Falkennovelle

The Falkennovelle is a famous novella by Giovanni Boccaccio in his Decameron (V, 9).

It is about a young nobleman named Federigo di Messer Filippo Alberighi, who falls in love with the married noble lady Giovanna and loses all his belongings for advertising about her. All that remains is his hunting falcon , a noble and valuable animal. The lady notices Federigo's advertising, but is not interested in him. When Giovanna's husband dies, she moves to the country, to an estate near Federigos. It was there that the noble lady's little son met Federigo and was impressed by the falcon's arts. However, the son soon fell seriously ill. The son wants the falcon, which is why she pays Federigo a visit to get the animal. In order to be able to give his beloved a befitting reception, he has his falcon slaughtered without further ado and presented to the lady. When the conversation turns to the real reason for their visit, both are at first heartbroken. Giovanna says goodbye to Federigo and returns to her sick child, who dies a few days later. Giovanna's brothers later urge their sister to marry, as befits a woman of their class. At first she doesn't want to know anything about a marriage, but remembers Federigo's deed and hears him because of his honesty.

interpretation

The falcon embodies the thing symbol of the novel, in it the central conflict of the events is reflected.

reception

Based on this novella, Paul Heyse developed the “falcon theory” , according to which every novella, analogous to the falcon in Boccaccio's novella, must contain a special feature.