Product Description

In the early 1500s five men and five women find themselves trapped by floods and compelled to take refuge in an abbey high in the Pyrenees. When told they must wait days for a bridge to be repaired, they are inspired – by recalling Boccaccio’s Decameron – to pass the time in a cultured manner by each telling a story every day. The stories, however, soon degenerate into a verbal battle between the sexes, as the characters weave tales of corrupt friars, adulterous noblemen and deceitful wives. From the cynical Saffredent to the young idealist Dagoucin or the moderate Parlamente – believed to express De Navarre’s own views – The Heptameron provides a fascinating insight into the minds and passions of the nobility of sixteenth century France.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #326764 in Books
• Published on: 2004-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

About the Author
Paul A. Chilton is Senior Lecturer at the University of Warwick. He is the author of books and articles on French Renaissance literature and on language, society and politics. Paul A. Chilton is Senior Lecturer at the University of Warwick. He is the author of books and articles on French Renaissance literature and on language, society and politics. Paul A. Chilton is Senior Lecturer at the University of Warwick. He is the author of books and articles on French Renaissance literature and on language, society and politics.

Customer Reviews

Witty and fascinating insight into C16th French 'love'
Marguerite de Navarre was the sister of Francis I of France and so was the grandmother of Henri de Navarre, and the great-aunt of Marguerite, better known as 'la reine Margot' from the Dumas novel and far more fabulous film.

Although her authorship is disputed, the Heptameron is usually attributed to her, and first appeared in print in the mid-1500s. Inspired by Boccaccio's Decameron (The Decameron (Penguin Classics)) this uses a similar framework of a group of noble French men and women trapped and taking refuge in a flood: in order to amuse themselves, they take it in turns to tell a series of stories each day on a set theme.

Bawdy, erotic, sweet, witty and funny, these tales chart a verbal battle of the sexes, and the story-tellers reveal and conceal their own erotic fears and fantasies. Slightly reminiscent, also, of Chaucer, the stories are full of tricky wives, adulterous husbands, corrupt churchmen and nobels either getting away with it, or their come-uppance, depending on the ideology of the teller.

And it is this fascinating relationship between the story-teller and the story they tell, as well as the gradually-revealed tensions within the group itself that lift this beyond the purely entertaining (not that there's anything wrong with the pure ability to entertain).

Whether this was really written by a woman, or merely collected by her with just some of her own writings included, this throws a fascinating light on C16th French debates about the nature of gender, and particularly the politics of the erotic. It's also just a fascinating, fun and sometimes very moving read. Very highly recommended.