# Masetto — The Decameron character guide

> Masetto in The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio.

**Role:** major

**First appearance:** 0028-the-first-story

## Snapshot

A sturdy young laborer who fakes muteness to land a convent gardening job, then finds the nuns far more eager than he bargained for.

## Who they are

Masetto is a strong, handsome peasant who reasons that feigned dumbness will get him work and shelter among the nuns of a countryside convent. What he does not anticipate is that the sisters, pent up and curious, will compete for his attentions until he is worn to exhaustion and finally breaks his silence to negotiate terms. His story is a comic inversion of the usual seduction plot, with the naive outsider discovering that the cloister's appetites rival any tavern's.

## In the story

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

A young, robust laborer who feigns dumbness to gain entry to a convent as a gardener, ultimately satisfying all the nuns and becoming bailiff.

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

Referenced as a comparison; the horsekeeper is held of less account than Masetto.

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

A clever young man who devises the trick about the heliotrope stone and the mythical land of Bengodi.

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

Initiates the prank by spotting the judge's ridiculous breeches and recruiting Ribi and Matteuzzo to pull them down.

## Links

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