Literary Analysis: "The Divine Comedy"

1. On Good Friday in the year 1300, protagonist Dante enters the Forest of Error, a dark and ominous wood symbolizing his own material sins, and the material sins of the world. At the top of a hill in the distance, he sees a light representing the hope of the resurrected Christ. When he attempts to climb toward the light, a leopard, lion, and she-wolf block his way. The spirit of the Roman poet Vergil comes to rescue him. Vergil offers to escort him out of the Forest of Error by another route, for there is no way to get by the she-wolf. This alternate route leads first through Hell, where Dante will recognize sin for what it is, then through Purgatory, where Dante will renounce sin and purge himself of it. Finally, it leads to Heaven, where Beatrice, a woman Dante had loved before her death,will become his guide while Vergil returns from whence he came, for he cannot proceed up the heights of paradise. Dante happily agrees to make the journey, and they depart. After passing into hell, Dante and Vergil hear the groans and wails of the damned in the outer reaches of the abyss and see persons who were halfhearted in their moral lives. They then cross the Acheron River and arrive at a cone-shaped cavern with nine circles. In the First Circle at the top, called Limbo, are the least offensive souls, such as unbaptized but well-meaning persons. They suffer no torment, however, they cannot move on to Purgatory or Heaven because they died before Christ brought redemption. Vergil himself dwells in the First Circle. They then pass down through the other eight circles, seeing terrible sights of suffering experienced by those who died in mortal sin. Circles 2 through 6 contain those who could not control their desires for sex, food, money, or heresy. Among the persons they encounter are Queen Cleopatra of Egypt, the Greek warrior Achilles, Helen of Troy, and the man who carried her off, Paris.The Seventh Circle contains those who committed violence against themselves or others, or even against God himself. The Eighth Circle contains hypocrites, thieves, forgers, alchemists, swindlers, flatterers and deceivers. The Ninth Circle, reserved for the worst persons, are traitors of every kind–those who were false to friends or relatives, or to their country or a noble cause. Dante sees two political leaders frozen together in a lake, head to head. He also encounters the most horrible of all traitors: Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Christ, and Brutus and Cassius, the assassins of Julius Caesar. Satan himself is here frozen in the lake. Dante and Vergil next arrive at the Mount of Purgatory, which is surrounded by an ocean. On ten terraces running up the side of the mountain are souls purging themselves of the seven deadly sins including: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, envy, wrath, and pride. At the entrance to Purgatory, Dante and Vergil meet Cato, an ancient Roman who attempted to root out immorality and corruption in Roman life. In Dante's poem, Cato symbolizes the four cardinal virtues of Roman Catholicism: prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. On Cato's instructions, Vergil cleanses Dante's face of the grime of hell and girdles his waist with a reed, symbolizing humility. An angel writes seven P's across Dante's forehead, each representing one of the seven deadly sins. (The Italian word for sin begins with a P.) The angel then tells Dante he must wash away the P's–that is, purge himself of sin–while in Purgatory..Among the terrace dwellers are excommunicants who repented before they died, a lazy Florentine who postponed doing good works most of his life, and monarchs who neglected their duties. As Dante and Vergil continue upward, they also meet the proud, the envious, the wasteful and the lustful. Farther up the mountain, they gaze across the River Lethe and see the Earthly Paradise, signaling it is time for Vergil to leave and return to his home, the First Circle of the heathens. Still observing from the opposite bank of the river Dante sees a display in which the participants and sacred objects symbolize books of the Bible, virtues, the human and divine natures of Christ and Saints Peter, and Paul and other disciples of the Christian religion. Beatrice is there too, and, out of love for him, she rebukes him for the sins he has committed. After he confesses his guilt, she invites the purified Dante to come across the river and ascend to heaven. Heaven, a place of perfect happiness, is a celestial region with planets, stars and other bodies. The placement of an individual depends on the level of goodness he or she achieved in life, although everyone experiences the fulness of God's love. Dante and Beatrice then rise into heaven, where the poet discovers that even some pagan abide in the heavenly realm because they accepted revelations from God. At the lowest level of Heaven is the Moon. Next come Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Stars. The highest level is the Empyrean, the home of the Triune God, the Virgin Mary, other angels, and saints. When Dante and Beatrice reach the Empyrean, St. Bernard comes forth to prepare Dante to look upon the splendid beings within. Dante realizes here that knowledge of heaven comes only through the grace of God and deep meditation, not through theology textbooks. After St. Bernard prays to Mary on Dante's behalf, she begs the light of God to welcome the prayer. When Dante glimpses that light, it overpowers him with love that he cannot comprehend or even remember what he saw.

2. One theme that seemed most prevalent is that life is a journey in which all human beings must overcome obstacles to achieve the ultimate goal, eternal bliss in the sight of God. The novel focuses mainly on life as a spiritual journey, even if a person sins, he is not lost.

3. Dante's tone seemed to be caring and serious. When i say caring i mean in the sense that Dante cared a lot about the moral thinking of a person, and how a person thought or acted was a serious thing.

"'And are you Virgil, you the fountain that freely pours so rich a stream of speech?' I answered him with shame upon my brow. 'O light and honor of all other poets, may my long study and the intense love that made me search your volume serve me now..."

"O lady, you in whom my hope gains strength, you who, for my salvation, have allowed your footsteps to be left in Hell, in all the things that I have seen, I recognize the grace and benefit that I, depending upon your power and goodness, have received."

"Here force failed my high fantasy; but my desire and will were moved already-like a wheel revolving uniformly-by the Love that moves the sun and the other stars."

4. Dante had very interesting literary elements, as well as techniques, that he used in his writing. He had structred diction, intense and beautiful imagery, descriptive characterization, and many allegories.

Diction: Dante wrote the novel into three Canticas (or Books), with thirty-three Cantos (or Chapters) in each Cantica. Each Canto follows a verse and rhyme scheme that is used from the beginning to the end of the novel.

Imagery: "I've brought you here through intellect and art; from now on, let your pleasure be your guide; you're past the steep and past the narrow paths. Look at the sun that shines upon your brow; look at the grasses, flowers, and the shrubs born here, spontaneously, of the earth."

Characterization: "Out of your grace, do us this grace; unveil your lips to him, so that he may discern the second beauty you have kept concealed."

Allegories: Allegory was a technique that was found throughout the entire novel. Anything Dante found or saw along the way in his journey can be interpreted as an allegory. From the animals representing his mortal sins, to the political figure he encounters in their respective places in Hell, to even the settings themselves, allegories were prominent in Dante's writing.

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