Federigo's Sacrifice

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In Federigo’s Falcon and the The Wife of Bath, the authors Boccaccio and Chaucer examine love through the characters’ actions, sacrifice, and nobleness. In Federigo’s Falcon, Federigo was deeply in love with Mona Giovanni, the most beautiful woman in Florence, and tries to win her heart. He begins “spending far more money than he could afford” (161) on banquets and gifts, but Mona does not notice the things Federigo does in her honor. Consequently, Federigo loses all his wealth, being left with only his beloved falcon. Federigo’s actions were an act of love, while the actions of the knight in The Wife of Bath are for his own needs. One day, the knight came riding from the lake and saw a maiden, “spite of all she said, by very force he took her maidenhead” (139). Because the knight committed an act violence, the Queen ordered him to seek out what women want the most. If the knight was unable to return with a response, he would lose his head. The actions of both Federigo and the knight had consequences; Federigo lost all his fortune, while the …show more content…
In The Wife of Bath when Mona has to remarry, she recalls Federigo’s nobleness and generosity and decides he is the only man she will accept to marry. Federigo’s nobleness pays off at the end, because he was “finding himself married to this great lady whom he was so deeply in love...lived with her in happiness to the end of his life” (165). Similar in The Wife of Bath, the knight finally shows humbleness when his wife asks him if he wants an old, humble wife or a young, pretty wife. The knight lets his wife make the choice herself and whichever pleases her will suffice. Because the knight shows respect for his wife, the old woman becomes a beautiful, faithful wife. The knight delightedly hugs and kisses his wife, and “they lived after to the end in perfect bliss” (150). Both Federigo and the knight find happiness at the end because they show
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Boccaccio’s “Federigo’s Falcon” illustrate sacrifice as acts as both selfishness and selflessness. Boccaccio depicts selfishness in a way to make the act obvious to the reader. Chaucer depicts sacrifice as an unwilling act for selfish people. This is shown through a Knight taking advantage of a virgin maiden, his power and title result into selfish actions. Sacrifice only helps the people receiving the action. In Chaucer’s story a “lusty liver”(Chaucer 139) Knight is forced to sacrifice his power in…

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