Analysis Of Dante's Divine Comedy

It all starts in the deep dark wood of Dante’s mind, a journey through personal sin to find salvation and the glory of God. Each of us must travel through our own perilous journey starting with our first breath until the last here on Earth. Throughout many cultures of the world such as, the Greeks, Romans, Hindus, and the countless others, we are all seeking the answers to the inescapable questions: What is the meaning of life and why are we here? God has graced mankind with the freedom of agency to find our path to answer these questions through learning, religious beliefs, and faith. Dante’s Divine Comedy, take us through the hero’s journey to try to answer these fundamental questions of the ages, following the basic pattern laid out in the

As Dante climbs the mountain he happens upon Manfred, who had been excommunicated by Pope Clement IV on the grounds that he was a Ghibelline, a political party against the pope, and practicing religious heresy. To Dante, Manfred represents what will occur to those souls that have been partially saved. With God’s grace, those that are placed in purgatory are able to learn from their sin. Dante reminds us, the reader, that it is by our own doing that our souls are preserved in this predicament, “scrupulous not to o’erstep the flame.” (Dante, The Divine Comedy II: Purgatory, p. 276) This is not the place for the light-hearted, to the contrary, it is a place for a second chance to right one’s wrongs, to “transform into a stronger and better [person].” (Dante, The Divine Comedy II: Purgatory, p. back cover) Faced with the final challenge Dante, like all of us, must face our own fears and overcome them. Dante stands to face a wall of fire, there is no other way, he must go through the fire. From the other side, Dante hears, “Beati mundo corde” which translated means “Blessed are the pure in heart.” (Dante, The Divine Comedy II: Purgatory, p. 286) finding the courage within himself steps through the fire to find Beatrice, who was once the one he loved from

In Purgatory, the mount, itself is used as a symbol representing the hard road one must travel to overcome the selfishness of sin. In Paradise, Dante uses the known planets at the time in order from the center Earth outward to the moon, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, to the stars beyond. Just as Plato had done before him in the Republic Book VII, “Allegory of the Cave”, demonstrating the pilgrimage of the mind and spirit. In using these styles of writing, Dante offers us a way to answer the questions that have plagued all mankind from the beginning of time to present, what is the meaning of life and why are we here? To find the answer, one must take their own journey to discover God’s