Essay Questions

How does Dante employ intertextuality to emphasize Beatrice's magnificence?

Dante elucidates, "and saw her to be of such noble and praiseworthy manners, that certainly might be said of her those words of the poet Homer: ‘She did not seem to be the daughter of a mortal man, but of a god.’ And though her image that which was continually with me, was a device of Amor’s to govern me.” Citing Homer’s poem depicts Dante’s conviction about Beatrice’s supremacy. Equating her to a god’s daughter surmises that Beatrice is an extraordinary and mystical woman who transcends the ordinary woman in terms of virtues and beauty.

What is the implication of Biblical allusion in the “Sonetto, which begins: ‘O voi che par la via.’ ”?

Dante explains, “This sonneto has two main parts: in the first I mean to call on those loyal to Amor in the words that Jeremiah the prophet spoke: O all you who pass this way, listen and see, if there is any grief like mine,’ and to beg them to allow me to be heard.” The allusion underscores Dante’s anguish which is ascribed to love. Love may elicit anguish in some instances such as Dante’s. Dante’s love-related distress is so extreme that it is analogous to Biblical Jeremiah’s.

Provide a psychoanalytic elucidation for Dante’s motivation to draw angels.

Dante explains, “On that day which fulfilled the year since my lady had been made of the citizens of eternal life, remembering me of her as I sat alone, I betook myself to draw the resemblance of an angel upon certain tablets. And while I did thus, chancing to turn my head, I perceived that some were standing beside me to whom I should have given courteous welcome, and that they were observing what I did.” Through the drawing exercise, Dante experiences sublimation which enables him to relive Beatrice’s memories. Dante considers Beatrice to be equivalent to the angels whom he draws. The perception of the angels’ presence is mystical because it makes Dante feel like Beatrice is with her. Angels mollify Dante’s desire for Beatrice despite her being dead.