Friday, February 22, 2008

At last we get to Paradise, but before we do that we have to go through the lowest pit in Hell and meet The Man himself (as in Satan). I'm going to make everyone's life easier and include this guide to the Cantos so we won't be wondering where everything is:

• Canto XXXI: The Giants
• XXXII: Treacherous to Kin, Country (Those to whom they have special ties)
• XXXIII: Ugolino and Ruggieri
• Canto XXXIV: Brutus, Cassius, Judas Iscariot, SATAN

Now for the Paradiso:

• Canto XI: St. Aquinas praises St. Francis of Assissi
• Canto XXX: The Mystic Rose
• Canto XXXI: Mystic Rose (cont.); St. Bernard takes over
• Canto XXXII: St. Bernard, the Virgin Mary
• Canto XXXIII: The Vision of GOD

Some points of reference: The poet Virgil continues with Dante through most of Purgatory, but falls silent at the entrance to the Earthly Paradise, the point at which human reason must leave off. He then fades away in Canto XXX, and Lady Beatrice takes over. This is the person guiding Dante through Paradise until Canto XXXI, when St. Bernard steps in to lead Dante to the center of the Rose (pictured above).

In Canto XI of the Paradiso, we meet one of the most formidible intellects of all time, St. Thomas Aquinas, the complier of the Summa of Theology and other equally impressive works. He is a member of a religious order founded by St. Dominic, the Dominicans, but toward the end of the canto he sadly comments on the decline of the order. St. Francis, founder of the Franciscan order and a contemporary of St. Dominic, was regarded by some of his followers to be akin to a second Christ; we can see these attitudes reflected in the canto where Aquinas speaks of Francis's "wife," Lady Poverty, who had been "bereft of her first groom" (line 64) when Christ died on the cross. Francis was the son of a wealthy silk merchant who rejected the world of privilege into which he was born to follow the way of life of the Apostles. The Spiritual Franciscans, who attempted to maintain lives of absolute poverty, were ultimately suppressed. You may recall that Boniface VIII was their enemy.

Homework Questions:

• Dante throughout the Inferno has responded to various sinners in various ways; in some cases he has had compassion, for example. We begin now to see another reaction. What do you make of his response to those who are guilty of treachery? How does Virgil regard Dante's response?
• The story of Uggolino and Ruggieri is one of the most overwhelming in the cycle. Explain the significance of their punishment. Explain how even these sinners can still want to be where they are.
• How exactly do Dante and Virgil get out of the lowest circle and begin to climb up the mountain into Purgatory?
• In Canto XXX, look at the stages of Dante's enhanced sight, including the degree of Beatrice's beauty, and the river of light in which he washes his eyes. How does the sense of sight, and the vision of Beatrice's beauty, contribute to his purification?
• How does Dante describe the vision of God?

Laurel Carrington carringt@stolaf.edu
Most recent update: January 23, 2008

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