Daily Archives: April 15, 2019

The Earthly Paradise

In canto 28, the Earthly paradise reflects man’s origin as an innocent creation susceptible to temptations. Dante implies that all creation including humans were created to follow the will of God. For example, Dante narrates that “by which the pliant branches, trembling, were bent, all of them, toward where the holy mountain casts its earliest shadow,” (Canto 28, lines 10-12). Dante characterizes the breeze that bends the branches as “unchanging in itself” (canto 28, line 7). In a mortal and materialistic world, everything ages and deteriorates. If anything is unchanging, it’s considered immortal and divine. Thus, the wind is an extension of God’s divinity and helps the creations follow the will of God. Moreover, Dante uses the adjective “pliant” to describe the branch to imply that nature itself , including  the trees are created to bend at the will of God. He elaborates that they bent to “where the holy mountain casts its earliest shadows.” Even though the plants are supposed to bend at the will of God, they’re not bending in the “right” direction. Usually, trees and plants naturally bend towards the source of light which represents God, however, in this case, they’re bending towards the shadows where there is no light. In a sense, the plants are a metaphor for humans, Dante is implying that even though humans and all of nature is created to serve God, humans have strayed from their true purpose. The “holy mountain” is designed in such a way that it closest to the heavens so God’s light may always reach its inhabitants . However, humans turned to the “shadows” where God’s light does not reach them, and in doing so, they became shadows of their former selves that once lived in the Garden of Eden.

The body of waters reflects man’s pure origin and inevitable condemnation. Dante narrates that “ All the waters that back here are the purest,” (canto 28, line 28) and “it [they] hide nothing,” (canto 28, line 30). Just like the pure water, God created humans as pure beings devoid of all sins with clear intentions. Just as the water hides nothing about its contents, humans didn’t hide anything from God and each other. However, Dante elaborates that “although it moves dark, dark under the perpetual shade, which never lets sun or moon shine through.” (Canto 28, lines 31-32). The description of the water is contradictory because even though it’s pure, it’s dark. Usually, if water has a dark hue, it means that its contaminated. Since, the Earthly paradise represents the origin of humans, the description of the waters parallels the human transformation from pure creations to morally corrupt beings. Even though the body of water is close to the the stars in the heavens, the celestial light can’t penetrate the water because it’s located in the first place that humans sinned and fell from heaven. God created the Earthly paradise so that his light can always shine on Adam and Eve. However, when they disobeyed him, they fell from heaven and the celestial light in the forms of stars, sun, and moon no longer directly shined on them.  The pure and dark nature of the water shows that the once pure humans are corrupted inside, and God’s light fails to penetrate their heart, hence they’re purposeless and led astray. There is a repetition of the word “shadow” to reiterate that the paradise is full of shadows just like humans are shadows of their original status and glory.

The Garden of Paradise essentially displays what humans have lost. Hence, the garden is physically characterized so that it can show the true story of humans as pure beings who fell from Grace. In fact, Matelda narrates that “Because of his own fault he dwelt here but little; by his own fault he changed into weeping and labor his virtuous laughter and sweet play.” (canto 28, line 94-96). The clauses set up a parallel between “weeping” and “virtuous laughter,” and “labor” and “sweet play” to show how humans live on earth and how they lived on the Garden of Eden.  The earthly Paradise mirrors the punishment for Adam and Eve’s sin and their fall from Paradise. Dante claims “You put me in the mind of where and what Proserpina was,”( canto 28, line 49-50). Dante claims that the Earthly paradise reminds him of the story of Prosperina because just as she lost her virginity and ability to reside on Earth when Hades raped and imprisoned her, humans lost their status and ability to reside on the Earthly paradise. For Dante, the earthly paradise represents the origin of humans and their true narrative which include the purity of their creation and their simultaneous fall from paradise.

Personal Note: I’m not entirely sure what my final paper is, however I am exploring some leads. I’m planning on attending the Harrowing of Hell play. Based on my feeling on it, I may decide to do a comparative essay based on Dante’s inferno  and the play’s interpretation of hell. If I don’t like the play, I might pick something else to do.

Side note: I’m confused about the female characters and what they represent. I read that Persepolina represents the “human err” in the notes and I don’t understand what error she committed. I think her suffering is similar to the humans but its through no fault of her own. Also, while I understand that Matelda is represented as the “ unfallen Eve”, I don’t understand what Beatrice represents? Is she the “redeemed Eve”?

 

Dante’s Voyage

In Purgatorio 30 Dante compares Beatrice to an Admiral that helps guide other people’s ships “Like an admiral who comes to stern and prow to see the people who serve on other ships, and heartens them to do well” (58-60). This line reminded me of Ulysses and his voyage to beyond the edge of the known world. We know that this journey failed and may be one of the reasons for Ulysses’ damnation. Ulysses is portrayed as a gifted individual with talents that can break past the established limits. This is quite similar to how Dante portrays himself as we have seen him place himself just one level below the greatest poets in the world. Dante seems to compare Ulysses’ voyage with his own journey as he makes references of ships throughout Purgatorio like the previous quote or the quote in the beginning of Purgatorio “To run through better waters the little ship of my wit now hoists its sails, leaving behind it a sea so cruel.”

We know that Ulysses’ journey failed and that Dante’s journey will succeed but why does this happen even though they are of similar character? That is because of Beatrice or more precisely faith as we see in Purgatorio 31 we learn that Beatrice is the one that guides Dante onto the true path, she is the reason why Dante made this journey in the first place as he was slowly straying from the true path and needed to be corrected. That is why Dante makes the comparison with the Admiral, Beatrice is able to help guide Dante because of his faith. Ulysses on the other hand wanted to rely on reason and logic, without faith he was destined to never succeed in his voyage. This draws back to the theme of faith vs reason as we have seen with Virgil in where he was unable to get through hell by only using reason and had to rely on faith to get past these obstacles.

Dante and Beatrice on Earth and in the Earthly Paradise

Dante’s first known work, Vita Nova or New Life, heavily centers around the relationship, or lack thereof, between Dante and Beatrice. As I mentioned in a previous post, my first academic encounter with Dante was Vita Nova. I was, and still am, fascinated by the one-sided relationship Dante seems to have with Beatrice in Vita Nova which seems to expand into more of a reciprocal relationship in Purgatorio. I say this because in Vita Nova Dante and Beatrice only have a few interactions of little to no consequence other than in Dante’s mind. I remember wondering last year if Beatrice would have even known who Dante was or just vaguely recognized his face if they passed by each other on the street.

When Beatrice finally comes to Dante’s side for the first time in La Commedia, I immediately found my copy of Vita Nova* to see what comparisons I could find. I decided not to immediately read the Purgatorio footnotes for Canto 30 since I wanted to see what I could come up with organically, almost like a small test of my analyzing skills.

Both times Dante sees Beatrice for the “first” time (the true first time on Earth and the first time during his journey outside the earthly realm) he almost immediately describes her clothing. After three very long sentences in Vita Nova, amounting to about half a page, where Dante uses astrological terms to explain how old he and Beatrice are at the time of this first sighting, in the fourth he writes:

“She appeared, dressed in a very stately color, a subdued and dignified crimson, girdled and adorned in a manner that was fitting for her young age” (page 3).

In Purgatorio, Dante again immediately describes her clothing before he talks about her effect on him, writing:

“her white veil girt with olive, a lady appeared to me, clothed, beneath a green mantle, in the color of living flame” (lines 31-33).

Both times Dante sees Beatrice she is clothed in red. I have a note handwritten in my copy of Vita Nova that I am almost sure was information Professor Van Peteghem told us in class explaining that crimson was linked to grief after death during Dante’s time. If that is true, it juxtaposes the two shades of red perfectly. The first is linked to death and the other to the living flame.

The second time Dante sees Beatrice in Vita Nova he once again describes her clothing, writing that the “marvelous lady appeared to me dressed in pure white, between two gracious women, both of whom were older than she” (page 4). This white is again seen in the description of her veil in Purgatory. The two gracious women that Dante sees Beatrice accompanied by in this quote sparked my interest as well. In Canto 2 of Inferno, I had found it very odd that it took two intermediaries, St Mary and St Lucy, to intercede with Beatrice on Dante’s behalf so that she would ask Virgil to help him. It is a possibility in both cases that Dante has the total be three women due to the holiness of the number three, however, I am curious if there might be a link between the two women Dante sees Beatrice with in Vita Nova and the two women that are intermediaries to Beatrice in Inferno.

Unfortunately, I could not find any mention of the color green in Vita Nova which makes this comparison fall just a little short. I went as far as to find a digital copy and keyword search everything I could think of, including mentions of olives and leaves, which was to no avail. Never the less, I am still satisfied with the comparisons I did find between Vita Nova and Purgatorio.

*All quotations from Vita Nova are from the Andrew Frisardi edition published in 2012.

Paper Idea: I would like to examine the similarities and differences between any women represented by both Dante and Christine de Pizan if you think it is a good idea for a paper.

Beatrice as Dante’s New Guide

Throughout Inferno, and up to this point in Purgatorio, Dante rarely acts or even speaks to anyone else, without first being told to by Virgil.  He has been the one pointing out what is important. However, from cantos 29 to 31 of Purgatorio, we see Virgil being replaced as the guide of Dante. We see that Virgil is still at Dante’s side in canto 29, lines 55-57, as Dante and the poet exchange glances of amazement over the light and sound emanating from the forest. But sometime between this action and canto 30, line 49-51, he is gone; “But Virgil has left us deprived of himself- Virgil, most sweet father, Virgil, to whom I gave myself for my salvation”.

Even before Virgil disappears, Matelda has been acting as Dante’s guide. In lines 7-9 of canto 29, Dante follow her along the riverbank. She directs him in lines 12-13 of canto 29 “My brother, look and listen”. Again in canto 29, she directs him to look beyond the light, to the people behind it, in lines 61-64; “Why do you burn so with feeling for the living lights and do not look at what comes after them?” This is how Virgil previously had drawn Dante’s attention when there was something of note which Dante has not seen.

Virgil’s absence allows Beatrice to take over as Dante’s guide. She explains in canto 30 how she guided him in life, through Dante’s love for her, and that once she died, he was left to wander away because he lacked her guidance. Now reunited it Purgatory, she resumes her role. She encourages him to speak and confess why he strayed in canto 31, lines 37-57.

For my final paper, I want to compare two paintings and how they represent the same scene. I am thinking of doing how the Prideful are depicted by Gustave Doré, versues Priamo della Quercia in the Yate Thompson manuscript.

The Garden of Eden

Dante is in awe when viewing the Earthly Paradise which is a garden, also dark “which never lets sun or moon shine through” with fresh May branches and streams. He meets a solitary lady who he also calls beautiful (beautiful donna) and she is singing to herself by the riverbank while picking flower from flower and Dante tries to listen. The lady is known as Matelda. According to the notes in the book Purgatorio page 484 it says, “Embodying the innocent happiness of Eden, Matelda is a kind of nymph of the wood or protective spirit of the place.” She sees that Dante and Virgil are new dwellers and Matelda explains the nature and history of the Earthly Paradise. Metelda tells Virgil and Dante that the garden is known as the Garden of Eden, once intended for the eternal peace of humankind but was then abandoned because of sin. Matelda says, “he highest Good, who alone pleases himself, made man good and for the good, and this place he gave as a token to him of eternal peace” (canto 29 lines 91-93). Its trees and plants are created by God, and the weather is pleasurably everlasting. Two rivers, Lethe and Eunoe, cross the Earthly Paradise. Matelda states, “On this side it descends with the power to take away all memory of sin; on the other it gives back the memory of every good deed. Here it is called Lethe, as on the other side Eunoe” (canto 29 lines 127-131). Therefore, if one drinks from the water of Lethe, their sins would be forgotten, but if a soul drinks from the water of Eunoe, the soul will have remembrance of their virtuous deeds. In Greek and Roman mythology Lethe, according to the  notes in the book Purgatorio page 490, is a river that flows through Hell. Those who drink from it, forget both their past deeds as well as their entire life on earth. Dante, however, creates his own version of the river of Lethe by encouraging the sinner to be forgetful of theirs sin but still allows the drinker to still remember everything else, including their earthly lives. The river, Eunoe, doesn’t exist in classical mythology, but is created by Dante. Both Lethe and Eunoe rivers come from a single source and flow through the Garden of Eden which is how it is represented in the Bible. This canto also has important ties with the forest of Inferno1 and Inferno13. The dark wood of the beginning of Inferno is set at the foot of the “delightful” mountain and the pilgrim wants to climb it but is dangerous. Therefore, the first dark wood mentioned in Inferno1 represents the moral struggle while the forest in canto 13 represents how the souls refused the divine plenitude of integration of body and soul. While the wood of suicides is filed with thorns, poison and filth, garden of Eden has flowers, singing and liveliness.

 

In relation to the Met paintings from last week, this canto (canto 29) reminds me of the painting called “Expulsion from Paradise.” God created man to be deathless and to share his own happiness (cf. Par. 13. 57-60), “good and for the good”; but Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden into hardship and mortality because they disobeyed God and ate the apple from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. In the painting the garden’s radiance is surrounded by flowers, plants, and trees which symbolizes the purity and sinless behavior of mankind before the Fall. In the painting Adam and Eve are being discharged from the garden by a graceful angel. Because this angel whose nudity is seen to have human-like characteristics’: thin, fragile, petite, then this angel has a deep understanding and sympathizes mankind after the fall from grace although mankind (Adam and Eve) made unethical decisions.

In regards to my final paper I have thought about two options: one is to discuss the violence in Inferno and as the reader progressively moves downward in the Inferno the sins become worse becoming more violent than the previous circle.

OR

I wanted to write about Paolo and Francesca and how they are still in love so their sin is still on-going + this idea of the will vs the intellect.

 

 

 

Final Paper timeline

Only 3 students have contacted me re: the final paper.

Please review my guidelines and timeline here.

You might review all the assignments to see if you are missing anything. Many of you have completed the blogging activity (except for the reflective paper 2), which is due on April 29. As a reminder, you can use that post to “make up” for missing assignment but you have to tell me what you are planning on doing. I think some of you didn’t go to the MET. That would be an opportunity.

See you in class!

Hint Background Subject School Learning Backdrop

Pastoral setting in Canto 28

Dante and Virgil enter the earthly paradise, the garden of Eden at canto 28. The entire setting of the Earthly Paradise is related to the concept of the Golden Age, which is coined by Hesiod in the poem of Work and Days. The Golden Age is a period of prosperity and harmony when men only rely on the abundance of the earth to feed themselves (Wikipedia). There is a notion of the pastoral and idyllic environment throughout the canto. The garden is presented as a deep forest that is “thick and alive”, and Dante then makes a reflected comment: “tempered the new days to my eyes” to show that the density of the forest creates a shaded environment in which light seeps in. Alighieri uses the veil motif to highlight the natural innocence that men have in their unfiltered and unrefined habitat. The beauty of the garden is emphasized in verses 7-9 and 13-15:

“A sweet breeze, unchanging in itself, struck my brow with no greater force than a gentle wind,” (Purg. 28. 7-9)

“but not parted so much from their straightness that the little birds in the treetops left off exerting their every art” (Purg. 28. 13-5)

The spring-like scenes in both verses render a tranquil and harmonic quality that defines the Earthly Paradise. And the word “straightness” alludes to the natural justice that is inherited in men, but natural justice can be tampered whenever there is an opposite sex involved. For example, when the pilgrim sees Matelda, the guide in Earthly Paradise, he said

“Ah, beautiful lady who warm yourself in the rays of love, if am to believe your expression, which usually bears witness to the heart… You put me in mind of where and what Proserpina was” (Purg. 28. 43-50)

Martinez commentary suggests that there is a sexual overtone in these particular passages because it expresses a style that is similar to the poetic tradition of pastourelle. In pastourelle lyric form sexual relations often happens between the narrator and shepherdess, either consensual or rape. But according to the story of Proserpina, she was abducted and raped by Hades (Martinez 485).The juxtaposition presented in these particular passages is a bit out of place since the Earthly Paradise is described to be a perfect setting. More or less the concept of the Earthly Paradise or the Golden Age is merely an appearance derived from the fascination we have about the idyllic past. Though taking place in the pastoral setting the story of Adam and Eve is perhaps an anti-pastoral story. And that the structure of a pastoral narrative can be broken down as anti-pastoral because of its innate feature of innocence and “straightness”.

Biblical Meets Classical

In canto 28 Dante integrates the biblical world and the mythological world as he has done previously in Inferno. Dante enters earthly paradise in this canto and is astounded by the glorious things he sees such as the, “… divine forest, thick and alive” (Purgatorio 28, 2-3). He is met by a beautiful woman who goes by the name Matelda. Matelda explains to Dante that where they are is the Garden of Eden where humanity would have lived in eternal peace till the end of time had Eve not succumbed to sin. Matelda explains this by saying, “The highest Good, who alone pleases himself, made man good and for the good, and this place he gave as a token to him of eternal peace” (Inferno 28, 91-93). The Garden of Eden is no doubt one of the most famous biblical references. Without the creation of original sin by Eve, there would have been no journey for Dante the pilgrim. There are also two important streams mentioned in this canto and that is the Lethe and the Eunoe. Matelda explains the purpose of these streams by saying, “On this side it descends with the power to take away all memory of sin; on the other it gives back the memory of every good deed” (Purgatorio 28, 127-129). Lethe appears in Greek and roman mythology and is known as the “river of oblivion.” Dante takes the classical meaning of Lethe and molds it to fit the earthly paradise he seeks to recount. Along with the biblical and classical imagery used by Dante, he also adds his own contribution by the creation of Eunoe. The notes of Purgatorio state, “The name is a coinage of Dante’s, from Greek eu [well] and noesis [knowledge], meaning “knowledge of good”(Durling).

Virgil & Beatrice

Throughout the Inferno, Dante is scolded by his guide Virgil. Similarly, in Purgatorio, Dante is scolded like a mother to a child by his lover, Beatrice. Dante is scolded by two of the most important people to him. In canto 30 of the Inferno, Dante is watching Sinon and Master agrue and go back and forth. Virgil comes and hits Dante in the back of his head and tells him to stop watching this shameful argument. In lines 130-136:

I was all intent to listen to them, when my master

said to me: “Now keep looking, for I am not far from

quarreling with you!”

When I heard him speak to me angrily, I turned

toward him with such shamethat it dizzies me in

memory.

Dante hangs his head in shame and Virgil after seeing this takes him under his arm and forgives him. Just as a mother scolds her child and the child is ashamed; the mother feels bad and shows affection to her child. In canto 30 of the Purgatorio, the moment everyone has been waiting for: the appearance of Dante’s beloved Beatrice. When she first appears, Dante is taken back by her beauty and like a scared child turns to Virgil for answers. Virgil was gone. Dante starts panicking wondering where Virgil could’ve gone and as he is about to cry Beatrice scolds him. Beatrice foreshadows that Dante will encounter another terrible wound so he should save his tears. Without mercy, she scolds him for crying in the earthly paradise; the place where men are supposed to be happy. Dante hangs his head in shame and then sees his shameful reflection in the stream. Beatrice is compared to scolding Dante as her child. As shown in lines 73-81:

“Look at us well! Truly I am, truly am

Beatrice. How have you designed to approach thee

mountain? Did you not know that here mankind is

happy?”

My eyes fell down to the clear spring, but,

seeing myself there, I turned them to the grass,

such shameweighed down my brow:

so as a mother seems severe to her son as she

seemed to me, for bitter is the flavor of

compassion still unripe.