Boccaccio tells that story of Griselda, a story that we learn from Petrarch’s letter to him, is one that is well known in Italy at the time. I think this story is just wrong. Any man who would let a woman think that he had killed her children and then was going to put her aside for another wife is just plain wrong. And the idea that Griselda just goes along with it is terrible. Griselda needs to grow a backbone and tell her husband to shove it where the sun don’t shine. I know it makes a good story but the reality is that no one is that gracious and humble and obedient.
Original post by kathryn