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Impoverished Noblewoman
Alibech is the protagonist of Dioneo’s third tale (III, 10), who ultimately ends up married to Neerbal. She is a 14-year-old pagan girl who wonders how to serve God. When a Christian points her towards an ascetic life (practicing severe self-discipline and abstinence) in the desert, she follows her simple-minded adolescent impulse there. Eventually, Rustico takes her under his wing, but when he coerces her into having sex, she discovers how much she enjoys it. She thus illustrates the misogynistic medieval stereotype of women as excessively lustful.
Alibech Quotes in The Decameron
The The Decameron quotes below are all either spoken by Alibech or refer to Alibech. 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 3: Conclusion
Quotes
“Now we shall discover whether the wolf can fare any better at leading the sheep than the sheep have fared in leading the wolves.”
On hearing this, Filostrato laughed and said: “Had you listened to me, the wolves would have taught the sheep by now to put the devil back in Hell, no less skillfully than Rustico taught Alibech. But you have not exactly been behaving like sheep, and therefore you must not describe us as wolves…”
“Allow me to tell you, Filostrato,” replied Neifile, “that if you men had tried to teach us anything of the sort, you might have learned some sense from us, as Masetto did from the nuns, and retrieved the use of your tongues when your bones were rattling from exhaustion.”
On perceiving that the ladies had as many scythes as he had arrows, Filostrato abandoned his jesting and turned to the business of ruling his kingdom.
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Decameron LitChart as a printable PDF.
Alibech Quotes in The Decameron
The The Decameron quotes below are all either spoken by Alibech or refer to Alibech. 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 3: Conclusion
Quotes
“Now we shall discover whether the wolf can fare any better at leading the sheep than the sheep have fared in leading the wolves.”
On hearing this, Filostrato laughed and said: “Had you listened to me, the wolves would have taught the sheep by now to put the devil back in Hell, no less skillfully than Rustico taught Alibech. But you have not exactly been behaving like sheep, and therefore you must not describe us as wolves…”
“Allow me to tell you, Filostrato,” replied Neifile, “that if you men had tried to teach us anything of the sort, you might have learned some sense from us, as Masetto did from the nuns, and retrieved the use of your tongues when your bones were rattling from exhaustion.”
On perceiving that the ladies had as many scythes as he had arrows, Filostrato abandoned his jesting and turned to the business of ruling his kingdom.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
