Previous
Worthy Priest
In Panfilo’s eighth tale (VIII, 2), Monna Belcolore is the wife of Bentivegna del Mazzo and the object of the Worthy Priest’s affections because she seductively drives the men wild when she plays the tambourine, sings, and dances. She’s also said to be the best grinder in the village (suggesting that she sleeps around). However, trading sex for material gain as she does with the Worthy Priest is censured in The Decameron, and she falls victim to his tricks both because she is greedy and because she hasn’t learned Panfilo’s moral that all priests are untrustworthy.
Belcolore Quotes in The Decameron
The The Decameron quotes below are all either spoken by Belcolore or refer to Belcolore. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Day 8: Second Tale
Quotes
Her name was Monna Belcolore, she was married to a farmworker called Bentivegna del Mazzo, and without a doubt she was a vigorous and seductive-looking wench, buxom and brown as a berry, who seemed better versed in the grinder’s art than any other girl in the village. When […] she had occasion to play the tambourine, and sing […] and dance a reel or a jig […] she could knock the spots off every single one of her neighbors. Master Priest was so enthralled by all these talents of hers that he was driven to distraction […] Whenever he caught sight of her in church on a Sunday morning, he would intone a Kyrie and a Sanctus, trying very hard to sound like a master cantor when in fact he was braying like an ass, whereas if she was nowhere to be seen he would hardly open his lips.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“How much is it worth?” said the priest. “Why, I’ll have you know that it’s made of pure Douai, not to say Trouai, and there are those in the parish who would claim that it’s Quadrouai. I bought it less than a fortnight ago from Lotto, the old-clothes merchant, for exactly seven pounds, and according to Buglietto d’Alberto, who as you know is an expert in such matters, it would have been cheap at half the price.”
“Is that so?” said Belcolore, “So help me God, I would never have believed it. But anyway, let’s have a look.”
Get the entire The Decameron LitChart as a printable PDF.
Belcolore Quotes in The Decameron
The The Decameron quotes below are all either spoken by Belcolore or refer to Belcolore. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Day 8: Second Tale
Quotes
Her name was Monna Belcolore, she was married to a farmworker called Bentivegna del Mazzo, and without a doubt she was a vigorous and seductive-looking wench, buxom and brown as a berry, who seemed better versed in the grinder’s art than any other girl in the village. When […] she had occasion to play the tambourine, and sing […] and dance a reel or a jig […] she could knock the spots off every single one of her neighbors. Master Priest was so enthralled by all these talents of hers that he was driven to distraction […] Whenever he caught sight of her in church on a Sunday morning, he would intone a Kyrie and a Sanctus, trying very hard to sound like a master cantor when in fact he was braying like an ass, whereas if she was nowhere to be seen he would hardly open his lips.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“How much is it worth?” said the priest. “Why, I’ll have you know that it’s made of pure Douai, not to say Trouai, and there are those in the parish who would claim that it’s Quadrouai. I bought it less than a fortnight ago from Lotto, the old-clothes merchant, for exactly seven pounds, and according to Buglietto d’Alberto, who as you know is an expert in such matters, it would have been cheap at half the price.”
“Is that so?” said Belcolore, “So help me God, I would never have believed it. But anyway, let’s have a look.”
