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English
323
Dante
Dante's Vita Nuova (c. 1292-1300) |
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1. Medieval
traditions behind the work:
a. Augustinian Allegory
Not just a poetic device, allegory (as conceived
by St. Augustine and virtually all medieval
writers) is a way of thinking and seeing.
Dante's universe (like the Bible and all other
books) is made up of "corresponding planes" of
reality, in which the earthly reflects and
embodies the heavenly--exactly as the Eucharist
reflects and embodies God. Thus everything on
earth is really a symbol of something above.
(Beatrice, for instance, is a nine--see pp.
61-62. To know who she is Dante must discover
her moral, spiritual, and anagogical meaning.)
The Vita Nuova, in fact, can be read as the
story of a woman's growth into a symbol, and of
a man's growth from one plane of love (eros,
cupiditas) to another (agape, caritas).
b. Aureate, artificial literature
Very consciously aristocratic literature; no
great intrinsic value placed on "naturalness" or
"ease," whether of expression or of
comprehension. The work is supposed to be
enigmatic, "difficult," elaborate, and
puzzling--written only for "those who have
intelligence in love."
c. Courtly love
An elaborate (if not altogether serious) "code"
prescribing every phase of relationship between
men and women--diffused throughout Europe from
France from about 1150 on (cf. Andreas
Cappellanus' Art of Courtly Love, the poetry of
the Troubadours, romances by Cretien de Troyes
and others). According to C.S. Lewis (The
Allegory of Love), the "system" embodies four
crucial values: courtesy, humility, adultery,
and the religion of love.
Bernart de Ventadorn (fl. 1140-1180) sees true
love as "springing from the heart," and as being
regulated by fidelity (outside marriage),
courtesy (mutuality), humility, and a religious
exaltation of the beloved; nonetheless "he
expects his fun." His attitude toward the
Church's teaching is the finally heretical one
of cheerful disregard; he simply ignores
Andreas's parting advice, and uses Christian
imagery in an ironic (if good natured) way. The
Lady is the final object of devotion, and
devotion is expressed sexually (when she at last
grants her "pity" and "grace" to her adoring
servant).
With Guido Guinizelli (c. 1230-1276) and Guido
Cavalcanti (1255-1300) we see courtly love
refined and spiritualized in the dolce stil
nuovo--the relationship between eros and agape,
amore and caritas more of a serious question.
For Guinizelli (the "founding father" of the
dolce stil nuovo), a new emphasis on an ethical
and spiritual nobility of heart as a
prerequisite for love; idolatry, although a
concern, is finally excusable because the lady
is a true (allegorical) reflection of God's
glory and perfection. Also a new emphasis on
difficult poetry--not "from the heart," but
intellectual, even scholastic, in approach to
love (making love--as Plato saw it--a serious
subject of philosophical enquiry).
For Cavalcanti (Dante's "best friend"), a
detailed exploration of the psychology of
love--a "natural science" of its operations in
the mind, as it moves from memory (where the
image lodges), to the "possible intellect," to
experience--which can lead either to evil or to
the birth of "true compassion."
Dante's Vita Nuova combines these insights into
a revolutionary new view of love: Beatrice, like
Bernart's lady, offers "grace"--but by drawing
Dante-the-lover to an ever higher understanding
of reality, finally to the very throne of God
(in Paradiso XXXIII). This journey will require
an exploration of both the psychology of love
(cf. Cavalcanti) and "the essence of its
meaning."
2. The Vita Nuova itself:
a. Form: philosophical prose/ poetry
A work of autobiographical fiction (the
proportions uncertain), using both prose and
poetry. Dante's main model here is Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy (524), but the way in
which Dante uses prose to comment upon the poems
is truly original.
b. Language
Written in the vernacular (Italian)--an
innovation Dante realizes might be controversial
and defends in chapter XXV (pp. 54-55). But
Love, in his higher manifestations, speaks Latin
(the language of philosophy and theology); in
his lower manifestations, Italian (the language
of everyday speech and of courtly love).
c. Character
A young poet, viewed with considerable
detachment by his older self. Point of view, as
in the Commedia, very important: the writer
understands a great deal more than the lover.
d. Purpose
(1) to show how Dante's new life began; (2) to
find the essence of its meaning. Interest
entirely in the subjective development of a
lover--and of meanings on a symbolic level.
Thus, . . .
e. Setting
Only "the aforementioned city" and then (p. 82)
"the city where the most gracious lady was born,
lived, and died." Musa points out that only two
material objects are mentioned: the bed of
Dante's vision and the table where he draws
angels. (We don't even know if he's sitting
indoors or out!)
People, too, very sketchy (and mentioned only in
relation to the poet): e.g. "two other ladies."
f. Narrative:
In essence we follow a young poet's baby steps
through the birth, then a gradual and difficult
growth, of consciousness, as he moves (1) from
infatuation; (2) to masochistic and egotistical
dependence; (3) to service and praise; (4) to
recognition of a higher truth still out of reach
(Beatrice a miracle, but one the poet cannot yet
grasp or express).
The proof of his growth is ironically the
recognition of failure and the willingness to be
silent until true insight comes--true courtesy,
true humility, and a truer religion of love in
which adultery (even the refined and spiritual
kind) is entirely purged.
g. Structure: prologue plus three parts or
"movements":
1. Prologue, I-II (pp. 3-4).
2. Part I: III-XIX (pp. 5-31)--the poet's
infatuation with Beatrice. He lives for her
greeting in a state of masochistic egotism. Ends
with the beginning of a new
poetic theme of praise.
3. Part II: XIX-XXVII (pp. 32-60)--the wavering
fortunes of the praise program through
various prophecies of death and the death of
Beatrice's father. Ends with a relapse into
self- absorption broken off by Beatrice's death.
4. Part III: XIX-XXVIII (pp. 61-86)--after
Beatrice's death, a gradual and halting
awareness of a higher truth--albeit one beyond
the poet to express--and the
decision to remain silent until he can "write of
her that which has never been
written of any other woman."
h. Elements within the narrative:
a. Four visions (III, IX [3X3], XII [4X3], XXIV
[12X2--and 8X3] ).
b. Three deaths (VIII, XXII, XXVIII-XXIX).
c. Colors (red and white) and numbers
(especially 3 and 9).
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