The Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre

Marguerite de NavarreProject Gutenberg · United StatesMar 2023

Rating 3.5
Word count
23K words
Chapters
3

Tags

Motivation and Growth Classic WorkPalace IntrigueLove StoryHuman NatureMoral DilemmaStorytelling FrameDesireRenaissanceFrench LiteratureFemale Perspective

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre by MargueriteAuthor: Marguerite, Queen, consort of Henry II, King of Navarre, 1492-1549,Language: English, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: May 17, 2009

Editor's review

The Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre is a story collection left by Marguerite of Navarre (1492–1549), modeled on the frame structure of the Decameron: a group of travelers delayed by circumstances pass the time by telling stories in turn. The stories are mostly drawn from court anecdotes, love intrigues, and moral dilemmas of the day, and the narrators often discuss them afterward, letting different positions collide; the book is thus both a collection of short stories and an on-the-spot record of sixteenth-century French aristocratic ethics and views on gender. Compared with the Decameron, it is more heavily didactic and religiously reflective, though the stories themselves still abound in wit, desire, and satire. This edition is an English translation, in English, making this Renaissance work accessible to readers who do not read French. Worth noting while reading are the differences in personality among the narrators in the frame and how they use stories to express differing attitudes toward marriage, fidelity, and deception. Suited to readers interested in Renaissance literature, the history of the early short story, or the tradition of women's writing, it also works as follow-up reading after the Decameron.

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Reading tips

  1. Begin with the opening of the frame narrative to understand who the narrators are and their situation before entering the stories.
  2. Read three to five stories at a time and pay attention to the discussion after each; the two should be read together.
  3. Read it alongside the Decameron to compare the framing and the styles of discussion.
  4. Keep a character list of the narrators so the frame thread is not lost over the long book

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3

FAQ

How is this book related to the Decameron? It uses a frame structure similar to the Decameron: a group of people gathered by circumstance take turns telling stories to pass the time. But Marguerite's stories are mostly drawn from the court and aristocratic society of her day, and the discussions and religious and moral reflections after each story are more prominent than in the Decameron.
Is this edition in English or French? The metadata lists the language as English; this is an English translation, not the French original. It suits readers who do not read French, but close textual research still requires consulting the French version.
Why is it called the "Heptameron"? Heptameron means "seven days." The work follows the Decameron's frame in having travelers tell stories over several days, but the book was not completed as ten days, and the actual number of stories and their arrangement vary by edition.
Why are there long discussions after the stories? The narrators in the frame comment on each story and argue with one another, and this is a major part of the work. These discussions reflect sixteenth-century aristocratic positions on love, marriage, fidelity, and deception, and are key to understanding the book's views on gender and ethics.

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About the author

Marguerite de Navarre Author · French · 1492–1549

Marguerite de Navarre (1492–1549), also known as Marguerite de Valois-Angoulême, was born in Angoulême, France. She was the sister of King Francis I and later became Queen of Navarre through her marriage to Henry II of Navarre. An important writer of the French Renaissance and a patron of humanists, she is best known for The Heptameron, which follows the framework of Boccaccio's Decameron: a group of refugees take turns telling stories dealing with love, marriage, religion, and human nature. Its tone shifts between humor and seriousness, combining narrative pleasure with moral reflection. Eight of her works are held in this collection, including volumes of The Heptameron and two farces attributed to her, showing her attempts in both storytelling and drama. Public information is limited, but The Heptameron circulated widely and gives her a place in early modern French literature.