Who tells the stories in the Decameron?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Giovanni Boccaccio Italian poet and scholar Giovanni Boccaccio, detail of a fresco by Andrea del Castagno; in the Cenacolo di Sant'Apollonia, Florence.

The stories in the Decameron are told by a group of 10 young people—seven women and three men—who flee plague-stricken Florence to a villa in the countryside to escape the epidemic.12

Within this frame story, the group spends a fortnight in the villa. Over the course of 10 days, each member of the party takes a turn acting as the "king" or "queen" of the day, directing the group's activities and setting the themes for the storytelling. Each of the 10 participants tells one story per day, resulting in a total of 100 tales.12