Dante Alighieri The Divine Comedy Sparknotes

Dante alighieri was born in 1265 in florence italy to a family of moderate wealth that had a history of involvement in the complex florentine political scene.
Dante alighieri the divine comedy sparknotes. The divine comedy summary dante alighieri s the divine comedy is an epic poem divided into three parts which describe hell purgatory and heaven respectively. In case you didn t know till now dante alighieri s masterpiece the divine comedy pdf summary is not called divine because it s about deities. Inferno study guide important quotations explained page 5 full of earth. In inferno dante explores the nature.
It s called divine because it s simply that good. The inferno is the first part of dante alighieri s poem the divine comedy which chronicles dante s journey to god and is made up of the inferno hell purgatorio purgatory and paradiso paradise. Around 1285 dante married a woman chosen for him by his family although he remained in love with another woman beatrice whose true historical identity remains a mystery and. The poems are quite short.
Thirty five years old at the beginning of the story dante the character as opposed to the poet has lost his way on the true path of life. The divine comedy is the allegorical record of dante s quest to overcome sin and find god s love. Dante who was born in 1265 wrote the divine comedy somewhere between 1308 and his death in 1321 while he was in exile from his hometown of florence italy which had been enduring civil war. In other words sin has obstructed his path to god.
It would take about as long to read the whole inferno as it would to read the detailed canto summaries and analyses although they might be helpful for understanding dante s difficult language. Dante speaks with pope nicholas who mistakes him for pope boniface. In the fourth chasm dante sees the fortune tellers and diviners who spend eternity with their heads on backwards and their eyes clouded by tears. This island is purgatory which dante tours in the next part of the divine comedy purgatorio.
The earth was displaced by lucifer s fall and thrust up to the surface where it formed an island. The third chasm houses the simonists who are plunged upside down in baptismal fonts with the soles of their feet on fire.