to have intimacy, just not romantic or sexual.
The scene where they reconcile in front of Ruggiero is stunningly wholesome and--dare I say it--pure.
The scene where Neifile falls in the well and waits for God to save her is clearly a riff on the classic parable of the guy who is drowning and turns down two boats and a helicopter rescue saying "no thanks, God will save me," only to die and get to heaven and cry, "God, why didn't you save me?" Then God replies, "you dumbass, I sent you two boats and a helicopter!"
Neifile is rescued because her husband Panfilo pays someone to rescue her and to tell her God sent a vision telling them where to find Neifile. When she finds out Panfilo orchestrated it, she's furious about him deceiving her. But the reality, we later realize, is that he didn't exactly. Neifile wanted proof God still cared about her. He sent her a husband who loved her so much he would do anything to save her.
Neifile's faith isn't perfectly written, but it's not mocked. In the end, Neifile and Panfilo live like Christ--which is to say, they save their friends even though they die. Neifile dies afraid, but life comes with no guarantees. It's unpredictable, just like love. And after her death, Panfilo seems to lose the will to live--but when he decides to sacrifice his life to die alongside Neifile, it's not so much out of a desire to die as it is out of a desire to have his friends survive. And it's not a coincidence that the foe they face off with is a self-proclaimed prophet who's really a cruel, hypocritical cult leader. Neifile's dead, plague-ridden body is more holy than the cult leader's sword.
Romantic/Eros Love: Misia and Filomena, Tindaro and Stratilia, (and everyone)
Everyone has romantic love and/or a sexual relationship in the story. Everyone has a "pairing," but it is seldom their most important bond.
Dioneo and Licisca
Filomena and Misia
Pampinea and Sirisco
Tindaro and Stratilia
Neifile and Panfilo/Ruggiero
Panfilo and Neifile/Andreoli
The two that are the most important here are Misia and Filomena, and Tindaro and Stratilia. Yet they are both quite unique portrayals as well, because while Misia and Filomena's love is requited, Tindaro's loev for Stratilia is completely unrequited. Yet, its power still shines through.
Tindaro's love for Stratilia is utterly unrequited and stays that way. However, his love for her is nonetheless real and he proves it over and over, and it isn't dependent on her returning it. His determination to love her, no matter what she does or doesn't give him, is honestly a beautiful exploration of unrequited love. Usually in fiction unrequited love is either someone wasting their time or a tragedy.
Rarely does unrequited love have power to redeem and save, but here it does. It motivates Tindaro to change himself for the better and to become the best version of himself, and it saves Stratilia's life and the life of her son.
Yet, the story avoids any kind of iffy subtext about sex corrupting love. Misia and Filomena get a happily ever after (the only pairing in the series that does), but Tindaro's love for Stratilia, which literally starts as hate sex and stays that way for her, redeems Tindaro. So the show avoids saying that sex is all that love is, and avoids the implication that sex ruins love as well.
Familial Love: Licisca and Filomena, Stratilia and Jacopo
The series addresses sibling love in a variety of ways. Filomena and Licisca are clearly sisters long before we get the official reveal that Licisca is actually Filomena's half-sister in blood. And even when we see them fighting and pushing each other off a bridge (literally), they love each other. They can't bear to see each other die, even as they peck at each other and insult each other constantly.
Filomena: Licisca, you saved me again!
Licisca: Yeah, you dumb bitch. Love's got long claws.
Truly, a sister exchange right there.
What gets in the way of their familial relationship is class. The series juxtaposes class issues against familial ones quite a bit. Leonardo, for example, we never meet, but the way he treats Stratilia and Jacopo (his son) is pretty terrible.
And yet, Jacopo has a good life. Stratilia loves him, even though he is the reason she can never leave the villa, marry, or have any sort of life of her own. She knows Leonardo never plans to have Jacopo as an heir or treat him as a son in any way, but she loves him and sticks around for him, and doesn't resent him for it. And he in turn adores his mother and wants to protect her. Love is a burden, as Panfilo says directly, but so is life. Love anchors.
What gets in the way of love for this mother and son, temporarily, is again class. Not for herself, but for her son, Stratilia eventually decides to take the villa since Leonardo is dead and Jacopo is the rightful heir. But clinging to class and material possessions in this series never ends well.
When Stratilia realizes her desire to seize the villa in the name of justice for her son will likely get them all killed, she cries and blames herself for their coming deaths.
As Tindaro says:
Stratilia: I failed my son
Tindaro: No. You have given him everything. And love most of all. He is blessed. You understand that Jacopo? You are blessed.
In other words, love doesn't have to be perfect. It can involve major screwups and pain, but that doesn't mean the life they had or the love was any less powerful.
Also of note: the whole reason the peasants turn to mercenaries and cults is because the rich lock themselves away from the poor, when in reality they are all humans. You can't counter acts of God (or, y'know, rats) but where humans do have power, in all the terrible hands life slaps them with, is the ability to love each other and help each other. While this sounds cheesy, the juxtaposition of this idea with a black comedy plague setting actually makes it shine.
The Loveless: Pampinea
At the start of the story, there are two buffoons: Tindaro and Pampinea.
Tindaro is misogynistic and pathetic, and Pampinea is equally insufferable but more sympathetic because her insufferable tendencies are clearly driven by her status as an unmarried woman in a patriarchal, misogynistic society.
Yet Pampinea has all of these kinds of love, and can't accept any of them. Sirisco loves her and thinks she is beautiful. She not only pushes him away, but is cruel in doing so. She has the respect of Neifile and Licisca. She has unrequited loyalty and love from Misia, and uses it to manipulate Misia into killing Ruggiero for her (and the irony is that Misia, who is traumatized from killing Ruggiero, then kills Pampinea).
Pampinea is a well-written villain, imo. You love to hate her, but you also see her humanity. The way she treats Misia, though, is increasingly horrifying, and their relationship foils Tindaro and Dioneo's, Filomena and Licisca's, and Leonardo's and Stratilia's/Sirisco's.
In fact, Filomena even directly acknowledges that she's no better than Pampinea for how she's treated Licisca. Tindaro doesn't get the chance to have that realization about Dioneo while Dioneo is alive, but he does give him a decent burial when he definitely didn't have to. And, there's an aspect of tragedy there too--Dioneo did care about Tindaro, but Tindaro's inability to show any kind of care for Dioneo while he lived means that he doesn't realize that Dioneo did in fact find love in the end, though he acknowledges that this was what Dioneo did primarily want in life.
In contrast, Pampinea has chance after chance after chance to choose differently, to choose a single bond, and she doesn't. She also recognizes that her servant wants love more than anything, just like Tindaro and Dioneo, but instead of using that to honor them, she uses it to degrade and manipulate Misia.
Bad Victims and Toxic Love: Misia and Pampinea
Misia is a bad victim. It takes forever for her to realize she's being abused and even longer to accept it. She does in fact murder someone for her mistress, and she keeps going back to Pampinea even when it means essentially betraying Filomena, whom she romantically loves. When she asks for help, she pushes the people she's asked away.
Eventually, the only way she sees to free herself is to kill Pampinea, because love for Pampinea is a way to cage someone rather than a way to set them free. Pampinea's already introduced the idea of killing for love, so it's not really a surprise when this comes back to bite Pampinea and she is killed.
Yet the story doesn't demonize Misia for this. It shows how damn difficult it is to free oneself from an abuser, and how genuine the love for an abuser can be. In fact, the victim can often not even realize they're being abused and taken advantage of.
Furthermore, Misia's abuse doesn't make her a better person. Most people tend to assume that victims cry and wait for rescue, but that's not realistic. Victims lash out and can sometimes have a massive cognitive dissonance, as demonstrated in the show when Misia begs Sirisco for help and then blames him for Ruggiero's death when he calls her out on Pampinea's abuse of her.
Even Misia killing Pampinea isn't portrayed as a moral positive. It's tragic, but it also doesn't have to destroy Misia's future. Filomena loves her and forgives her, and that love can tether Misia to life despite her having two murders under her belt.
Sirisco also goes down a bad path, similar to Misia. He brings misery and problems to the villa in his outage over Pampinea's treatment of him. Yet he does repent after he sees that his actions have directly led to the deaths of the peasants who treat him well, and he survives.
In the wake of the travesty of poor writing that is HoTD, I will recommend The Decameron, for anyone who needs to be in the company of complex female characters that are allowed to be villainous and, more importantly than that, consistent in their storylines.
I have watched Netflix Decameron together with @hamliet and I loved it a lot! I did not have high expectations, but the series was fun, entertaining and had a very strong thematic heart. So strong, in fact, that it is wonderful to explore!
So, here comes this meta, which shares a very similar thesis to hamliet's own analysis: Netflix Decameron is a story about love.
IN THE NAME OF LOVE (AND CLASSISM)
The Netflix series is loosely inspired by Boccaccio's Decameron, a masterpiece of Italian literature. It is a collection of 100 short stories, told by 3 noble boys and 7 noble girls during the time of the pestilence in Florence (1348). The group runs away from the city and finds a refuge in the countryside. There they spend ten days (aka decameron) telling each other stories on different topics. The main theme is how the group keeps society alive through their shared rules, even in a time of suffering and chaos. The 100 short stories (the real focus of the work) showcase a world that is getting lost through the pandemic. They also bring to the table many other themes, like religion and love.
Netflix takes this premise and explores the same themes in a different way. Specifically, it imagines new plots and adventures for the members of the group, who are named after some of the original protagonists, but are given new characterizations.
To be precise:
Licisca, Tindaro, Stratilia, Misia and Sirisco are called after the nobles' servants. Here, they all become protagonists.
Filomena, Neifile, Panfilo, Pampinea and Dioneo are called after five of the protagonists of Boccaccio's Decameron.
Two things are interesting about this.
First of all, in the series, like in the original, we have 10 protagonists. However, the original has all the group made of nobles. The series instead chooses to have 5 nobles and 5 servants, so that it can tackle the theme of classism.
Secondly, the names of the 10 protagonists of the Decameron are all meaningful. They describe the characters' personality and the kind of stories they are gonna tell. Well, all the (noble) names the series chooses to keep do the same:
Pampinea means "flourishing" - that is a comical inversion as Pampinea is old and fears her age will ruin her chances to get married
Neifile means "new lover" - that fits with Neifile being sexually inexperienced and repressed
Dioneo means dissolute - this ties with the character's love for sex and edonism
Filomena means "lover of songs" or "the one who is loved"
Panfilo means "lover of all"
Isn't there an interesting pattern? All the names tie one way or another with love. That is perfect for a story whose main topic is, in fact, love. Not only that, but especially Filomena and Panfilo's names turn out to be pretty meaningful for the thematic role of the two characters (we'll see it through this analysis).
In synthesis, the series explores love and classism. Let's see how.
LOVE HAS MORE THAN ONE DIMENSION
Love has many dimensions. There is romantic love, platonic love, familial love and even toxic love. The series explores all these different relationships. In particular, it focuses on five bonds:
Licisca and Filomena's sisterhood
Neifile and Panfilo's sexless marriage
Pampinea and Misia's toxic relationship
Tindaro's unrequired love for Stratilia
Filomena and Misia's romantic love
The first three are platonic and they get consistent spotlight throughout the series. The last two are romantic and they develop in the second part of the story. I would say the first three are the key dynamics, but the other two are relevant, as well. Let's go deeper.
FILOMENA AND LICISCA: FAMILIAL LOVE
Filomena: What's the point in having family if you can't have their unconditional love?
Filomena and Licisca are master and servant, but they also share a strong bond of sisterhood, which is later revealed to be not only spiritual, but biological, as well. Licisca, thus, is Filomena's father daughter, hence they are half-sisters. The problem is that this bond of mutual love is made complicated by their different social classes. This is shown in their introduction:
Filomena: But you and I could've snuck off together to, I don't know, hug goats, or whatever they do in the countryside. Or at night, if I couldn't sleep, you'd have told me stories in the kitchen. Or rubbed my feet.
Filomena clearly enjoys Licisca's company to the point she can't imagine a happy future without her. In a sense, she thinks of herself and Licisca as a unit, always together. However, she is also self-centered and shows Licisca no appreciation nor consideration for her suffering.
Things start changing after Licisca accidentally pushes Filomena off a bridge. This results in a chain of events that ends with the two sisters exchanging roles. Now Licisca is the master and Filomena is the servant. This experience helps Filomena reflect on herself, so that she can become less selfish:
Filomena: I'm terrible, but... I'm getting better, aren't I? And I'm your sister. Okay, okay, I know that didn't use to mean anything, but it does now. Just... give me a chance.
Specifically, she starts being more honest with Licisca. She revelas Licisca's origin and that their father forced her to hide it. She also confesses that she lied to Licisca about their father's death, so that they could leave Florence and save themselves. Licisca doesn't take these revelations well and lashes out at Filomena:
Licisca: I have had, in my whole life, two days away from you. The day when I pushed you off a bridge, and the next day when I came here, and... and boys liked me, and I did what I wanted, and everybody treated me like a human being. And then, there you are at the door, dragging me back into servitude. I should not have pushed you off that bridge. I should have cut off your fucking head.
Licisca wants to free herself not only from servitude, but from all bonds:
Licisca: When the sun breaks, I'm gonna walk away from the bonds of it all. I'm going at all this alone. Independence is the greatest luxury. I'm gonna take it all for myself. Doesn't that sound divine?
But she is called out on this mentality:
Tindaro: The most divine thing in the world is having someone worth loving.
In the end, Licisca realizes she still loves Filomena and saves her. The two sisters survive and start a new chapter together, as equals and family. Their last interaction seals their newfound love and conveys the main theme:
Licisca: I love you, in spite of myself.
Filomena: I love you more, in spite of nothing.
A love, which is mutual and unconditional. A love that withstands the person's flaws. A love that lets nothing, not even the world, get in the way.
NEIFILE AND PANFILO: SPIRITUAL LOVE
Neifile: Don't you love me as I am?
Panfilo: Of course I love you. You're my partner... and my friend... and my wife.
Panfilo and Neifile share unconditional love. They love each other, as they are. Neifile loves Panfilo, even if he is a homosexual and a liar. Panfilo loves Neifile, despite her oddities that often put her in trouble. They are life partners, but they are so platonically. For both the sexual dimension is important. Neifile's repressed sexual desire consumes her and makes her suffer. Panfilo finds outlets to his sexuality through different lovers. However, they find in each other something that makes their marriage worth it. They do not regret it:
Neifile: I bet you could have had him. I think he enjoys men.
Panfilo: You could have had my brother too, if you'd wanted.
Neifile: Guidotto was a little skinny for me, but I would have wanted.
Panfilo: So, what shall we do today?
Neifile: I just want to talk... about everything.
Theirs is a spiritual love, which is the purest and most beautiful in the series. They complement each other:
Neifile is heart, as she has a fervent faith and a pure and childlike approach to things
Panfilo is mind, as he is smart, deceitful and good at navigating society and at coming up with plans
Neifile shares her heart and sense of wonder with Panfilo, while Panfilo takes care of Neifile. As the story progresses, though, their complementarity grows deeper. This ties with their religious motif:
Neifile: I'm testing God. If he really has not abandoned me, he will not let me perish in a well. He will rescue me somehow, and that will be a sign.
Panfilo: Darling... What if I'm the sign?
Neifile: Come on, you're not the sign. You're my husband and you love me. Of course you would try to save me. That wouldn't prove anything.
Neifile falls into a well and wants God to save her to prove his love for her. That is why, she refuses Panfilo's help. Panfilo, however, ends up paying Dioneo to save her. He rescues her, but he also tricks her.
This lie kickstarts Neifile's crisis of faith, which is mirrored in her relationship with her husband getting strained. It all culminates in a fight with Panfilo and in Neifile choosing to spend the night with Ruggiero. In this way, Neifile is finally able to satiate her sexual desires, but she also ends up falling ill with the plague. Before her death, she reconciles with Panfilo and shares with him her newfound faith:
Panfilo: Well, I guess I never really believed in God.
Neifile: I've not always been entirely sure of the fellow myself.
Panfilo: Really?
Neifile: I never found the answers, exactly. I tried so hard. I searched everywhere. But I've come to believe that finding the answers was never really the point. I got to ask the questions with you by my side.
Neifile reaches the conclusion that God lives in the people she loves and that love her back. So, it turns out the love of God Neifile has been looking for is nothing, but Panfilo's love. Panfilo is indeed the sign. His love for Neifile is an extension of God's love.
Panfilo: Father, I know I said I wasn't sure about you... but I will take any mercy you can bestow. Any meager crumb. I can't... bear this grief... this anger... this guilt. Help me. Neifile, help me.
Panfilo isn't sure God exists, but when Neifile dies, he prays. His prayer starts with him speaking with God and it ends with him asking Neifile for help. The meaning is clear. Neifile is Panfilo's true faith. She is his link to the spiritual and to the best version of himself:
Panfilo: I think I'm some sharp mind. Clever. But I'm not, I'm nothing. I'm nothing without you.
Neifile: My Panfilo, you are as clever as you think. You see with eyes so clear. Trust them. Trust yourself.
Panfilo's arc is about discarding the mask he wears to fit into society and to find his real self:
Andreoli: Whatever you desired before, whoever you were, I'd wager that it doesn't much matter anymore. I've seen 1000 doorsteps, watched high-born women carry children to unmarked graves, peasants sieging whole castles. If the pestilence has shown us anything, it's that we're to choose the parts of ourselves we wish to keep and the parts we wish to throw away.
He must give up his lies and his illusions to face the truth of life:
Panfilo: I lied to her at the end and she could tell. And we had just promised no more lies. And it made her so scared. And she went so scared.
Andreoli: What do you want me to tell ya?
Panfilo: The truth.
Andreoli: Panfilo, it's awful and you will never recover.
Panfilo: This is awful and I'll never recover. Yes. Yes. That's the truth of it.
And in the end, the part of himself Panfilo doesn't want to discard, the truest truth about life turns out to be his love for Neifile.
Neifile and Panfilo start the series loving each other, but also living in lies. They end it by realizing their love for each other is the only truth they need.
PAMPINEA AND MISIA: SUFFOCATING LOVE
Pampinea: Misia, the way you love me... you... you love me no matter what I do. That's the greatest gift I've ever known.
Pampinea and Misia are another example of unconditional love. It is just that theirs is negative. That is not only because it is not mutual, but also because one side takes advantage of the other:
Filomena: Misia! This woman cares only about herself and how you can advance her interests. When you fail in any way, she pretends you have fallen out of her heart. Then she smiles and allows you to, just this once, earn your way back in. And for a while she's gleeful. And you're gleeful because she's gleeful. But she is only gleeful because she knows her system works.
Pampinea is Misia's master and she uses Misia as a weapon to further her interests. Her abuse starts with Pampinea ignoring Misia's grief for her lover Parmena and it culminates in her weaponizing this grief to manipulate Misia into killing a person.
As a result of this constant mistreatment, Misia ends up growing more and more desperate to free herself until this desire turns into a refusal to help Pampinea and an attempt to switch sides. And yet, Pampinea is so rooted in Misia's mind that she falters:
Filomena: She is so deep in your brain. You will never stop loving her, will you?
And finds herself with no other option, but to kill Pampinea to free herself:
Pampinea: I will never let you go as long as I live.
Misia: I've come to know that that's the truest truth.
Misia starts her arc by smuggling her ill girlfriend by using a barrell. She ends it, but putting Pampinea into a barrell and burning her alive. She buries two loves, so that she can start anew.
The choice of fire as the cause of Pampinea's death isn't by chance. As a matter of fact early on Sirisco tries to burn Pampinea by accusing her of witchcraft. This happens after Pampinea accuses Stratilia of the same thing. Well, Sirisco fails, but Misia succeeds, reiterating that Pampinea's final demise is a consequence of the woman's inability to love.
Her bond with Misia is, in fact, a foil to:
Licisca and Filomena's bond
Tindaro and Dioneo's bond
In all three relationships, the servant has to put up with their master's tantrums, until they explode and try to kill them. Still, Licisca and Filomena eventually work things out and start anew. Dioneo and Tindaro do not, as Dioneo dies. However, Tindaro forgives his servant and properly grieves him. They do reconcile in death. Pampinea and Misia never reconcile. Not only that, but Misia is the only servant that successfully kills her master.
That is because Pampinea is loveless:
Ruggiero: All you crave is love. But you've nevet gotten it, and you'll never get it.
She is loveless, not because she can't find love, but because she doesn't give it nor understand it. She is in fact given love multiple times:
Misia is loyal and loves her deeply (platonic love)
Sirisco is attracted to her and falls for her (romantic love)
Still, Pampinea mistreats and pushes both away because she pursues an idealized love that doesn't exist:
Pampinea: Misia! Leonardo is my one true love. He's the only thing that matters to me. I thought you might understand that, since you had to leave that girl behind.
Misia: Her name was Parmena.
Pampinea: Oh, Misia. I understand your pain now. That must indeed be what's clouding your judgement. Now, don't show your face to me until you've found the Misia that I need.
She falls for an imaginary husband, who loves her perfectly. Still, love isn't perfect. It is complicated, contradictory and has claws. You can't experience it, if you do not accept imperfection. You can't experience it, if you yourself do not love selflessly.
TINDARO AND STRATILIA: UNREQUITED LOVE
Tindaro is a foil to Pampinea, in how they are both men-children, who want love, but they are so insufferable they find themselves alone. Specifically, Tindaro is a third son who inherited a fortune after his siblings' death. So, he finds himself surrounded by flatterers he despises. At the same time, he is a hypochondriac buffoon who alienates everyone with his arrogance and stupidity. Still, Tindaro gets called out:
Stratilia: Your life is unfair? You've never wanted for anything excepts the affections of anyone, any person, since spending time with you is exhausting and boring all at once. Being near you is hell. No wonder Dioneo poisoned you.
Licisca: You loved her well, but you loved her wrong.
Both Stratilia and Licisca point out his flaws and he starts improving. This growth shows in his devotion to Stratilia, the character, who manages to heal him both physically and pshychologically:
She is the one who realizes Dioneo has been poisoning him and the one who gives him real medicine for once
She is the one Tindaro falls for and through her love for her he realizes his own privilege and becomes more selfless
Tindaro starts the story as a coward, forever scared for his own health. A loser, who wishes glory, but has no skill nor bravery to gain it. He ends the series by fighting despite a severe wound to protect Stratilia and her son Jacopo. By doing so he becomes the best version of himself.
His ending is in stark contrast with Pampinea's one. He dies as an adult protecting a child. She dies as a child, with Misia singing her a lullabye. The main difference between them, however, is rooted in their different takes on love. Pampinea wants love without loving. Tindaro instead accepts to love without being loved back:
Tindaro: You don't love me. Your love is not required by my love. I know that you have been given little and had much taken away. Is that true? I only ask that you let me give you what I can, what I have. It isn't much now, but do me the honor.
Tindaro's love for Stratilia is one-sided, but his love doesn't really require Stratilia's. It is perfect as it is because it lets Tindaro grow and experience life to its fullest.
FILOMENA AND MISIA: ROMANTIC LOVE
Filomena is another important foil to Pampinea. She is a selfish noble woman, who deep down resents societal rules that force her into an unhappy marriage in exchange for her safety. She is also lonely and craving for love:
Filomena: I meet an eligible noble, he buys me a castle, I'm never alone again.
But she is so self-centered she doesn't notice the love Licisca offers her:
Licisca: Me! You had me! We were friends until our twelfth year, when for some unknown reason, you cut off my hair in the third feast of Michaelmas.
Still, she is able to see and to appreciate the bond she forges with Misia:
Filomena: I have a real friend there. Misia. My one friend that I finally made. My very first friend.
Thanks to this bond, she is able to reflect on her privilege:
Filomena: When the pestilence ends, you can come and live with me in Firenze.
Misia: As your servant?
Filomena: As my... friend. I don't think I wans servants anymore.
And herself:
Filomena: Yes, Misia, yes! I know this (the way Paminea manipulates Misia) because I am this! (Looking at Licisca) Or I was this.
Through her relationship with Misia, Filomena is saved and saves:
She initially wants Pampinea's help to reclaim her identity and gain the love of Ruggiero, a family member. She believes the people she belongs to are the nobles, but she is soon let down. Pampinea ignores her and Ruggiero almost kills her. She is saved only thanks to Misia's plead and Licisca admitting the truth about her identity. Misia is her true friend and Licisca is her true family.
She symbolically helps Misia, another version of Licisca, and saves her from Pampinea, a darkest version of herself.
Despite this progress, Filomena still misses what love is really about:
Filomena: Licisca hates me. You should hate Pampinea. Why don't you hate Pampinea?
She believes Licisca hates her and thinks Misia can escape years of toxic love easily. She has a simplistic vision of how relationships work and is called out by both Misia and Licisca:
Misia: You've spent about a month as a servant and you think you are so changed. Yet, no. You only see one side of a person at a time. No history baked in. Love has more than one dimension. Love has long claws. But I guess that you wouldn't understand anything about that, would you?
Licisca: I'd like to see you love anyone that isn't you.
As a result, she finds herself alone and scared. Loveless. Until Licisca comes and saves her:
Filomena: Licisca, you saved me again.
Licisca: Yeah, you dumb bitch. Love's got long claws.
She repeats Misia's words. Love got long claws and it isn't as easily broken. Immediately after, Misia appears and confirms to Filomena she has finally fred herself. She is choosing Filomena over Pampinea.
Thanks to Misia, Filomena manages to relate to Licisca and works to repair their bond. Thanks to Licisca, Filomena understands Misia better and finally realizes what love is about. As a result, Filomena becomes the only survivor, who gets both familial (Licisca) and romantic (Misia) love. A perfect ending for a character, whose name means "the one who is loved". By the end she is truly beloved.
RUGGIERO: CHAOS AND FREEDOM
Love is the primary theme of the series, whereas classism is its secondary theme. The characters have to free themselves from classism and social rules, if they want to grow. That is why the character of Ruggiero appears. He embodies both chaos and freedom. He is violent and a brute. However, he also brings to light the characters' flaws:
Ruggiero: Oh, what a fascinating little assemblage this is. Liars, impostors, poisoners, flatterers. A gang of miscreants hiding out in my cousin's house in his absence.
Moreover, in his short screentime, he changes everything. He destroys all the barriers, transforms everyone's dynamics and brings both death and freedom. In a sense, he is the perfect embodyment of the pestilence itself. Something that destroys. Something that brings the chance for a new beginning.
Because of him:
Filomena and Licisca reveal their identities and the sisters are forced to work on their bond
Panfilo's family being ruined comes out
Leonardo's death comes to light
Tindaro is laughed at and ends up looking for some comfort in Stratilia, which kickstarts his arc
Neifile is fred from her sexual desires and is finally able to satisfy them
Dioneo dies marking the first casualty among the main characters
Most importantly, Ruggiero conveys this idea:
Ruggiero: My fate is the same as yours, which is the same as Stecchi's and Bruno's, Lorenzo's, all my friends, all my enemies.
He highlights how death can come for anybody, servant or noble alike. So, one should try to live their life to the fullest. The two characters that are challenged the most by this revelation are Pampinea and Panfilo.
Both go to Villa Santa to escape reality:
Pampinea: Let us make a rule, shall we? We are here to eat and drink and move into a bright new future. We shall have no more of this pestilence talk. It does not suit our time here.
Panfilo: We've all suffered great loss at the hands of the pestilence, but that is why we deserve this respite in an idyllic safe heaven. We're on holiday! Remember?
They live in lies. Pampinea finds comfort in her imaginary version of Eduardo, while Panfilo hides his sexuality from Neifile and his economical condition from the other guests. Both are scheming and try to obtain the villa by making use of societal rules. Pampinea stages a fake marriage. Panfilo tries to dethrone her by calling Ruggiero. Except that the world around them is changing. They can't rely on the same philosophy from the past. That is why their rivalry to ingratiate themselves to Ruggiero and claim the villa isn't solved by them offering him money. It is solved through a test.
Ruggiero forces both to face the truth about themselves.
He tells Pampinea point-blank everyone hates her. Not because of her age, nor her body, but because of her personality:
Ruggiero: Look at how everyone in the villa despises you. And I'm sure much was the same in Firenze. Every man that met you saw instantly what a slim-hipped, clenching little shrew you are and ran.
He forces Panfilo to address his problems with Neifile:
Ruggiero: You know I had sex with her, right? Does that not bother you?
After being told the truth, Pampinea spirals. She has the chance to show love for the only person who selflessly cares about her, that is Misia. Initially, she appears to do so, by finally showing empathy for Parmena's death. However, it turns out it is all a scheme to manipulate Misia into killing Ruggiero for her.
When Panfilo is forced to express his true feelings to Neifile, he manages to convey how much he cares for her. This impresses Ruggiero, who accepts to give the couple the villa. After this, Panfilo promises Neifile never to lie again. He fails, but he still learns the importance of truth and makes a step towards who he wants to be.
Pampinea fails to grow and stays attached to her schemes and to material goods. That is why by the end she finds herself alone and forced to eat her own jewels.
Panfilo grows and lets go of material attachmens. That is why by the end he finds comfort in comraderie and dies as a hero.
SIRISCO AND STRATILIA: SOCIAL CLIMBING
After Ruggiero comes to the villa, the equilibrium shatters and new power dynamics have the chance to impose themselves. Among these, there are two attempts of social climbing:
Sirisco chooses to lead a group of peasants to the villa, so that they can all find food and rule the villa together, as a community.
Stratilia decides to claim the ownership of the villa, as her son Jacopo is the only heir of Eduardo. In this way, she wants to give her son a better future.
Both Sirisco and Stratilia start with noble intentions, but they quickly spiral into parodies of the despotic Pampinea.
Sirisco is so focused on his idea to give humble people power, that he fails to notice his comrades do not really want it. All the countrymen want is some food, so that they can survive. They are not interested in noble games, nor into killing Pampinea nor into owning a villa. However, Sirisco keeps ordering them around and becomes just as controlling and obessive as his ex-lover.
Stratilia is tired of being mistreated and wants justice for her and Jacopo. However, things have changed and her authority in the villa amounts to nothing in the face of the mercenaries' violence. So, all she can do is really steal some of Pampinea's clothes and loosely imitate her mannerisms.
The message is clear. By the end of the story any social obligation is hopelessly destroyed. So, all that's left are love-made bonds. Because love ties. Love has long claws.
LICISCA AND PANFILO: LOVE IS A BURDEN
Licisca and Panfilo have parallels and inverted arcs, which are highlighted by comparing the first episode with the last one.
In the first episode, Licisca kills Cardinal Agnolo and tells Panfilo they are all going to die, so she will do as she pleases:
Licisca: You know we're all gonna die, right? I assure you we are, and sooner than you think. So I appreciate your concern, but I'm gonna do what I like in the time I have left.
In the last episode, Panfilo kills Eric in a similar way and tells Licisca she should do as she wants:
Panfilo: You wanna leave this place, right? Free yourself of her. Go be a lady. Or a whore. Or a street clown. Or anybody you want. In the end, love is burden.
Their behaviors are the result of grief:
Filomena: You act with such freedom, detached from earth. Aren't you afraid of death?
Licisca: Ever since Eduardo died, I'm not afraid. I loved him, but as such, was bound to him. And when he was gone, so were the bindings. And now, it's... I feel like I can see... the other side of everything. The stillness and the peace in death. And this side... this is hell. And if I left this side, what would I even be leaving behind?
Licisca: Is this grief?
Panfilo: Either freedom or insanity. Either way, it is something profoundly felt by me. We're about to die. Makes you want to lean your chin in for that final punch.
Licisca: Do you wanna die?
Panfilo: Don't you wanna be free? What's here for you anyway?
Both Licisca and Panfilo have lost their family and feel at the same time free and desperate. They are not binded anymore, but this also means they have no reason to truly live. That is why they help each other find some meaning again.
Panfilo acts as a dark mirror to Licisca. By talking with him, she confronts the part of herself, who wishes to burn everything and die. She realizes that isn't the right path and that she still has family in Filomena. So, she chooses to save her with Panfilo's help:
Licisca: I'm going to save her.
Panfilo: I understand.
Licisca inspires Panfilo to take one final stand, by pointing out what they should all fight for:
Licisca: Besides, you know, each other... what is actually worth fighting for here?
Panfilo has embraced nihilism, but Licisca's words and the view of so many people loving each other and wanting to live lead him to choose his love for Neifile one last time:
Panfilo: Darling... I need your help. I can't seem to die without you.
Both Licisca and Panfilo choose bonds and lover over freedom and nichilism. It is just that Licisca does so by living, whereas Panfilo does so by dying.
PANFILO, THE ONE WHO LOVES ALL
Panfilo's final sacrifice is the conclusion to his and Neifile's arc, his final celebration of his wife and a beautiful exploration of the theme of love in its selfless and purest form. It is the perfect final for the climax and it is prepared since episode one. As a matter of fact the first episode foreshadows the last one. There a small group of criminals guided by a disgraced cardinal invades the villa. Here an army of mercenary led by a corrupted cult assaults the protagonists. There, Cardinal Agnolo brings the pestilence in and is welcomed by fear and eventually killed by Licisca. Here, Neifile's buttered body is used by Panfilo as a weapon to let the others escape.
More importantly, Cardinal Agnolo sets up Neifile's role in the finale:
Cardinal Agnolo: After the horrors I have seen, I now know the truth. God, he has abandoned us. Neifile, you were always such a pure child. A holy child.
Cardinal Agnolo's speech is important for two reasons:
After witnessing the horrors of the pestilence he loses his faith and gives in to violence and criminality. He embodies the idea God has abandoned humanity.
He calls Neifile a holy child.
Well, in the end Neifile is a holy child, in the sense she is symbolic of Christian love. She dies, but through her death she saves the others. As a matter of fact Panfilo uses her body against the members of the fake cult. Neifile's death brings life. Once again, this happens thanks to her and Panfilo's strong bond, which confirms itself as symbolic of God's love for humanity.
Neifile has a crisis of faith like Agnolo and even dies full of doubts and fear. However, she never gives up love and what she can't accomplish alone, Panfilo does for her. She dreams of witnessing a miracle. Well, she eventually becomes the miracle as she is the only reason a bunch of innocents survive. Panfilo's love for her is so strong that not only he chooses to die with her, but he gives her death meaning in a final celebration of her life.
Panfilo himself is able to save everybody else because of his strong feelings for Neifile, which opened his eyes to the truth:
Andreoli: She is dead. And your loss does not make you unique. We have all suffered. I have delivered the message of death a hundred times. And I am, but one handsome messanger.
Panfilo's loss is terrible, but it does not make him unique. He is told so by Andreoli and is shown so when everyone gathers together to grieve Neifile. Panfilo shares his feelings of pain and loss and is met with empathy and understanding. Neifile is the channel through whom everyone can grieve their loved ones. Because everyone suffered and because Neifile herself embodies love. Through this moment Panfilo is shown that everyone is the same, both in death and in life. This is why in the end he chooses to make one final big gesture, so that everyone can survive. In this way, he makes one final act of selfless pure love. Not only towards Neifile, but towards all of humanity. That is why Panfilo's name means "the one who loves all".
AN INVERSED DECAMERON
Boccaccio's Decameron has a group of nobles telling each other short stories in a country villa. Netflix Decameron has that same group of nobles try to escape in a fantasy world and being forced to confront reality. By the end, the nobles all die (with the exception of Filomena) and the story ends with a group of servants telling each other short stories in a cave. Not only that, but each character embodies a different kind of love:
Sirisca and Filomena (sisterhood)
Stratilia and Jacopo (parent and child)
Filomena and Misia (romantic)
Sirisco (community)
These characters start the story having nothing and they end it having freedom and each other. And somehow that is the only thing that matters.
i’m going to EAT misia and pampinea’s fucked up ass relationship. like WOOO the fact misia (SPOILERRRRS) kills pampinea in the barrel. the BARRELLL i can’t the barrel that she hid her lover in the barrel her lover died in, someone who loved her honestly. and pampinea who loved to use her, who couldn’t accept her love as enough, who told misia she would never let her go??? perfectionnnnnnnnnnn of course misia would see it as inevitable, as a kindness even, to put pampinea out of her misery, to place her lovingly in the barrel, no doubt the same way she did for parmena. like!!!!! i’m tearing out my hair!!!!
something something Pampinea eating her dowry instead of giving it to Panfilo and tge others to save them representing how the out of touch and uncaring rich people in power will hoard their money(in her case literally eating her dowry jewels) instead of using it to help anyone who isn't them.
