# Madam Sismonda — The Decameron character guide

> Madam Sismonda in The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Sismonda

**First appearance:** 0084-the-ninth-story

## Snapshot

A widow of sharp appetite and sharper nerve, she turns a stranded merchant's misfortune into one warm, well-argued night of her own choosing.

## Who they are

Left waiting for the Marquis Azzo, who is called away before supper, Madam Sismonda finds a half-frozen Rinaldo d'Asti at her door and decides fortune has sent her a substitute. She clothes him in her dead husband's suit, warms him in the Marquis's bath, and then makes her case to him with frank, disarming candor. Her willingness to seize what chance provides, without shame or apology, makes her one of the Decameron's most memorable arguments for women's initiative.

## In the story

### [The Eighth Story](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/chapters/the-eighth-story)

The clever wife who devises the twine scheme and later substitutes another woman to escape punishment.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/characters/madam_sismonda
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_decameron_se/characters