L'interpretazione del sogno dalla Fiammetta a Decameron IV.6

This article explores the function of dreams in Elegia di Madonna Fiammetta as a literary device through which Giovanni Boccaccio elaborates a nuanced and complex female subjectivity. Rather than serving merely as a narrative technique orprophecy, dreams emerge as a liminal space where desire, trauma, and awareness intersect. As Fiammetta gradually acquires the ability to interpret and manipulate her dreams, she undergoes a transformation from passive sufferer to self-aware protagonist, ultimately becoming the narrator of her own story. The analysis reveals how the dream space functions as a counterpoint to the physical confinement imposed on the character, offering an alternative form of movement, emotional expression, and identity construction. In this light, the dream operates as a central structural element within the text, shedding new light on Boccaccio’s representation of female authorship and his original reimagining of the elegy as a genre.