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Cliffs Notes on Dante's The Divine Comedy: Purgatorio
This classic poem of 14th-century Italy is an allegory of a journey through the various levels of heaven and hell. In between, Dante describes Purgatory (Purgatorio). It is the first great poetic work written in Italian.
120 pages, Paperback
First published November 6, 1964
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October 21, 2023
God bless Cliffs Notes; although my edition of Purgatorio does have notes, I would be lost without the additional notes given in this volume.
As Dante and Virgil make their way up the mountain of Purgatory, they meet many spirits whom Dante knew or knew of in life; they are very willing to tell who they are (in the hope that once Virgil finishes his journey and gets back to Earth proper, he can tell their people that they are in Purgatory and are in need of prayers to shorten their stay). They are also quite eager to give political speeches and forecasts, in view of Dante’s personal politics (which hold that the Church should not be in politics, and that the nations should not be in religion, but that the two spheres should be equal and separate). Additionally, once Dante and his companion(s) make it to the Earthly Paradise at the top of the mountain, we are treated to allegorical dumb shows and very dense Catholic doctrine, mostly given by Dante’s personal muse Beatrice, who engineered this whole journey that Dante has been taking.
While I do will not have to get a passing grade on my book review (which seems to be the main reason for turning to Cliffs Notes), I am grateful to have the additional assistance this volume gave me on Purgatorio.
As Dante and Virgil make their way up the mountain of Purgatory, they meet many spirits whom Dante knew or knew of in life; they are very willing to tell who they are (in the hope that once Virgil finishes his journey and gets back to Earth proper, he can tell their people that they are in Purgatory and are in need of prayers to shorten their stay). They are also quite eager to give political speeches and forecasts, in view of Dante’s personal politics (which hold that the Church should not be in politics, and that the nations should not be in religion, but that the two spheres should be equal and separate). Additionally, once Dante and his companion(s) make it to the Earthly Paradise at the top of the mountain, we are treated to allegorical dumb shows and very dense Catholic doctrine, mostly given by Dante’s personal muse Beatrice, who engineered this whole journey that Dante has been taking.
While I do will not have to get a passing grade on my book review (which seems to be the main reason for turning to Cliffs Notes), I am grateful to have the additional assistance this volume gave me on Purgatorio.
Displaying 1 of 1 review