Page 156 - THE DECAMERON: 100 Days on 100 Etchings by Petru Rusu
P. 156

“Madonna Isabella“



              Madonna Isabella is of course a beautiful noblewoman                        Isabella’s husband. Isabella then tells her husband a

              who’s married to a pretty great rich guy. But she gets                      whopper of a story, loudly enough so that Leonetto can
              tired of all that and decides to fall in love with Leonetto,                hear and act accordingly. She explains that a young
              a young man of inferior social standing. On the other side                  man came rushing into the house with Lambertuccio
              of things, an influential gentleman called Lambertuccio                     breathing fire at his heels. The young man begged her to
              has got it bad for Isabella. She thinks he’s just annoying.                 save him and so she hid him somewhere in her chamber.

              When Lambertuccio realizes that Isabella won’t have him,                    Isabella’s husband praises her for doing the right thing;
              he threatens to make her life difficult. So Isabella gives                  it wouldn’t have been nice to have someone murdered in
              in and does whatever Lambertuccio asks of her. When                         their own house. Her husband coaxes Leonetto out of his

              the summer comes, Isabella heads out to her country                         hiding place and asks what happened between himself
              villa and invites Leonetto to visit her while her husband’s                 and Lambertuccio. Taking his example from his lover,
              away. Lambertuccio invites himself as well. Isabella hides                  Leonetto explains that he’d never met Lambertuccio
              Leonetto behind her bed and begs him to stay quiet until                    in his life, but that the man began chasing him with a
              she can smuggle him out. Then she lets Lambertuccio                         drawn dagger for no reason. Isabella’s husband, being

              in.  Her husband comes home. But Isabella’s a quick                         a man of honor, escorts Leonetto all the way back to
              thinker and she tells Lambertuccio to run downstairs with                   his own house, just to be sure he’s safe. And Leonetto,
              his dagger drawn, screaming, “I’ll catch you yet!” Then,                    on instruction from Isabella, tells Lambertuccio what

              he’s to leap into his saddle and ride away immediately.                     happened, so that Isabella’s husband never did find out
              Lambertuccio does this, much to the amazement of                            the truth about that night.


























                                                                                                                                  “Madonna Isabella” retrieved from publicly source: shmoop
     DECAMERON      156                                                                                    <https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/decameron/summary/seventh-day-sixth-story>
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