Question

Explain how Europe’s devastating fourteenth-­‐century plague outbreaks influenced the literature of Boccaccio and perhaps Chaucer.

Answer 1

Both Boccaccio and Chaucer witnessed the devastating Bubonic plague outbreak in Europe. They were inspired by it. 

Boccaccio's 'Decameron'  and Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' evidently portrayed the awful effects of this plague on people's lives. Friendship and families were broken. Chaos reigns. Social and moral controls had weakened due to plagues fear. 

Their collection of framed stories touched the lives of the readers and other writers who haven't experienced the turmoil of this pestilence. The stories were told by the characters of the story, so it's like stories within a story. These characters were portrayed as real people who had also witnessed the outbreak. To stay away from its horrors, they decided to stay in a countryside far from the plague’s reach.  And as a way of occupying their time, they committed themselves to storytelling. And their stories made up the “Canterbury Tales” and “Decameron”, stories by random people whom we do not know but surely melted the hearts of our cherished readers and writers. 

Their collection of framed stories touched the lives of the readers and other writers who haven't experienced the turmoil of this pestilence. The stories were told by the characters in the story, so it's like stories within a story.