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English
323
Dante
Allegory in the Commedia |
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1. Dante's
Letter to Can Grande
Although the subject of some controversy, this
letter is increasingly seen to be the work of
Dante's hand; and medieval commentators like
Boccaccio found it extremely helpful in
interpreting the Commedia. Tradition has it that
Dante presented the letter to his patron and
friend Can Grande della Scala with a copy of the
Paradiso, but the letter describes the method
and meaning of the entire work.
Key points in the letter about the work Dante
calls his "Comedy":
a. The Comedy is an allegory--which means that
it works on two "levels" [or in two
"senses"]--the literal and the "mystical" or
"allegorical." The mystical, or allegorical,
meaning in turn can read in three "senses":
1. the "allegorical" [or "spiritual"] sense
2. the "moral" [or psychological] sense
3. the "anagogical" sense
(Notice that Dante uses the word allegory in two
ways: (1) as the general concept of alienum, or
"different" meaning; and (2) as one of the three
senses of allegory--the "spiritual." Most
medieval commentators try to avoid this
ambiguity by using the word allegory only for
the general method of reading and writing.)
b. The Comedy's structure is based entirely on
the number three--from the terza rima of each
stanza, to the thirty-three cantos of each of
the three canticles (thirty-four in the
Inferno-- adding up to 100, symbolizing the
perfection of God). Each stanza is a trinity,
perfect in itself, yet linked within itself (by
rhyme) and linked (by rhyme) to all others--as
everything in the universe is linked both to God
and to every other thing. (Notice, then, that
the poem's structure is an allegory in itself!)
c. The Comedy is a comedy--written in the
vernacular and moving from "adversity" to
"prosperity." (Comedies generally also end in
marriage.)
d. The purpose ("end") of the comedy is to guide
the reader from "misery" to "happiness."
e. Therefore, the comedy is a work of "moral
philosophy."
e. The end (in both senses) of the poem (as of
all allegory, all philosophy, all life) is God.
(c.f. the end of the Vita Nuova.)
2. St. Bonaventura (1227-1274)
Great Franciscan theologian, called the
"seraphic doctor." We'll meet him in Paradiso
X-XII.
He wrote that the pilgrimage to God has three
phases: intra nos (the "within us"); extra nos
(the "outside ourselves"); and supra nos (the
"above us").
3. The Commedia and the Vita Nuova
In the Vita Nuova--an allegory with almost no
literal level--Dante grows:
a. morally and psychologically: from child, to
adolescent(!), to adult (becoming a pilgrim).
b. spiritually (as a poet): from Cavalcanti, to
Guinizelli, to early Dante (becoming himself).
c. anagogically: from Intra nos, to Extra nos,
to Supra nos ("Beyond the spheres . . . ").
In the Commedia, the journey takes on far more
literal and allegorical substance, as the
pilgrim moves from:
a. the complete isolation of Hell (the literal,
moral, and spiritual intra nos--to be perfected
anagogically at the last judgment).
b. the community of Purgatory (the literal,
moral, and spiritual extra nos).
c. the communion of Paradise (literal, moral,
and spiritual--but mostly anagogical).
The whole Commedia, then, is a journey away from
the self in order to find one's true self.
(Dante is not mentioned by name until he is
greeted by Beatrice at the top of the Mt. of
Purgatory.)
4. Dante the Pilgrim
As in the Vita Nuova, Dante a complex character:
Two Dantes in the Vita Nuova: (1) young
lover-poet ; (2) older lover-poet rereading the
book of his memory to find the essence of its
meaning.
Three Dantes in the Commedia : (2) the pilgrim
(cf. the end of the VN); (2) the poet who has
made the journey and is recording the
experience; and (3) the historical Dante,
connecting the poem to the actual world of Italy
(especially Florence) c. 1300.
5. The Commedia itself
a. an adventure story--a travelogue of the
literal universe as understood in Dante's day
(literal).
b. an epic--a mythological work of homage to
Virgil and, through him, Homer (spiritual).
c. a work of literary criticism (moral).
d. a religious journey to God (anagogical).
Hell (on all levels) has three parts, nine
levels, representing the perfect justice of God.
The three parts, nine levels, of Purgatory
represent his perfect love. The three parts,
nine spheres of Paradise represent his perfect
wisdom.
See Map of the World, p. 49:
Northern hemisphere populated; southern
hemisphere all water except for the
island-mountain of Purgatory. Hell is a pit from
the crust to the center (intra nos) of the
earth--so that literal, moral, and spiritual
geography end up being identical: sin is
recognized (literally, morally, and spiritually)
by its gravity.
Dante's journey moves through the landscape of
the
literal universe (Hell, Purgatory, Heaven);
moral/psychological universe, in which souls'
afterlife state perfectly reflects their inner
moral/psychological condition;
spiritual universe, in which the justice, love,
and wisdom of God are revealed in all their
glory;
anagogical universe, which foreshadows the
souls' final, although arduous, escape into
the final glorious (or horrific) vision to come.
There is no direct route up the Mount of Joy;
for the world is corrupted by the she-wolf of
the flesh, the lion of the world, and the
leopard of the devil. Only by a descent into the
fleshly, the worldly, and the devilish in
ourselves can we rise out of ourselves toward
God.
The process of conversion:
Conviction of Sin
Contrition
[Both happen in Hell]
Confession
Departure from evil
[Purgatory]
Conversion to good
[Purgatory and ever being completed in Heaven]
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