Previous
Saladin
The Young Monk appears in Dioneo’s first tale (I, 4). He lives in a Tuscan monastery under the leadership of the Tuscan Abbot. When he encounters the Country Girl, he succumbs to his lust, both demonstrating the overwhelming power desire has over people and becoming the first of many examples of clerical hypocrisy around sexual abstinence. He also demonstrates devious cleverness when he tempts his Abbot into committing the same sin.
Young Monk Quotes in The Decameron
The The Decameron quotes below are all either spoken by Young Monk or refer to Young Monk. 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 1: Fourth Tale
Quotes
One day, about noon, when all the other monks were asleep, he chanced to be taking a solitary stroll round the walls of the monastery, which lay in a very lonely spot, when his eyes came to rest on a strikingly beautiful girl, perhaps some local farmhand’s daughter, who was going about the fields collecting wild herbs. No sooner did he see her than he was fiercely assaulted by carnal desire.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
The girl, who was not exactly made of iron or of flint, fell in very readily with the Abbot’s wishes. He took her in his arms and kissed her a few times, then lowered himself on to the monk’s little bed. But out of regard, perhaps, for the weight of his reverend person and the tender age of the girl, and not wishing to do her any injury, he settled down beneath her instead of lying on top, and in this way he sported with her at considerable length.
Get the entire The Decameron LitChart as a printable PDF.
Young Monk Quotes in The Decameron
The The Decameron quotes below are all either spoken by Young Monk or refer to Young Monk. 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 1: Fourth Tale
Quotes
One day, about noon, when all the other monks were asleep, he chanced to be taking a solitary stroll round the walls of the monastery, which lay in a very lonely spot, when his eyes came to rest on a strikingly beautiful girl, perhaps some local farmhand’s daughter, who was going about the fields collecting wild herbs. No sooner did he see her than he was fiercely assaulted by carnal desire.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
The girl, who was not exactly made of iron or of flint, fell in very readily with the Abbot’s wishes. He took her in his arms and kissed her a few times, then lowered himself on to the monk’s little bed. But out of regard, perhaps, for the weight of his reverend person and the tender age of the girl, and not wishing to do her any injury, he settled down beneath her instead of lying on top, and in this way he sported with her at considerable length.
