Project by: Cosima Dovan (11th Grade)
Project Advisor: Michel de Konkoly Thege
Student(s)’s Advisor(s): Ann Carroll
Description of the Project:
In this project I read Purgatorio, the second cantica in Dante Alighieri’s epic narrative poem La Divina Comedia (or The Divine Comedy). On Monday afternoons, my project mentor Michel de Konkoly Thege, my classmate Bay Dotson, and I met to discuss, analyze, and interpret Purgatorio. By dissecting Dante’s use of language, images, and references, we grappled with his reflections on Christian theology, depiction of female characters, uses of eroticism and sexuality, and representation of himself and personal experiences.
Final Product (e.g., documents, images, video, audio, poster, display, etc.):
Due to complicating factors such as a global pandemic, a super short trimester, my own stunning lack of time management skills, and merely the magnitude of Purgatorio and all of the beautiful but daunting depth it offered me… I did not end up producing the analytical paper I had originally envisioned as the final product for this project. To compensate for that, I will provide my annotations thus far (since I have yet to read through cantos 21-34 completely) because this project was ultimately about reading, having conversations, and experiencing the journey…
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Open in new tab Final Reflection on Learning:
As I reflect on this enrapturing journey through Purgatorio, I am overwhelmed with a torrent of thought that I feel stupefyingly incapable of conveying. Perhaps it is because I haven’t quite finished the journey; perhaps it is because I am avoiding the prospect of documenting all of my thoughts, but all I feel like I can say at this point is that Dante has given me a lot to think about. In an earlier reflection, I relayed a question that we had posed during one of our discussions: for a fourteenth-century guy, does Dante create developed, strong women characters? A question I am thinking about now is: what does Dante reveal about himself through his women characters? Despite “the chin” (arrogance) that Dante frequently flaunts throughout the epic, he describes himself as utterly awestruck when he is first reacquainted with Beatrice. In one of my favorites passages in the epic, Dante emotes “[a]nd my spirit, which already for so long a time / had not known in her presence the awe that / overcame it with trembling / without having more knowledge through the / eyes, because of hidden power that moved from / her, felt the great force of ancient love… I turned to the left with the appeal with which a / little boy runs to his mama when he is afraid or / when he is hurt” (Purgatorio Canto 30:34-45). In the presence of Beatrice, Dante relays what feels to be an experience of emasculation, describing himself as being reduced to a “little boy.” Additionally, the experience is also erotic; Dante is overcome with the bodily sensation of “trembling,” arising from a combination of fear, pleasure, and “the great force of ancient love.” Throughout the rest of Canto 30, it becomes apparent that Beatrice is quite dominating, confidently asserting her opinions about Dante’s lifestyle. Besides the undertones of jealousy in her speech (which would stereotypically be categorized as feminine), Beatrice assumes traditionally masculine qualities, while Dante assumes traditionally feminine states (such as romanticism and sentimentality). Dante’s love for Beatrice encapsulates an infatuation and devotion that is, in my opinion, incomparable to any profession of love for a woman, written by a man, that I have read. While most male writers use female love-interests to endow themselves with the worth of traditional masculinity (think Manic Pixie Dream Girl), Dante, through his love for Beatrice, reveals a desire to embrace his own femininity. Anyways, that’s just my two cents on one of my favorite moments in Purgatorio.
Update on Progress from Weeks 1-3 (include any photos or video if relevant):
So far, we have read up to Canto 5 in Purgatorio and will be discussing Cantos 5 through 7 on Monday. In our discussions, we have reviewed and examined several materializing themes and motifs (particularly parallels between Inferno and Purgatorio, the structure of Purgatory and the common conditions/motives of the souls we have encountered thus far in the epic).
Update on Progress from Weeks 4-6 (include any photos or video if relevant):
In the past couple of weeks, my fellow trekkers and I have ascended the mountain of Purgatory (cantos 8 through 16). In our meetings, we have further discussed aforementioned themes and motifs, as well as Dante’s intentions with certain material. For example, when Dante-pilgrim and Virgil passed through the terrace of pride we considered what Michel calls “Dante’s chin” (his not-so-subtle arrogance and self-admiration) and how Dante is perhaps (not so conscientiously – in my opinion) confronting his pride. Upon encountering more women in this cantica, we have grappled with larger questions about Dante’s representation of women in The Divine Comedy: “for a fourteenth-century guy, does Dante create developed, strong women characters?” We still have yet to meet Dante’s holy dominatrix, Beatrice, so more thoughts to come… Tomorrow we will discuss Cantos 14 through 16.
Update on Progress from Weeks 7-9 (include any photos or video if relevant):
In our final weeks, we wandered through cantos 17 through 21, skipping to Canto 30 for our last session because we were unable to finish the entirety of Purgatorio in each other’s company (and we couldn’t miss the long-awaited arrival of Beatrice!) Ending on Canto 30 was quite fitting actually, because it is the passage in which Dante’s endearing guide through Hell and Purgatory – Virgil – leaves him to his new guide – Beatrice – his beloved holy dominatrix who will guide him through the rest of Purgatory, on through Heaven. Since Bay and I have decided to continue reading Purgatorio together, I mused that like Dante, I am parting with my own Virgil, Michel de Konkoly Thege (my initial guide), and joining my very own Beatrice, Bay Dotson, for the rest of the journey. In our discussions, we continued to indulge the erotic undertones of Purgatorio, as well as Dante’s somewhat progressive uses of gender and sex throughout the Comedia. One observation we made is that throughout Purgatorio, Dante never specifies a gender or sex assignation to God. Unlike the traditional Christian ideology of the patriarchal God, Dante envisions God to be the collective celestial bodies, or an entity gloriously undefined; one that cannot be constrained by an human-generated cultural or social ideology…
