Dantes Motivation to Write The Divine Comedy Essay

Dantes Motivation to Write The Divine Comedy (La Divina Commedia) To truly comprehend Dante’s Divine Comedy, although complete comprehension is not necessary to enjoy this literary masterpiece, there are several skills one might need to acquire. For instance, one helpful piece of knowledge would be the ability to fluently speak Italian, since the many translations differ being able to have read Dante’s actual written words and understand them would make reading the Divine Comedy a bit more personal and therefore easier to understand. To catch and understand the plethora of references and allusions made by Dante it would aid any reader with their findings to be accompanying their reading of the Divine Comedy with a reading of†¦show more content†¦What made her special enough to have a 967 page poem about her? Where did she belong in the vast life of Dante? Why has Dante chosen to paint this truly heavenly picture of her? How did she react to this? â€Å"The historical Beatrice was very probably Bice, daughter of Falco Po rtinari,† (Madelbaum [IN] 320) so in reality â€Å"Beatrice† or Bice was really just a childhood neighbor of the Alighieri, who Dante says he, â€Å"immediately felt the foce of love for her upon first glance.† (Alighieri [VN] 37) However love at first sight is hardly the case here. They first laid eyes on each other at age nine, Dante being several months older then Bice, however the twist comes when it isn’t until almost nine years after this event the first words are finally spoken between the two. Soon after this event the heavenly Bice married, not Dante, but Simone di’ Bardi and then, sadly, died at a very young age. What is it exactly that would make Dante write such an epic piece about someone who he never really knew too well? It is said that, â€Å"After the death of Beatrice, Dante entered, belatedly but voraciously, a period of philosophical study. His motives were both the need for consolation and the restless, urban, unecclesiastical curiosity that characterized one who was becoming the most complete intellectual of his time.† (Mandelbaum [IN] 321) So it is easily noticeable that there is some kind of connection between Dante and Bice. Yet, is it possible that this affection was a one-Show MoreRelatedThe Role of Beatrice Portinari in Dante The Divine Comedy915 Words   |  4 PagesBeatrice Portinari is seen throughout the book of â€Å"Dante The Divine Comedy†. She originally meets Dante in the year 1274, on May Day in Florence, Italy. Beatrice is from a wealthy Florentine family and was eight years old the first time they meet and did not speak a word to each other ( Cotter, 21). She was the principle inspiration for Dante’s La Vita Nuova, a book about Dante’s love connection to her (Passages to the Past). 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