Ghismonda e Beatrice. Il cuore mangiato e l’idea dell’amore tra Boccaccio e la Vita Nuova

Ghismonda e Beatrice. Il cuore mangiato e l’idea dell’amore tra Boccaccio e la Vita Nuova
The traditional folk motif of the “eaten heart”, included in the vida of Guillem de Cabestanh, links the first sonnet of Dante’s Vita Nuova, A ciascun’alma presa e gentil core, to two tales from Decameron Day IV (IV, 9 and IV, 1). A significant new version of the theme occurs in the tale of Tancredi and Ghismonda, an exposition of Boccaccio’s theory of love, that marks a new beginning after the author’s intervention. Starting from an analysis of the vision in Dante’s libello, the essay focuses on the relevance of the novella and shows its intertextual relations with the Vita Nuova.