Paradiso

Dante Alighieri

So deeply to be reverenced, so fair,

My lady is when her smile bestows,

All sound of speaking falters to a close

And eyes which would behold her do not dare

Of praises sung of her she is aware,

Yet clad in sweet humility she goes

A miracle in which the world may share.

Dante Alighieri

Sonet XXVI Lavita Nueva

At age nine, Dante was graced by the beauty of Beatrice Portinari, and for the rest of

his life, many of his writings portrayed his intense love for merely the thought of her

which seemed to haunt him. Although his relationship with her was only from afar,

within his mind, Beatrice captivated him as he believed she was a miracle sent from

heaven.

Women have been portrayed in every way throughout time. More often, women have

portrayed as a model of Eve, the misguided seductress of Adam in the Bible. The lure of

a woman is ambiguous, a mystery of the sensual persona that has captivated many

medieval writers. Dante does not portray women as the weakness of all man, instead in

his Comedia, Beatrice is the divine beauty and guide of his journey into heaven.

Undoubtedly, Beatrice captivated Dante enough for him to dedicate his Comedia to, and

through his vivid imagination, he recreates her as a heavenly spirit who protects his

ultimate fate as she is the most influential

character.

Dante wrote La Comedia in the age of religious devotion and fear of sin, which

signifies La Comedia as an ultimate portrayal of medieval thought. A sure anxiety of the

afterlife was cultivated by the rise of Christianity. What is the ultimate sin? How does

one repent sin? What is the journey of the afterlife? Endless questions surely haunted the

medieval mind, and Dante was surely fascinated by the possibilities. Within his

curiosities was beatrice, who enchanted Dante and possibly encouraged his

medieval mind, and Dante was surely fascinated by the possibilities. Within his

curiosities was Beatrice, who enchanted Dante and possibly encouraged his

writing of La Comedia after her death.

My Soul- Such years had passed since last it saw

that lady and stood trembling in her presence,

stupefied by the power of holy awe-

now, by some power that shone from her above

the reach and witness of my mortal eyes,

felt the full mastery of enduring love.

Dante Alighieri

La Comedia

Canto XXX Purgatorio

This is Dante's first sight of Beatrice in La Comedia.