The Book Report: Dante’s Purgatorio

By Kate Norrish Staff Writer Halfway through my

Tobias Cotton-Selman / THE GATEPOST

journey of writing this column, I found myself at a crossroad - which book of “The Divine Comedy” should I talk about? That’s right, we’re talking about the guy who is often seen as the GOAT, the man who makes almost every writer feel inadequate, The Supreme Poet himself - Dante Alighieri. The reason I decided on “The Purgatorio” - written around the beginning of the 14th century - is because everyone knows “Dante’s Inferno,” and “The Paradiso” has developed a group of devoted fans, but “The Purgatorio” is often cast aside and labelled as the black sheep of the trilogy, which is unfortunate, because it’s my favorite. After exiting Hell by literally climbing up Satan’s back, Virgil continues his quest to help Dante achieve God’s approval by taking him up the mountain of Purgatory. Unlike in “The Inferno,” where almost every character is in a horrible headspace as they spend an eternity in literal Hell, “The Purgatorio” holds a welcome spark of light and humanity. We get to see a different side to our two main characters. Dante’s deep empathy that dulled throughout “The Inferno” reappears as camaraderie as he is able to journey alongside - rather than gawk at - the dead. The book also explores the awkward position that Virgil finds himself in. Because Virgil has been placed as a resident of Hell, he explains to Dante that he will soon be unable to be Dante’s guide. While the text never says it directly, I couldn’t help but loom over this thought, as Virgil and Dante are inseparable, in both the text itself, and in the public’s mind of this book. The concept of having an entire book in The Divine Comedy where he never shows up feels unnatural. With that being said, the process of becoming pure enough to enter Heaven is inconsistent in tone. One minute, Dante and Virgil are learning about prideful people having to carry large rocks, and the next, they see envious people with their eyes sewn shut with metal wires. I would actually consider it an advantage of the book. While “The Inferno” is about the worst of humanity, and “The Paradiso” is the best, “The Purgatoro” shows humans as they are - with gross bodies filled with blood and organs, immense love for other people, and a little too much fascination for their own good. Without spoiling too much, the conclusion of this part of the poem reminds us of what many critics of “The Divine Comedy” fail to understand - Dante, both the author and the character, does not agree with his worldbuilding. It is unfair, and many of the people he meets in both “The Inferno” and “The Purgatorio” are his real-life friends, trapped by religious politics. I also find it an interesting moment when Virgil explains that several deadly sins are corrupted forms of love, considering there is evidence that Dante was a victim of sexual abuse as a child, as well as being betrothed before he reached his teen years, causing a strained relationship with his wife. This was exacerbated by the fact that he was married off in exchange for an unusually small dowry, according to the book “Dante: A Life” by Alessandro Barbero. In both “The Divine Comedy,” and Dante’s other surviving long form work, “La Vita Nuova,” he discusses the result this had on him. Many of Dante’s works focus on love as something terrifying that needs to be restrained. This is no exception. Dante’s fixation on Beatrice - his lifelong muse whom many believe was a fictional character - is something that makes him incredibly nervous. He realizes that he is destined to be in various circles of Purgatory, and even his relationship with Virgil, which includes bridal carrying and face kisses, is mostly ignored in favor of Beatrice by the other characters, Virgil included. This is fascinating when acknowledging that Beatrice is seen exclusively as a romantic interest to Dante, whereas the exact nature of Dante and Virgil’s relationship is left almost entirely ambiguous. To put it simply, with every part of “The Divine Comedy,” I and many other people could talk about “The Purgatorio” for hours and still only be scratching the surface of everything this book has to say. However, this part ties Dante’s Heaven and Hell into a nice little combination that gives Dante, Virgil, and the reader a still dark but necessary breather. Because “The Divine Comedy” was originally published in Italian, I would recommend reading the English translation by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, (known for poems such as “Paul Revere’s Ride”). However, if you struggle to understand the epic poem format, there are also various prose versions to choose from. And because this book begins on Easter Sunday, you can, if you want, read it alongside children’s books about bunnies.