Divine Comedy

by Dante Alighieri

Summary
&
Archetypal Criticism
J. Samonte (2016)
johnsamonte128@gmail.com

Summary: The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Dantes The Divine Comedy is the beginning of Italian literature and the single most
significant work of the Middle Ages because its allegory emphasizes the importance of salvation
and divine love in a work that is inclusive and tightly structured. It is so thoroughly infused with
Christian ethics that any overview has to touch on major Christian themes, beginning with the
plot being set during Easter week 1300.
The work is a complex narrative with many allusions to biblical stories, classical myths,
history, and contemporary politics; however, the plots symbolism provides clarity in that it
celebrates the ideal of universalism, where everything has its place in Gods world, and its
ultimate goal of salvation triumphs over the contemporary reality of the power struggle between
worldly and religious leaders.
The structure of the entire work, as well as of its parts, is symbolic of the story it tells, as
the use of numbers shows. The number 3 (symbolic of the Trinity: God as the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost) and the number 10 (the perfect number: 3 3 + 1) are the most
conspicuous examples. The Divine Comedy has three cantiche, or parts (Hell, Purgatory, and
Heaven). Each cantica has thirty-three cantos, or songs, with the exception of the first cantica,
which has thirty-four cantos, adding up to a total of one hundred (the perfect number squared: 10
10). Each canto is written in terza rima, that is, in tercets that rhyme in an interlocking manner.
The first canto of Inferno, is considered to be an introduction to the whole work (making
the structure even more symmetric: 1 + 33 + 33 + 33 = 100) because all three parts of The Divine
Comedy are present in the first cantos symbolic landscape. Dante finds himself lost in a dark
forest. Looking for orientation, he decides to hike up a mountain, whose sunlit top represents
Purgatory, while the sky and the sun represent Heaven. However, Dantes path is blocked by
three animals on the mountains slope: a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf, which represent the
three main types of sin that correspond to the three main divisions of Hell.
The spirit of Virgil appears and promises to get Dante to salvation the long way: through
Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. Dantes doubts are assuaged because Virgil has been sent by three
heavenly ladies (the Virgin Mary, Saint Lucy, and Beatrice); in the combination of human reason
J. Samonte (2016)
johnsamonte128@gmail.com

with divine grace, Dantes salvation may yet be achieved. After they enter Hell in the third canto,
Dante learns through conversations with Virgil and individual souls that each sin is punished
according to its severity, systematically going from the lighter sins of incontinence (giving in to
ones desires) to the more severe sins of violence (actively willing evil) and fraud (adding
malice). Hell, which is presented as a huge funnel-shaped underground cave, extends in eversmaller and more-constricting circles to the middle of the earth; there, in the pit of hell, sits Satan
himself, forever stuck frozen in the ice of the lake Cocytus, chewing on the three worst human
traitors: Judas, Brutus, and Cassius.
Climbing past Satan, Dante is headed toward salvation. While all sinners in Hell will
remain there forever to suffer their horrible punishments because they did not admit their sins,
souls in Purgatory are already saved and eventually will go to Heaven because they confessed
their sins before death. Purgatory is presented as a huge cone-shaped mountain and the only
landmass in the southern hemisphere. Purgatory proper is organized in seven rings according to
the traditional seven deadly sins (pride, envy, wrath, sloth, avarice, gluttony, and lust). At the top
of the mountain is earthly paradise (the Garden of Eden); this is as far as human reason can lead,
so Virgil leaves and Beatrice becomes Dantes guide.
Cleansed of his own sins, Dante rises naturally toward Heaven. In keeping with the
Ptolemaic worldview, Heaven is organized in spheres with the earth in the center. Dante
identifies ten spheres that he relates to the so-called four pagan virtues of fortitude, justice,
temperance, and prudence in varying degrees (first to seventh Heavens), the three Christian
virtues of faith, hope, and charity (eighth Heaven), the Primum Mobile (the ninth heaven, which
moves all others), and the Empyrean (the tenth Heaven outside of time and space, where God
dwells). The Empyrean as a state of being also contains the Celestial Rose, where all blessed
souls reside. The souls do not reside in the individual heavens where Dante encounters them but
are put there so that he may more easily understand their place in the divine order. The blessed
souls in Heaven form a true, though strictly hierarchical, community that exists in an allpermeating feeling of love and bliss, which comes from the joy and peace of being in the proper
place in Gods creation. Dante evokes in images of light what lies beyond human experience,
such as the radiance of the blessed souls and Dantes vision of God.

J. Samonte (2016)
johnsamonte128@gmail.com

Archetypal Criticism: Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Divine Comedy is divided into three separate volumes, each containing 33 cantos or
chapters. These volumes are Inferno (hell), Purgatorio (purgatory), and Paradiso (heaven).
Dante is both the author and the central character of this trilogy. The Divine Comedy features
Dante on his journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise to see God. To reach God, he must
venture through the nine circles of Hell, climb the mountain of Purgatory, and cross through the
nine heavens. Dante is seeking Paradise and God. This starts his journey because he wants to
follow the spiritual path of god which leads to him making the courageous journey through Hell
with Virgil and Purgatory and Paradise with Beatrice The work is a complex narrative with many
allusions to biblical stories, classical myths, and political history.
As I read the summarization of Dante's journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven, I
noticed very vivid imagery, which is quite thought-provoking. His image of hell is much
different than most people because it is a place of extreme cold. There are nine circles of hell in
which different punishments are imposed on historical figures prior to him and even some of his
contemporaries. The last circle is where the devil is and he is stuck in a frozen lake. The devil is
pictured as a rather ugly winged creature that is perpetually flapping his wings causing his own
trap. His vision of heaven is one that is in constant motion. He uses the analogy of the solar
system to show how the closer we are to God, the faster we move because we have fewer
obstacles to traverse in order to get to Him.
The writing demonstrated strong uses of symbolism to convey a deeper meaning of the
epic through the character Dantes life, other characters, historical figures, the relativity between
sin and consequence and Christianity that gives the words value beyond what they physically
mean. He defined Beatrice as beauty and grace, Virgil as Guidance and wisdom, and used
numerous Bible references such as hell, Satan, Cain & Abel. He utilized references of his
personal experiences to make his writing easier to connect with. Even after seven hundred years
the birth of the Divine Comedy we are able to understand Dantes world and relate to Dantes
symbolism. The work makes clear that every individual human being is subject to temptation and
sin, and that every sin will be punished, but it is also crucial to the story that every human being
also is free to alter his or her behavior in order to avoid punishment and to win the eternal
rewards of Paradise.
J. Samonte (2016)
johnsamonte128@gmail.com