The Divine Comedy | The Divine Comedy

At a glance:

Author: Dante
First Published: 1320
Type of Work: Poetry
Type of Plot: Allegory
Time of Work: The Friday before Easter, 1300
Setting: Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise
Genres: Poetry, Allegory, Epic, Narrative poetry
Subjects: Mythology or myths, Sin or Original sin, Adultery, Punishment, Good and evil, Forests or forestry, Hell, Fate or fatalism, Devils or demons, Middle Ages, Saints or sainthood, Treason, Mountains, Animals, dangerous, Heaven, Satan or Satanism, Fourteenth century, Baptism, Easter
Locales: Hell, Paradise, Purgatory

Dante (DAHN-tay), the exile Florentine poet, who is halted in his path of error through the grace of the Virgin, Saint Lucy, and Beatrice, and is redeemed by his journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. He learns to submerge his instinctive pity for some sinners in his recognition of the justice of God, and he frees himself of the faults of wrath and misdirected love by participating in the penance for these sins in Purgatory. He is then ready to grow in understanding and love as he moves with Beatrice nearer to the presence of God.

The Divine Comedy | The Divine Comedy

At a glance:

Characters Discussed

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