At the beginning of Boccaccio's Decameron, both male and female narrators are reluctant to discuss the seemingly obscene subject of sexual relations. On the first day, the Florentines discuss various topics, but only one narrator has the courage to introduce sex as a theme: Dioneo. This male narrator quickly reveals himself as the most daring of the Florentines, happy to push the invisible limits that the group has set for themselves in matters of sex. This gives him a particularly important role in the first half of The Decameron since he succeeds in encouraging the other narrators to discuss illegitimate sexual relations. Having achieved his goals as narrator and mediator of discussion, Dioneo becomes less controversial and his stories less distinctive in Days VI, VII, and VIII of the Decameron in favor of a presence outside his stories. Known today as the controversial narrator of The Decameron, it's Dioneo's actions outside of the stories that speak to us most these days. Nevertheless, his role during the first three days of the Decameron is essential in developing the open debate on sex and the more taboo subjects considered obscene on the first day, and in the fascination of the ten Florentines with various sexual illegitimacy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay On day one, Dioneo immediately stands out to the reader by discussing sex with a surprising openness. His story (I.4) presents a monk and an abbot, both guilty of having sexual relations with a young peasant girl. The shock of this story comes first from our knowledge of the supposed holiness of the monk and the abbot. For monks, having sex is a grave sin, as it contradicts their complete devotion to God. The monk recognizes this “heavy punishment that he has incurred”, which Dioneo also describes as a “crime” (40). As holy men, the monk and abbot recognize the implications of their actions towards the young woman, but they seem to completely forget their devotion to God in favor of consistent sexuality. At this point, the narrators have only heard three stories before this one. Dioneo, some of them potentially controversial. The first story, which is about Ser Cepparello's defiance of Christianity, could certainly have offended the narrators. The narrators, however, find Dioneo's story more controversial than any previously heard because of its open discussion not only of sex, but also of forbidden sex. The three stories told before Dioneo's received nothing but praise and laughter. Dioneo's story also provokes laughter, but in addition another reaction: it "at first caused some embarrassment to the ladies, judging by the modest blushes that appeared on their cheeks" (42). The fact that the ladies' first reaction was embarrassment shows the shock this story caused them. We feel that sex is a sensitive subject for the women of the Decameron, which is confirmed by the main narrator by saying that "we had reprimanded him with a few gentle words, to make it clear that such stories should not be told when the ladies were present” (42). After reading this, one might expect the sex stories to stop altogether, but the effect is quite the opposite: sex becomes a subject of increasing interest for the narrators. By choosing to discuss illegitimate sex from day one, Dioneo opened a vast new theme for Florentines: a theme that perhaps surpasses all others. We can already say that it will play a major role either by initiating new discussions,or by discussing others. In the conclusion of Day I, Dioneo establishes himself as an essential character and storyteller when he asks to speak freely on the subject he chooses, and to speak last each day. He boldly defends this request to speak last by saying "so that no one thinks that I am asking for this favor because I don't have many stories to tell, I am now content to always be the last to speak" (57).Dioneo is proud of his storytelling and can't wait to prove it to others. He asks to tell his stories last to prove his skills as a storyteller. The Queen honors his request, “well aware that he only asked this favor to entertain society with some amusing story, should they tire of the common theme” (57). However, by granting this right to Dioneo, she is essentially giving him a position of power that no one else, not even the king or queen of the time, can occupy. Only Dioneo has complete freedom to discuss whatever he wants, and he quickly takes advantage of this right. Interestingly, the Queen thinks her request is simply to tell fun and funny stories. While Dioneo certainly does that, he also has his own agenda: using his freedom to present stories that challenge the boundaries the group seemed to have set. Dioneo's openness toward sexuality on the first day encourages some narrators to do the same on the second day, but the majority of female narrators still refrain from talking about sexual encounters. Marilyn Migiel also recognizes this in her essay "Beyond Seduction: A Reading of the Tale of Alibech and Rustico (Decameron III, 10)", in which she says: "on the second day, it is the three male narrators and Pampinea (never to be outdone by one of her male companions) who recounts sexual encounters” (161). Only the other two men and Pampinea, the oldest and most self-confident woman, feel bold enough to follow Dioneo's example. Filostrato begins with his scandalous story of Rinaldo of Asti (II.2), who has sex with an unknown woman already engaged to someone else. Pampinea, after listening to Filostrato's story, speaks of young Alessandro (II.3), who, unknowingly, has sexual relations with the daughter of the King of England and then marries her. Panfilo talks about Alatiel who hides his sexuality from his father and marries the king of the Algarve (II.7). Thinking back to the aftermath of Dioneo's first story on the first day, we remember that he was only scolded by the ladies. There is no mention of men, and so we see the men (and Pampinea, who questioned female gender roles from the start) siding with Dioneo. They tackle a subject that ladies consider taboo. Most women stick to their day one beliefs about day two sexuality by refraining from discussing it. They tell funny stories that entertain the narrators, such as the first story of the day, and many encouraging stories that follow the theme of overcoming misfortunes, but do not talk about sexuality. Nevertheless, the sexual stories that appear on Day II show that Dioneo has begun to break down the foundations of modesty and what Florentines consider appropriate to discuss. Alibech and Rustico's story on Day III is the pinnacle of Dioneo's importance as a narrator within the Decameron. By the third day, sex has become a common topic for the narrators, and almost all of them, both men and women, discuss it. The so-called modesty of the women of the First Day has disappeared; there is no longer a rebuke for stories of illegitimate sexual relations, and narrators constantly laugh in response to these stories. Migiel agrees,stating that “by the third day, when the group settled in a pretty walled garden, the desire to tell stories about sex – but especially about illicit sex – had spread like the plague” (161). Nevertheless, Dioneo always seeks to push the boundaries of their discussions, and he does so in his tale of Alibech and Rustico, which is perhaps the most controversial story to date in the Decameron. It overshadows all other Day III stories in its blatant sexuality. The explicit metaphor of sending the Devil to hell as a symbol of sexual genitalia, as well as the subtle implications of rape and pedophilia, take the notion of sexual fantasy and illegitimacy to a new extreme. It is not surprising that Dioneo told this story, considering his position as the most daring narrator. Yet why did Dioneo decide to go so far into his sexual history? It almost seems like at this point it's a competition: who can create the most scandalous story? After the majority of stories are about illicit sex on Day III, only Dioneo remains, and since he is the one who started these sex stories, he must go further to show his leadership on the matter. As a result, the story of Alibech and Rustico turns out to be extremely obscene and unethical, and we still consider Dioneo the most daring and controversial narrator. After the third day, however, Dioneo's role as storyteller becomes progressively less important than that of the others. start telling more controversial stories for him. On the fourth day, Dioneo tells the story of a doctor's wife and her lover. Following his previous pattern, he should have spoken openly about their sexual encounter, but Dioneo barely talks about it. He only says that they "had a lot of fun" (290), which is mentioned so quickly that we easily miss it (as I did the first time, thinking that he completely abstains from any sexual discussion). The subtlety of this sexual encounter is surprising, particularly because Dioneo previously spoke at length about sex. The sexual subtlety of Day IV shows a new Dioneo: a narrator who will perhaps not always speak openly and controversially about sexuality, which foreshadows his position as a figure outside the framework of the tale more than as a storyteller in Days VI , VII and VIII. He's already pushed the group to talk as freely as he does when it comes to sex, so even though he continues his previous themes of illegitimate sex in his Day V story, we see from Day IV that Dioneo begins to refrain. On Day V, Dioneo reminds us of his previous role in the Decameron when the Queen asks him to sing a song in the Conclusion. The other narrators, when asked, would simply start singing without question. Dioneo, however, presents quite a challenge to the Queen (Fiammetta) when he refuses to take her seriously and chooses to make a joke out of the question. He only offers the queen crude songs, to which she initially responds with laughter, but then becomes more and more annoyed. Dioneo suggests songs such as "'Monna Aldruda, come, raise your tail, the news I bring you will please you to no end'" (361), a blatantly obscene song. It also offers many other songs of the same nature. In this section of The Decameron, we see Dioneo as we remember him from the first three days: the one unafraid to push the boundaries when it comes to women's sexual modesty. We also see that Dioneo likes the attention he receives, because the ladies' laughter only encourages him to continue offering his saucy songs. However, he ends up singing a song 2013.