What do you think?
Rate this book
Introductory Papers on Dante
Introducing the Dante Papers Introductory Papers on Dante Further Papers on Dante The Poetry of Search and the Poetry of Statement This introductory volume of essays on Dante by Dr. Dorothy L. Sayers will be eagerly sought by the many thousands of readers who already know her vigorous and vivid translation of the Inferno. As those who have heard Miss Sayer's lectures on Dante can testify, she brings to the interpretation of the Divine Comedy a vitalizing power of analysis and re-creation. Readers of Dante often become discouraged by the mass of factual detail which the older school of historical criticism has made available; mere aestheticism, however, unrelated to the time and space, is nor likely to satisfy them either. They will find in Miss Sayers' essays enough scholarly assistance to put themselves in the position of a contemporary reader; but their attention will chiefly be drawn to the relevance of the Divine Comedy to our present day world and way of life. Miss Sayers' emphasis on the ethical, rather than on the aesthetic, or historical, significance of Dante's work, comes as a welcome and bracing challenge to the confusion regarding values, whether of literature or of life, which characterizes the present age.
225 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1969
1 person is currently reading
158 people want to read
About the author
Dorothy L. Sayers
714 books3,003 followersThe detective stories of well-known British writer Dorothy Leigh Sayers mostly feature the amateur investigator Lord Peter Wimsey; she also translated the
Divine Comedy
of Dante Alighieri.
This renowned author and Christian humanist studied classical and modern languages.
Her best known mysteries, a series of short novels, set between World War I and World War II, feature an English aristocrat and amateur sleuth. She is also known for her plays and essays.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy...
This renowned author and Christian humanist studied classical and modern languages.
Her best known mysteries, a series of short novels, set between World War I and World War II, feature an English aristocrat and amateur sleuth. She is also known for her plays and essays.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 21, 2021
Wonderful. Like the subtitle says, Dorothy L. Sayers makes Dante come alive. Her starting point is that in order to commentate on Dante, one does not need to share his belief in Christianity, but one does need to understand it (hence her clear explanations in the chapters about Hell, Heaven and Purgatory) and to take seriously the fact that Dante did believe it.
One of the best chapters in this book concerns the 4-fold interpretation of the Divine Comedy (the literal -the story; the political -its application to man in society and history; the moral -the story read as the development of the soul; and the mystical), all running in parallel throughout the whole poem, and not -as some critics treat them- succeeding one another.
Another great chapter is the City of Dis, explaining how the ordering in the Inferno follows the logical and historical stages of decay of a society or civilization.
From "The meaning of Heaven and Hell":
"If we refuse assent to reality: if we rebel against the nature of things and choose to think that what we at the moment want is the centre of the universe to which everything else ought to accommodate itself, the first effect on us will be that the whole universe will seem to be filled with an implacable and inexplicable hostility. We shall begin to feel that everything has a down on us, and that, being so badly treated, we have a just grievance against things in general. That is the knowledge of good and evil and the fall into illusion. If we cherish and fondle that grievance, and would rather wallow in it and vent our irritation in spite and malice than humbly admit we are in the wrong and try to amend our behaviour so as to get back to reality, that is, while it lasts, the deliberate choice, and a foretaste of the experience of Hell."
One of the best chapters in this book concerns the 4-fold interpretation of the Divine Comedy (the literal -the story; the political -its application to man in society and history; the moral -the story read as the development of the soul; and the mystical), all running in parallel throughout the whole poem, and not -as some critics treat them- succeeding one another.
Another great chapter is the City of Dis, explaining how the ordering in the Inferno follows the logical and historical stages of decay of a society or civilization.
From "The meaning of Heaven and Hell":
"If we refuse assent to reality: if we rebel against the nature of things and choose to think that what we at the moment want is the centre of the universe to which everything else ought to accommodate itself, the first effect on us will be that the whole universe will seem to be filled with an implacable and inexplicable hostility. We shall begin to feel that everything has a down on us, and that, being so badly treated, we have a just grievance against things in general. That is the knowledge of good and evil and the fall into illusion. If we cherish and fondle that grievance, and would rather wallow in it and vent our irritation in spite and malice than humbly admit we are in the wrong and try to amend our behaviour so as to get back to reality, that is, while it lasts, the deliberate choice, and a foretaste of the experience of Hell."
July 27, 2017
Sayers has provided an excellent work of commentary that serves as a fine introduction to the student of Dante's Divina Commedia. While periodically digressing into matters of greater interest to her academic audience than the general reader would appreciate, this collection of essays offers guidelines on how to read Dante fruitfully, common pitfalls to avoid, and the theological context in which Dante was operating. On numerous occasions, her attentive reading offered solutions to questions of which I, as a casual enthusiast, was unaware--making her insights doubly valuable.
Of particular assistance to me were the chapters entitled "The Meaning of Heaven and Hell," "The Meaning of Purgatory," "The City of Dis," and "The Fourfold Interpretation of the Comedy". They dwell upon innumerable examples from the text itself, opening up into broader discussions that incorporate not only poetic but structural insights, so crucial to making sense of Dante's world. For instance, in "The City of Dis," Sayers puzzles over the organization of the Inferno. Why are certain sins assigned to rather surprising places--as, for instance, the placement of grafters in a more serious place of punishment than the sellers of ecclesiastical office, the latter seeming far more grave a betrayal? And why are the counterfeiters punished more grievously than suicides, the violent, and the adulterous, in the deepest round of the eight circle? Sayers unfolds her discovery that the Inferno is as much a narrative of the progress of individual and social sin as it is a classification of those sins--that Dante is, in a sense, suffering the progress of sin in its most unabated form, from intemperance to malice to fraud. That is its basic pattern in the world, and when things have gotten so bad within the human community that the most basic means of interpersonal exchange--money--is no longer trustworthy, surely the last vestiges of love have been trampled into unrecognizable deformity. That Dante faints before passing into the circles of the intemperate but is ferried across fully awake to the realm of the violent is an analogue to the intensifying engagement of the will in conscious cooperation with evil.
These and many other patterns that Sayers' close reading and clear admiration for Dante brings to light are well worth the time spent on this book. The successive volumes will hopefully make their way across my desk in the near future!
Of particular assistance to me were the chapters entitled "The Meaning of Heaven and Hell," "The Meaning of Purgatory," "The City of Dis," and "The Fourfold Interpretation of the Comedy". They dwell upon innumerable examples from the text itself, opening up into broader discussions that incorporate not only poetic but structural insights, so crucial to making sense of Dante's world. For instance, in "The City of Dis," Sayers puzzles over the organization of the Inferno. Why are certain sins assigned to rather surprising places--as, for instance, the placement of grafters in a more serious place of punishment than the sellers of ecclesiastical office, the latter seeming far more grave a betrayal? And why are the counterfeiters punished more grievously than suicides, the violent, and the adulterous, in the deepest round of the eight circle? Sayers unfolds her discovery that the Inferno is as much a narrative of the progress of individual and social sin as it is a classification of those sins--that Dante is, in a sense, suffering the progress of sin in its most unabated form, from intemperance to malice to fraud. That is its basic pattern in the world, and when things have gotten so bad within the human community that the most basic means of interpersonal exchange--money--is no longer trustworthy, surely the last vestiges of love have been trampled into unrecognizable deformity. That Dante faints before passing into the circles of the intemperate but is ferried across fully awake to the realm of the violent is an analogue to the intensifying engagement of the will in conscious cooperation with evil.
These and many other patterns that Sayers' close reading and clear admiration for Dante brings to light are well worth the time spent on this book. The successive volumes will hopefully make their way across my desk in the near future!
March 13, 2013
Maybe the best intro do Dante I've ever read. A series of expanded lectures written with Sayers's characteristic clarity, wit, and style. She's a bit more high church than I am, by which I mean she doesn't question the authority of the Bible as much as I think she should; but her reading of Dante is always, as far as I can tell, right on the mark. She pretty much devoted the last 15 years of her life to the study and translation of his poetry, and while her translation leaves a lot to be desired, the notes to it are very good, and these essays even better.
October 23, 2018
Dorothy L. Sayers, the successful English mystery writer and staunch Christian devoted something more than the last decade of her life to the study and translation of Dante's Divina Commedia into English. The book is a collection of lectures she gave elucidating various facets of the work. For the most part, I found them fascinating. An excellent writer, a serious student of the work over a long period of time, and a believer of both Dante's ideas and genius, she shed a great deal of light on a remarkably complicated work and the ideas that underlie it.
John Ciardi wrote in the introduction to his translation that "Hell isn't where sinners are; it's what sinners are." Sayer's develops the idea fully in ways that I think not just Christians but Buddhists and secularists would find of value.
When she quotes the text she gives her own translation as the English version and I've read in a few places criticism of it as idiosyncratic. To the contrary, I think it's remarkable. She did her translation in terza rima, Dante's own verse form. To sustain a complicated rhyme scheme in English across three volumes while remaining true to the text and interesting seems to me a tour de force.
The only problem I had with the book is that about five percent of it is theological controversies and I find theology baffling.
John Ciardi wrote in the introduction to his translation that "Hell isn't where sinners are; it's what sinners are." Sayer's develops the idea fully in ways that I think not just Christians but Buddhists and secularists would find of value.
When she quotes the text she gives her own translation as the English version and I've read in a few places criticism of it as idiosyncratic. To the contrary, I think it's remarkable. She did her translation in terza rima, Dante's own verse form. To sustain a complicated rhyme scheme in English across three volumes while remaining true to the text and interesting seems to me a tour de force.
The only problem I had with the book is that about five percent of it is theological controversies and I find theology baffling.
September 1, 2025
End of Purgatory -> Paradise -> Introductory Papers on Dante was a weird choice, skipping over Inferno and the first huge expanse of Purgatory. I’ll get back to that later. It was like I just wanted to read about the “good parts” and I’ll read the damnation later. Although even in Heaven Dante has condemnations for people on earth: salvation is not certain.
Anyway, this book was a good scholarly background for Dante. A little slow for me at times, a little over my head. The best part might have been the “City of Dis” chapter and the theological notes at the end about Sigier of Brabant, Aristotle, Averroes, Thomas Aquinas. Dante’s Divine Comedy is a pathway into all kinds of other areas of classical and medieval learning. I’m ready to move on to other reading now.
Anyway, this book was a good scholarly background for Dante. A little slow for me at times, a little over my head. The best part might have been the “City of Dis” chapter and the theological notes at the end about Sigier of Brabant, Aristotle, Averroes, Thomas Aquinas. Dante’s Divine Comedy is a pathway into all kinds of other areas of classical and medieval learning. I’m ready to move on to other reading now.
Want to read
April 1, 2020QUOTES:
Let us face the facts. The doctrine of Hell is not “mediaeval”: it is Christ’s. It is not a device of “mediaeval priestcraft” for frightening people into giving money to the Church: it is Christ’s deliberate judgement on sin. (44-45)
The lower know that the higher exist, and “it is a joy to the whole realm”: they look up the ranks of the great ones soaring above them, and are filled with rapture and love. They envy them no more than you or I envy Dante or Shakespeare for being great and glorious. Why should they envy, or why should we? We are thrilled with delight to know that beings so noble can exist. (58-59)
Let us face the facts. The doctrine of Hell is not “mediaeval”: it is Christ’s. It is not a device of “mediaeval priestcraft” for frightening people into giving money to the Church: it is Christ’s deliberate judgement on sin. (44-45)
The lower know that the higher exist, and “it is a joy to the whole realm”: they look up the ranks of the great ones soaring above them, and are filled with rapture and love. They envy them no more than you or I envy Dante or Shakespeare for being great and glorious. Why should they envy, or why should we? We are thrilled with delight to know that beings so noble can exist. (58-59)
May 23, 2024
The best literary criticism on Dante (and some of the best literary criticism I have ever read). Her essay “The Meaning of Heaven and Hell” is not only a treasure hove that unlocks layers of meaning and truth in Dante (especially in Inferno) but also one that sheds illuminating light on the theological topics of Heaven and Hell, sin and free will, the justice of God and the love of God.
May 9, 2020
So lovely to read some new-to-me Sayers. And there's two more volumes to go!
August 29, 2014
A loosely organized collection of lectures that informs and delights. Dorothy L. Sayers devoted more than a decade to studying and translating Dante, and her deep knowledge of the subject shows. Fans of the Inklings may be interested to know that Charles Williams is the one who introduced Sayers to The Divine Comedy and inspired her to learn medieval Italian so that she could do her own translation: The Divine Comedy:1 Hell As others have noted, her translation is not that great, but her notes are worth the price of that book. Sayers sheds light on every topic she touches.
July 31, 2013
Sayers never disappoints. The book is brilliantly written and full of deep literary and spiritual insight.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews