Hircan, her polar opposite in almost every possible way and one of the most outspoken and often misogynist characters, recommends reading Scriptures in the morning but engaging in amorous physical activity in the afternoon.īut Parlamente finds a way to compromise between the two extremes. Oisille, the group’s spiritual guide, suggests that there is only one true pastime worthy of enjoyment: the reading of Scriptures.

The tone of the Prologue rediscovers a sense of calm once they are all settled together, but when the frame characters realize that they are stranded until the bridge across the swollen river Gave is rebuilt, they gather together to find a way to pass the time (much like Boccaccio’s brigata of storytellers in the Decameron, who are waiting out the outbreak of Plague). Thus, beginning with the second paragraph of the Prologue, readers are plunged into chaos, violence, and despair, which is resolved only when they find their way to Sarrance. And Simontaut narrowly survives a dangerous river crossing, though readers might not be impressed by his decision to “ his servants round him to break the force of the current” (none of them survive). Geburon, a member of Hircan’s party, also narrowly escapes an attack by outlaws. Nomerfide and Ennasuite join this group after escaping an attack by wild bears. The former two intervene and manage to save the ladies and one of the husbands ( Parlamente, Longarine-now a widow, and Hircan). Dagoucin and Saffredent watch as a group of outlaws attacks two young couples. Oisille, “a widow, with much experience of life,” takes the long footpath over the mountains, a path so treacherous that most of her servants and horses do not survive.

The travelers do not all arrive at the same time or via the same route. Introduction to the PrologueĪfter a massive flood of biblical proportion, a small group of travelers originally hoping to be healed in the spa waters of Cauterets finds refuge at the Abbey of Our Lady at Sarrance in southwestern France. She is considered to be one of the most important writers of the Renaissance. In addition to the Heptameron, which was unfinished at her death and was published posthumously in 1558 for the first time, she also wrote poetry and theatre. Though she remained Catholic throughout her lifetime, she was a strong supporter of the Reformers at Meaux and was critical of corruption in the Catholic Church-a viewpoint that readers find repeated in the novellas and the frame narrative of the Heptameron. Marguerite de Navarre (1492-1549) was the sister of French king François I, and she played a tremendously important role in French culture and politics, often serving as diplomat, ambassador, interlocutor, and advocate for her brother and his court.

The heptameron marguerite de navarre