The Decameron is an influential book written by Italian poet Giovanni Boccaccio in the mid-14^th Century.  He managed to escape the plague in Florence, but the epidemic took the lives of most people in Europe.  It was Boccaccio’s survival that inspired him to write The Decameron: a linguistically surprising, form-breaking piece of literature whose narrative is framed by seven women and three men self-quarantining themselves outside of Florence and charging themselves with telling thematic stories of love each night, sans cleaning days and holy days.  Ten nights x ten stories = 100 stories.  This wonder of literature has influenced writers for centuries, including Chaucer and our own William Shakespeare (his All’s Well That Ends Well is a direct lift). 

Inspired by this creativity, courage, and beauty amid isolation and fear, TSC brings you our own Decameron Project — in which our artists bring you classical pieces, inspirational poetry, short performances from Shakespeare, and brief looks at this day in the history of cultural arts and significant events, all of a theme as outlined by Aristotle’s twelve virtues.  

Check out previous episodes below!