“Human freedom manifests itself in laughter. The tyrants of this planet are not moved by the works of poets: they yawn at their laments; they regard their heroic songs as silly fables; they go to sleep during their religious poems: they fear only one thing, their mockery.” - Freidrich Durrenmatt Comedy in its true sense is any form of work or speech with the intention of being humorous and promoting any form of laughter . Comedy is usually found in theater, cinema, or even in written forms such as poetry or prose. The fourteenth century gave rise to two extraordinary collections of stories, The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio and The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. Although some differences between The Decameron and The Canterbury Tales are evident in plot and subject matter, the similarities between the two titles are striking. Comparing and contrasting both collections on the themes of Marriage, Love, Sex and Humor will show how both authors internalized their surroundings to incorporate into their respective masterpieces. Boccaccio was born in 1313 and was the son of a businessman who aspired for his son Boccaccio to become a banker. He was sent to Naples for training where he showed no enthusiasm for commerce, his love was for literature. The moment he was free from paternal constraints, he began his quest to become a prolific writer of the Middle Ages. In 1351 he gave birth to the Decameron, one of his most famous works (Boccaccio Intro.). The Decameron is made up of one hundred stories told by ten storytellers, each of whom told ten stories in ten days. The word in its original meaning comes from “dec” meaning ten. The Decameron tells stories of love, sex, violence, intrigue, humor and... middle of paper... grinding corn as sexual actions. Boccaccio and Chaucer found ways to produce humor and wit. against both the upper and lower classes. They achieve this through the use of religious and sexual humor. Boccaccio mocks all classes equally throughout the various stories, allowing each class to laugh at itself as much as it laughs at everyone else. Both the collections of The Decameron and The Canterbury Tales lead readers to experience many of the forms of comedy, to show themselves in tragicomedy, mistaken identity, satire, farce, dramatic irony, slapstick comic relief, and in many examples of puns and wit. Works Cited Boccaccio, Giovanni. The Decameron. Oxford World Classics. Oxford University Press Inc. 2008. Book. November 10, 2013.Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Penguin books. Course package. November 15, 2013.