Diksha Sundriyal
Secrets and lies abound in Netflix’s ‘The Decameron’ as ten people, quarantined at the lavish Villa Santa, try to do whatever it takes to keep themselves alive. One of the story’s primary characters is Licisca, who works as a servant for Filomena and her family. When she meets her for the first time, she is in Firenze, caring for an ailing Eduardo, Filomena’s father. She is devoted to him because he has always been good and kind to her. Later, however, Licisca discovers that there may have been a good reason behind his kindness and affection towards her. This revelation changes her life and everything she thought she knew about herself. But why was this secret kept from her, and more importantly, why was it revealed now? SPOILERS AHEAD
Licisca’s Connection to Eduardo Explains His Love for Her
In the world that Licisca inhabits, it is normal for masters to be overly demanding of their servants. The padrones and padronas are usually cruel and insufferable. Eduardo, however, wasn’t one of them. While his daughters had always seemed to hate Licisca (even Filomena, who had been around the same age as her and had been her friend for the first decade of their lives), Eduardo had always been kind to her. He had treated her as well as his daughters, and Licisca didn’t feel she was a servant in his company. It turns out that this was all because she was Eduardo’s daughter.
This bomb lands on her when she and Filomena are about to be executed by the religious fanatics who want to kill anyone who was born into nobility. Believing these are the final moments of their lives, Filomena decides that Licisca should know the truth about her parentage. Their conversation reveals that Licisca never knew her parents. Or at least, she never knew her mother. She thought she was an orphan taken in by Eduardo out of pity. But it turns out that Eduardo not only knew Licisca’s mother, but he also fell in love with her. They had a daughter, Licisca. When her mother was gone, Eduardo decided to keep and raise the child in his household. Because she was a bastard and from a mother of a class lower than his, he could not accept Licisca as his own in front of the whole world. So, he kept her around as a servant girl.
Even though Eduardo tried to keep it a secret, he couldn’t do it for long. Somehow, his daughters learned about it, and Filomena discovered the secret from her elder sisters. Before this, Filomena and Licisca had been best friends. But when she discovered that Licisca was her father’s illegitimate daughter, Filomena, like her sisters, couldn’t accept the servant girl as her sister. Her feelings soured further when Filomena saw how much Licisca was like Eduardo. Their similarities led them to have a connection that Filomena and her sisters could never have with their father, which inflamed their anger towards the servant girl.
The stark difference in the treatment she received from Eduardo and his daughters pushed Licisca more towards the man she didn’t know was her father. She saw him as a father figure in some ways, while he treated her as his daughter, in all but name. For appearances, he had to treat her like a servant, which meant he couldn’t give her all he could to his other daughters. He couldn’t even stop her from doing all the chores that she did for her sisters. But he could always be kind to her and ensure she was doing alright.
It is this kindness that Licisca reciprocates when Eduardo falls ill. In their last conversation, Eduardo tells her she is like his daughter but clouds his words with humor so Licisca doesn’t take it too seriously. It is only much later that she discovers that he is telling the truth when he calls her his daughter. It also breaks her heart that he never told her the whole truth himself and that she was treated as a second-class citizen in her own home. However, when her anger subsides, she accepts the difficult situation he is in and concedes that despite their circumstances, he does love her and care for her, and she loves and cares for him.
Read More: The Decameron: Is Eduardo Dead or Alive? Why Does Filomena Lie About His Death?
You must be logged in to post a comment.