Who is the hero of Boccaccio’s “The Tale of Fillipa” and how is this hero portrayed? What makes him/her heroic within the context of the story? How does this tale express social realism in Renaissance literature?
Filippa is the hero in Boccaccio’s work. She is candid and spirited as she exposes the double standard and sexism of the law which condemns her lying with another man besides her husband. Filippa, at the hands of the law, was to be “burned alive”—the consequence that women faced in Prato for cheating on their husbands, and she calmly reminds the magistrate that “laws should be equal for all.” Filippa is a hero in this story because she is charged with cheating, and therefore death, but she asserts an argument that even the court cannot deem ludacris, demonstrating her bravery. The story exhibits social realism in the way that it presents a situation many women relate to and understand; Filippa voices the real concern of the female population of Prato: the unfairness of laws. Boccaccio doesn’t feed into the social construct which says women should be meek, mild, and submissive—Filippa represents the everyday woman, rather than the idealistic image of women which was so common in society.…show more content… The Southern Renaissance showed favor for clean lines, created by linear perspective, while the Northern Renaissance was more concerned with the world as it was, naturally—not how it could appear, with perfect symmetry. Masaccio’s Trinity with the Virgin displays the precision and style of Southern Renaissance artists—attention to spatial order and a balanced, symmetrical design. Additionally, Southern Renaissance paintings tended to depict scenes concerned with the upper classes, while the Northern Renaissance took more of an interest in “everyday life.” Bruegel’s The Wedding Dance serves as an example of the Northern Renaissance portrayal of