Allegory of an affair
In the text, a story is told of a king who had an affair with the wife of a certain gentleman. The gentleman, in retaliation, had an affair with the queen and had it well from the king. One time, the king went to visit the gentleman and found some horns on the wall of the house. When the king asked about their significance, the gentleman replied by saying that, ‘As far as the horns are concerned, you should be aware that they do not always stick up and push the wearer’s hat off. Sometimes they are so soft that you can wear a hat on top of them without being troubled by them and without knowing they are there at all.’ His words are allegorical because the horns are the affair that the gentleman has with the queen and the king has no idea that his wife was having an affair.
Allegory of a trap door
A gentleman invited a princess into his home. He decorated her room with tapestries and hid a trap door that connected his room to hers. In the middle of the night, he used the rap door and went to her room where he attempted to rape her. This is allegorical to the fact that the gentleman had built a good reputation for himself just as he had decorated and furnished the princesses’ room. He had hidden his true intentions which were to rape her just as he had concealed the trap door with tapestries.
Allegory of Love
One story teller in the narrative describes love as, ‘Never forget that love is blind … descends on its victims at the very moment when they are treading on a path they think is safe, but which in reality is treacherous and slippery. ‘The path is allegorical for love. The allegory points out that most people while they are falling in love are blinded by it such as they perceive a person with bad mannerisms to be perfect and end up to regret later.
Monarchy as a symbol of authority
Various stories that are told show monarchy as a symbol of authority. The main forms of government are kingdoms and duchies. In the stories, the nobles are the ones that direct how things should be done and every subject must follow the laws laid out by their kings, queens, dukes and duchesses. Failure to follow the rules laid out resulted in harsh punishment whereas following of rules was rewarded.
Motif of stories
The Heptameron is characterized by stories that narrators tell about human relationships. These stories include The Story of Saint Aignan and his Adulterous Wife, The Mule Driver, The Story of Florida and Amador and The Story of the King of Naples. These stories are told to teach the characters about negative effects of adultery and other negative actions in a marriage.
