A Brief Introduction To Women In The High Middle Ages
Before we continue with Beatrice (and even the young woman who tends the Garden of Eden), let's stop and talk all too briefly about the roles and available places for women in Dante's day, the high mi...
8 Mar 21min
Beatrice, Changed; Dante, Panicked; And The Reader, De-centered: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXII, Lines 70 - 108
Dante wakes back up from his unexpected sleep to find that the grand parade is heading off into the forest (or maybe the skies). He's in a panic that Beatrice has left, too, although the young woman o...
4 Mar 34min
Asleep In Eden: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXII, Lines 49 - 69
The griffin pulls the chariot or cart up to the denuded tree--the "widowed" tree--and the tree regenerates into a color reminiscent of other moments in PURGATORIO. But which one exactly?We're descendi...
1 Mar 26min
Games Of Interpretation In Eden: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXII, Lines 28 - 48
The griffin rolls his chariot up to the foot of a denuded tree as Beatrice descends out of her ride. The symbolism (the allegories, in fact) become increasingly murky, difficult to parse, especially w...
25 Feb 28min
Sound The Retreat In Eden: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXII, Lines 1 - 27
Face to face with Beatrice, the pilgrim Dante is ready for more revelation. Problem is, even after Lethe he's still doing things wrong and must be corrected by the women around the griffin's chariot.B...
22 Feb 33min
A Read-Through Of PURGATORIO, Cantos XXXII - XXXIII
As we've done across the second canticle of Dante's masterpiece, COMEDY, we're taking some time to read through the final two cantos of PURGATORIO, XXXII and XXXIII.I'll read my rough English translat...
18 Feb 21min
The Revelation Of Beatrice's Hidden, Second Beauty: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI, Lines 127 - 145
We finally come to the face-to-face meeting of Beatrice and Dante. We've waited for this moment since INFERNO, Canto II, when Beatrice first stepped into COMEDY.Neither Dante nor Beatrice speak at the...
15 Feb 25min
Beatrice And The Griffin: PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI, Lines 112 - 126
Dante has now crossed Lethe and is ready to face Beatrice head on. She has moved to get ready for this eye-to-eye conversation. She's positioned nearer the griffin, a complicated symbol that may have ...
11 Feb 21min
