# Peronella — The Decameron character guide

> Peronella in The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Quoth Peronella

**First appearance:** 0076-the-first-story

## Snapshot

A quick-witted Neapolitan wife who hides her lover in a barrel and sells it to her husband on the spot, turning adultery into profit.

## Who they are

Peronella belongs to the bustling world of Boccaccio's Naples, where cleverness counts for more than virtue and a poor household is no obstacle to appetite. Caught between a dull husband and a resourceful lover, she improvises a story so seamless that the cuckolded man carries the barrel away on his own back, delighted with his bargain. Her tale is one of the Decameron's sharpest comedies of female ingenuity, showing how wit can outrun both law and shame.

## In the story

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

A clever and resourceful young woman who uses quick thinking to hide her lover and turn her husband's unexpected return to her advantage.

## Links

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