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| Beata Beatrix by Dante Gabriel Rosetti |
I personally find it very difficult when people ask me what my favourite book is simply because it is more of an anthology than an actual book: the Divine Comedy. It doesn't help that this can be sold in separate parts, like how Collins Classics sells separate copies of Dante's Inferno. Nonetheless, this has been my favourite story since I was 17, and I've not found a more compelling story that has managed to cover a wide range of genres at one go. Romance. History. Horror. Fantasy. Religion. Politics. I have one of my A Level English Literature teachers to thank for making my love for this story even more profound when she played the BBC Radio 4 podcast of Inferno, which prompted me to buy the entire podcast on the Apple store. For a story this great, it comes down to one focus: Beatrice.
In spite of his great dedication to her, Dante only ever met young Beatrice Portinari twice, once as a child and once as a teenager. Each time was a fleeting moment. Yet Dante was absolutely taken by her. Strangely, he wasn't drawn by her appearance. In the Divine Comedy, he doesn't speak of Beatrice's appearance much. He doesn't even talk much about her personality beyond his imagination. There was simply something about her that inspired him to pursue a moral path. In between the two instances where they met, Dante liked to admire her from a distance, keeping his personal thoughts about her private. I won't lie though, it's a bit creepy, and bizarre that he had this obsession with her. Yet it was safe, and this distant admiration made him aspire to become better.
The Beatrice of the Divine Comedy and La Vita Nuova is very different to the Beatrice that Dante knew in person. Immortalised in literature, she is given a character and a purpose. It was very much clear that Dante was in love with her, even though he married and had children, and even though Beatrice was married. Her death prompted him to bring her back to life through poetry; this collection of poems became La Vita Nuova. He describes his encounters with Beatrice, as well as his thoughts from afar in such detail that he thought himself soon to be in the presence of God. La Vita Nuova demonstrates the moral influence Beatrice had on Dante, even though he barely spoke to her in her lifetime. He writes about how his second meeting with Beatrice, where she was dressed in white, inspired a dream where he saw Beatrice asleep in the arms of God. Beatrice is written almost in a state of perfection, described frequently as "blessed." He brings this influence out in more detail in the Divine Comedy, where he finds himself lost in a wood, to be found by the poet Virgil, sent by Beatrice to take him on a journey towards Heaven.
However, the Beatrice of the Divine Comedy, which was written after her death, while more detailed in kindness and described as being the blessed lady who helps Dante attain Heaven, is also perhaps more harsh. Dante cannot even look bring himself to look at her properly until much later. She is even seen rebuking him upon their meeting in Heaven at the end of Purgatorio. I think Dante knew that his reconciliation with Beatrice through the Divine Comedy was not necessarily supposed to be perfect, but that as a result of his own sinfulness, he had to face his own vices, especially after his journey in Inferno where we see his perspective of who he considered the damned.
There's just something about Dante's depiction of Beatrice that is so beautiful. It is a bit strange that he wrote so much about her despite the two already being married to others, but I think that his love letters to Beatrice in the form of La Vita Nuova and the Divine Comedy offer theological and moral lessons. Beatrice's desire to see Dante descend into Hell and up to Heaven through Purgatory allows readers the opportunity to learn much about what there is to fear when God is in the picture. He writes heavily against clericalism, demonstrating that no one is safe from Hell if they are corrupt in person. Beatrice is the personified fear that is struck in one's heart, but also the hope for what is to come.
The Beatrice of the Divine Comedy and La Vita Nuova is very different to the Beatrice that Dante knew in person. Immortalised in literature, she is given a character and a purpose. It was very much clear that Dante was in love with her, even though he married and had children, and even though Beatrice was married. Her death prompted him to bring her back to life through poetry; this collection of poems became La Vita Nuova. He describes his encounters with Beatrice, as well as his thoughts from afar in such detail that he thought himself soon to be in the presence of God. La Vita Nuova demonstrates the moral influence Beatrice had on Dante, even though he barely spoke to her in her lifetime. He writes about how his second meeting with Beatrice, where she was dressed in white, inspired a dream where he saw Beatrice asleep in the arms of God. Beatrice is written almost in a state of perfection, described frequently as "blessed." He brings this influence out in more detail in the Divine Comedy, where he finds himself lost in a wood, to be found by the poet Virgil, sent by Beatrice to take him on a journey towards Heaven.
However, the Beatrice of the Divine Comedy, which was written after her death, while more detailed in kindness and described as being the blessed lady who helps Dante attain Heaven, is also perhaps more harsh. Dante cannot even look bring himself to look at her properly until much later. She is even seen rebuking him upon their meeting in Heaven at the end of Purgatorio. I think Dante knew that his reconciliation with Beatrice through the Divine Comedy was not necessarily supposed to be perfect, but that as a result of his own sinfulness, he had to face his own vices, especially after his journey in Inferno where we see his perspective of who he considered the damned.
There's just something about Dante's depiction of Beatrice that is so beautiful. It is a bit strange that he wrote so much about her despite the two already being married to others, but I think that his love letters to Beatrice in the form of La Vita Nuova and the Divine Comedy offer theological and moral lessons. Beatrice's desire to see Dante descend into Hell and up to Heaven through Purgatory allows readers the opportunity to learn much about what there is to fear when God is in the picture. He writes heavily against clericalism, demonstrating that no one is safe from Hell if they are corrupt in person. Beatrice is the personified fear that is struck in one's heart, but also the hope for what is to come.
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