Purgatorio Analysis: A Theme of Self-purification and Redemption
Italy in the 13th century was in continual motion, an epicenter of war and politics that echoed across the continent. Challenging popular beliefs, going against key political seats and upsetting important families was not the smartest move during this time period where the word of powerful men was the law. However Dante, being raised at a young age in the political heat, knew what he was getting into and eventually felt the need to speak his mind. Dante’s depiction of heaven and hell were radical, but these other worldly realms were acknowledged and recognized by Catholics and Protestants alike. Europe was controlled by religion, so when a single man spoke against these commonly known ideals it would cause an
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If you sin and do not repent you go to hell, if you follow the teachings set in stone and repent you are allowed to enter heaven. Dante had something different in mind, at a young age this man fought alongside a pope upholding and fighting for catholic ideals, he even eventually held the powerful position of a prior within the church. Later on Dante had a sort of midlife crisis years after losing the love of his life, whom he met when he was nine years old. This poet and thinker started questioning the way that a man would have to repent for his sins in life to receive the glory of entering paradise in a new life after death. Later in his life Dante was exiled for his vocalization of a different theory about the human spirit’s ascension to heaven. Thus leading us into the reasons behind the construction of Dante’s epic; which recreated the way a man must repent for his sins as a soul in the afterlife. The reasons why Dante wrote this is still studied heavily today, I chose to continue this study on my own time conjuring up some of my own questions. Why did Dante reiterate from prior Biblical thoughts of Purgatory? Why was there