Dante's Four Levels Of Analysis

It is easy to read anything in the literal sense, however, one usually misses the deeper meaning hidden between the lines. This meaning is hidden within the metaphors and symbols; using words that mean one thing, to allude to different implication. Dante Alighieri, in his book The Convivio, goes over “the four levels of interpretation”, which in turn was adapted from Summa Theology by Saint Thomas Aquinas, a Christian theologian and philosopher. St. Aquinas’ levels of interpretation are: Literal, Historical, Moral and Anagogical. He applied the levels of interpretation when interpreting the words of the Bible. On the other hand, Dante’s four levels of interpretation are: Literal, Allegorical, Moral and Anagogical. Dante applies these four levels to everyday literature. Why should one use the four levels of interpretation when reading works of literature and in everyday life? For Dante, knowledge is, “the ultimate perfection of our soul, in which resides our ultimate happiness, we are all therefore by nature subject to a desire for it.” Therefore, by applying the four levels of interpretation to whatever one is reading, one can obtain the most knowledge from what the author is trying to say, and that, as Dante

Aquinas’ case, to read the Bible only literally is to miss the vast amount of meaning hidden within the words. It is only by reading deeply and meditating on the scriptures that we can go deeper down the four levels of interpretation, into the moral and anagogical. In terms of historical, at the time of St. Aquinas, Bible was seen as historical fact and a source for historical study. St. Aquinas pairs the allegorical and the anagogical together, “Of these four, allegory alone stands for the three spiritual senses. Thus Hugh of St. Victor (Sacram. iv, 4 Prolog.) includes the anagogical under the allegorical sense.” Dante, however, wants to apply the levels of interpretation to any written work, even fiction, which in most cases is not