Role of Virgil
Form, Number, & Symbols
Beatrice:
Dante's Spiritual Guide
Style & Language
- A Roman poet who guides Dante through Hell & Purgatory
- Believed to be consigned to the first crack of hell with the pagans
- Represents Dante's inner split between strict Christianity & humanism
- Is the symbol of what human reason can achieve without faith
- 100 chapters because 100 was the perfect number in the Middle Ages
- 1 introduction
- 3 sections of 33 chapters each; each section was devoted to a member of the Holy Trinity
- 3 lined stanzas & rhyme scheme
- Journey lasted 3 days
- Guided by 3 spirits
- Deemed a comedy because of its happy ending
- Used the vernacular
- Finest poetry ever written in Italian
- Encompasses Dante's vision of God's judgement on every significant aspect of human life
- Guides Dante towards salvation & Paradise
- The journey is blessed by Beatrice hence turning him away from error and towards truth & grace
- First to give Dante a glimpse of spiritual perfection made possible by the love of a woman
- Symbolizes love and faith
Divine Comedy
- Imaginary journey that takes Dante through Hell, Purgatory, & Paradise
- Symbolizes humanity's quest for salvation through the process of recognizing and rejecting sin, awaiting redemption, then achieving salvation
Florence, Italy
DANTE
Basic Facts
1265-1321
- Born in Florence
- Fell in love with a girl named Beatrice at a young age. When she died, her spirit haunted him forever
- Involved in poetry, literature, & politics
- Sentenced to death in Florence for allowing the city to be taken over
- Lived in exile, until his death in Ravenna
Kathryn O'Donnell
&
Katelyn Shappy