the victims were Boccaccio's father, step-mother and numerous friends.
             The Plague was an important factor in the Decameron, because in it, Boccaccio presents to us an "alternate society" in which seven ladies and three men escape to the country and enjoy themselves while telling stories (McGailliard 1963). Each person tells a story for ten nights, creating the hundred stories that compose Giovanni Boccaccio's famous work (1963). Unlike Dante - though heavily influenced by him - Boccaccio chose to write his stories for pleasure, as a sort of escape from plague-ravaged Florence (1963).
             Boccaccio's stories are full of devices and themes still used in modern day entertainment. In "The First Story of the First Day," Boccaccio employs the use of irony in his tale of Saint Ciappelletto. The man known as Ser Ciappelletto (a play on the name - it translated roughly to "little stump," probably with an obscene connotation (McGailliard 1963)) was a terrible person during his life. On his death bed, Ciappelletto lies in his confession to a friar, making his life seem wholly virtuous instead of completely wicked as it really was. The friar believes Ciappelletto to be true, so he sings his praises after the man dies which evokes such respect from the people of t
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