Griselda (folklore)
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Griselda (anglicised to Grizzel and similar forms) is a figure from certain folklores whose name is eponymous for patience and obedience.
In the tale as written by Giovanni Boccaccio Griselda marries Gualtieri, the Marquis of Saluzzo. He tests her by declaring that their first child—a daughter—must be put to death, likewise their second child—a son. Griselda obediently gives up both of them without protest and each is secreted away and raised rather than killed. In a final test, Gualtieri publicly renounces Griselda, claiming he has been granted papal dispensation to divorce and marry a better woman; she goes to live with her father. Some years later, Gualtieri announces he is to remarry and recalls Griselda as a servant to prepare the wedding celebrations. He introduces her to a twelve-year-old girl he claims is to be his bride but who is really their daughter; Griselda wishes them well. At this Gualtieri reveals his plan and Griselda joyously retakes her place as wife and mother.
Griselda occurs in tales by Petrarch and Chaucer (the Clerk's Tale in the Canterbury Tales). Patient Griselda is a tale by Charles Perrault. The play Patient Grissel dates from 1599. There are operas named Griselda by Alessandro Scarlatti (La Griselda, 1721), Giovanni Bononcini (1722), and Antonio Vivaldi (Griselda, 1735). The Modern Griselda is a novel by Maria Edgeworth from 1804. Patient Griselda is one of a group of historical or legendary dinner-party guests in Caryl Churchill's 1982 play Top Girls.
Griselda is also a song that first appeared on the 1975 album Have Moicy! by Michael Hurley, The Unholy Modal Rounders, Jeffrey Frederick, and The Clamtones, and the song was written by Antonia, a non-performing songwriter with the Unholy Modal Rounders. Yo La Tengo covered the song on their 1990 album Fakebook
[edit] See also
- The Decameron - the most famous version of the Griselda tale
- Summary of Decameron tales
