Heptameron

“And so it was, one might say, that together they enacted a Vengeance, having found the Passion too much to bear.” 

Here the Queen and the gentleman, whose spouses have been cheating on them together, find common ground both in their desire for vengeance, but it is the natural result of their true passion for one another. The quote also alludes to a medieval mystery play that depicted the punishment of Christ’s slayers. 

“For passion leaves no room for reason. And if it is that the passion of love is the most difficult to bear of all, if it is—as indeed it is—the passion that most completely blinds the senses, then what sin can you impute to a man who merely lets himself be swept along by an insuperable force?”

Amador’s justification for attempting to initiate sex with Florida evokes the battle between passion and reason. Love obscures all reason in men, and men are blameless for their actions when thus blinded by love. The danger of love is to let oneself be “swept along,” as Amador has done, and risk one’s honor and social status, along with the goodwill of the lady.

“Then all the credit goes to the ladies, because they put on such haughty expressions and adopt such refined ways of speaking, that people who see nothing but their external appearance go in awe of them, and feel obliged to admire and love them. However, in private it is quite another matter. Then Love is the only judge of the way we behave, and we soon find out that they are just women, and we are just men. The title ‘lady’ is soon exchanged for ‘mistress,’ and her ‘devoted servant’ soon becomes her ‘lover.’ Hence the well-known proverb: ‘loyal service makes the servant master.’” 

Saffredent levels his frank critique at women who pretend to be virtuous and respectable in public, but who then engage in the same base behavior they repudiate when in private. He questions the hypocrisy of women who take on superior airs and adopt a moral code that contradicts what is natural to all people. The proverb he uses addresses the paradox of these stringent social expectations: Women end up perpetuating the very systems that entrap them. 

“On the one hand he was aware of the strength of the obligations he owed to his master for all the honors and material benefits he had received from him. On the other hand, there was the honor of his family name, the chastity of his sister.” 

In this moment, the gentleman of the story is faced with an impossible choice that is ultimately critiqued on both sides by the storytellers. As a servant, he is beholden to his master by a bond of loyalty, social obligation, and material security. As a brother, he must also protect his sister and family honor. However, were the Duke behaving honorably, he would not have put his servant in such a position—to choose between two important loyalties—and his punishment reflects his depravity. 

“The law never caught up with anyone, be he adulterer, thief or murderer, nor did anybody in the slightest blame him, provided his cleverness matched his crime. However, it very often happens that people are so steeped in vice that they are totally blind, and become utterly stupid. As I’ve already said, it’s only stupid people who get punished, not those who do no wrong.” 

Reflecting a common theme running through the book is the idea that the crime itself is of less importance than whether one is revealed publicly for one’s crimes. Here, Saffredent emphasizes the practical importance of keeping the private life private and shielded from social scrutiny, apart from any judgment that might come in the afterlife. 

“Moreover, she now knew that what people said about the French was not true. Frenchmen were evidently not only cleverer, and more persistent than the Italians, but also more discreet. So she would have nothing more to do with what her fellow-Italians thought. She would stick to Bonnivet.” 

Here the lady, who has been seduced by a Frenchman, realizes that the stories told in social circles are not necessarily true. She frees herself of the commonly accepted idea and quickly switches alliances to a new love interest. The moment likewise “defines” the French as clever, persistent, and discreet, three qualities that underline the success of paramours in courtly settings. 

“But the senses, by means of which the soul is able to have intelligence of its Sovereign Good, are dim and carnal because of the sins of our forefather Adam and consequently can reveal to the soul only those things which are visible and have some nearer approximation to perfection.” 

The quote engages with Plato’s philosophy, particularly the parable of the cave, in which humans are limited by their human bodies and cannot perceive all there is to the spiritual world. The philosophy is modified here for Christian theology but communicates the same principal to the group: The soul will never be content with earthly things and will forever seek divine beauty, grace, and virtue. 

“Everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” 

Taken from Luke 14:11 in the New Testament, the quote expresses the inevitable fall from honor that pride precipitates in many stories involving corrupt clergy, ironically teaching a lesson in humility to those who are ostensibly experts in Scripture. 

“She had learnt from the Franciscans nothing but confidence in good works, satisfaction for sins through austerity of life, fasting and chastisement. She had remained ignorant of the grace given by our good God through the merit of His Son, ignorant of the remission of sins by His blood, ignorant of the reconciliation of the Father with us by His death and ignorant of the life given to sinners through His goodness and mercy.” 

The grave danger of the incomplete teachings of Franciscan theology, which leave out salvation through Christ’s crucifixion, lead to the lady’s suicide, as she believes there is no way to amend for her (unwilling) infidelity. The critique here dovetails with contemporary Reformation thinkers such as Martin Luther, who emphasized faith and belief in salvation over a Roman Catholic tradition that emphasized austerity, penitence, and good works for forgiveness. 

“Love from on high through Time I came to know, / And other Love seemed poorer then to grow. / Through Time I bowed to Love’s supremacy, / And Time from lesser Love defended me.” 

The key to Elisor’s transformation from devoted servant to the Queen to devoted servant of God is expressed in the language of verse through the personification of Love and Time. In his exile from the Queen, who sought to test him with time apart, Elisor is instead saved by Time, allowing the more perfect Love of God to intercede and replace the lesser, noble love between man and woman.

“His majesty Love delights in constantly working miracles—strengthening the weak, weakening the strong, making the ignorant wise, depriving the most learned of their wisdom, encouraging the passions and destroying reason. Turning things upside down is what the god of Love enjoys.” 

Love is an elusive topic of debate for the storytellers, in part because it is capable of completely disrupting social order from the high to the low. Here “Love” personified is the mischievous, Cupid-like force that is unpredictable and all-consuming, the “god of Love” that can undo even the most powerful princes. 

“‘I assure you,’ said Geburon, ‘that I’ve often seen things like that happen—people you’d have thought village idiots making fools of people who think they’re clever. For there’s nothing more foolish than a man who thinks he’s clever, and nothing more wise than the man who knows that he is nothing.’” 

This quote offers a reminder that one cannot assume anything from appearances; a fun-loving merchant might put on a mask of stupidity to manipulate a situation to his benefit. Likewise, to operate from a place of humility gives one a better strategic position. The reader is reminded that position and power are not always equal matches for wit and cunning. 

“She thought that it is opportunity that leads to sin, and did not realize that it is the reverse: sin manufactures opportunity.” 

The tale of incest between mother and son serves as a warning for those who might remove themselves from society to avoid situations that lead to sin. According to Hircan, it is human nature to sin, and we will create our own opportunities. His proof: Her extreme withdrawal from society and potential suitors instead create such pent-up desire that it leads to a cascade of incestuous relationships within the same family. 

“[…] as your poor wife’s remorse is so deep, it is my belief that you should show some compassion towards her. Moreover, you are young and you have no children. It would be a great shame to let so fine a house as yours slip from your hands and permit it to be inherited by people who may be far from being your friends.” 

The argument Bernage makes on behalf of the lady speaks to the real purpose of marriage in the 16th century, beyond any expectation of “noble” love—to maintain a patrilineal line and sustain the family legacy. With the paramour murdered, the legitimacy of the family line is once again secured. The gentleman indeed forgives his wife and produces heirs with her, and the emotional, self-indulgent, and cruel punishment of his wife ends in favor of a more rational, practical purpose for the union. 

“Then the girl, who was aged [sixteen], swore the following oath: ‘I take the body of Our Lord present here, before you, Messieurs, and before you my brother, to my damnation, if ever a man touched me any more than you.” 

The pregnant girl’s oath is technically true and serves as an example of the cunning use of rhetoric to trick the listener. It is formulated to play off the listener’s assumption that a brother and sister would not have sex, given how taboo incest is in most communities, not to mention their vocation in the church. The oath works to convince most listeners, except the Count, who pays close attention to the phrasing and deduces the truth. 

“I’ve always heard it said that when virtue resides in a weak and frail person, when it is assailed by some strong and all-powerful antagonist, it is then that virtue is most to be praised, and then that it shows itself as it truly is. If strength can defend itself against strength, that is not surprising, but if the weak defeats the strong, then the weak is extolled by the whole world.” 

This defense is commonly used throughout The Heptameron to extol the virtues of women who resist the attractions of men, as it was commonly viewed that women are the weaker sex. In this case, it precedes the story of a woman of low-birth who resists the advances of a prince, making her resistance all the more praiseworthy for the imbalance of power inherent to the tale. 

“Not only are you jealous of your own wife and of me, but you want to cover your feelings up in order that your disease lasts so long that it is eventually transformed entirely into hatred.” 

The transparency between friends is of the utmost importance here, and secrecy undermines the intimacy they had. The gentleman expresses that he does not blame his friend so much for his irrational jealousy as for the fact that he hides these feelings, allowing his anger to fester and his distrust to augment. As such, the husband’s dishonesty in friendship is what ultimately destroys their bond.

“No, being a woman who preferred her pleasure to all the honor in the world, she did not become angry or change her behavior in any way. The men were so abashed at this that the shame they had desired to bring down on her fell upon them and remained in their hearts.”

“It is life for them, because it’s no small distinction in their eyes to be regarded as more cunning than their sisters. And the reputation of being ‘cunning’ which they earn themselves at men’s expense will more readily attract men into obedient servitude than will their physical beauty. For to conduct their liaison with cunning is one of the greatest pleasures lovers can have.” 

Here women’s cunning is seen as a matter of competition and amusement, heightening the erotic attraction between men and women and augmenting a woman’s attractiveness. As elsewhere in The Heptameron, the illicit love affair is defined by the ability to manage it outside of the public eye, thereby maintaining one’s good public reputation and honor while being able to enjoy oneself despite (or because of) the risk.

“‘I always think it is great folly for husbands to pry too much into what their wives do, and equally great folly for wives to pry into what their husbands do,’ said Nomerfide. ‘Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, without taking so much care for the morrow.’” 

Nomerfide argues that some amount of privacy between husbands and wives is necessary for them to live in harmony and that too much curiosity, or too much of a need to control the partner, will create bigger problems than what already exist. She quotes the Gospel of Matthew here, underscoring that if one looks for trouble in one’s marriage, one will likely find it or create it oneself. 

“And anyone who did not know how the fire of Hell warms those who are filled with it, would marvel at how this poor woman, who had just jumped out of a nice warm bed, could remain for a whole day in such extreme cold.” 

The passage gives a humorous example of how love drives women and men to both physical and emotional extremes, as the woman lays hiding among the reeds in a swamp. Instead of feeling repentant for abandoning her husband, the woman is instead sustained by her desire, and the swamp serves as a metaphor for her sin (dirty, cold, and wet), while the bed represents the proper life she is fleeing (warm, comfortable, and safe). 

“If everyone recognized their own stupidity, they would not be thought so saintly, nor would their miracles be taken for the truth. Henceforth then, Ladies, take care which saints you offer your candles to.” 

The conclusion of the story warns women (and all readers) that one must be continually on guard against corruption and those who seek to abuse one’s generosity. The danger here is not necessarily the con artist, however; it is that one might have too much faith in oneself, and that pride will get in the way of recognizing liars and thieves, who will find a weakness in gullibility. 

“The fire of love cannot for long be hidden before it is recognized by those who have suffered the same disease.” 

Much is being said about the nature of love here. First, it is a sort of disease, something to suffer rather than enjoy, over which there is no control. Second, love is an undeniable, unique experience that “sufferers” will recognize in one another—it is his alibi and a means of forming a bond with the Duke. And finally, it foreshadows that ultimately, the young man’s secret love for the Lady of Vergy will be revealed.