Supremacy of Love, Book Review Example

The essence of human existence was worrying human mind for ages. There were various philosophers who tried to explain the integrity of human existence and appropriate modes of human behavior. The main dilemma which was derived from these issues was dichotomy of material and spiritual perception of life. Depending on which aspect was prevailing, society judged an individual by his correspondence to the imposed norms of behavior or marginalized him. While philosophers concentrated on social dimension of human behavior and implications of that behavior on human development, church and religion placed emphasis on the inner world of an individual its correspondence to the Christian goodness and virtue. In this context, individual’s life was divided between material existence and salvation of the immortal soul. Thus, an individual was considered to think of himself in two-dimensional perspective of existence and had to deal with each dimension in entirely different way. In Christian interpretation, both parts of human existence could not be completely satisfied, since full satisfaction of material desires was leading to marginalization of one’ soul and deterioration of the spiritual development in terms of realization of God and his divine supremacy. In the context of material-spiritual dichotomy, of particular importance is work by Dante Alighieri “Divine Comedy”. The aim of the current paper is to analyze two parts of the book – Inferno and Purgatorio. This paper does not aim at description of all essential differences between two books, but at their comparison in the framework of material and spiritual dichotomy. In this context, Inferno represents material world and consequences of making the wrong decision in it. Purgatorio, on the other hand, represents spiritual searches of a soul towards achievement of the highest Christian goodness – the Garden of Eden and Beatrice waiting in it, together with all possible postulates and proscriptions of the Holly Church. In the framework of this comparison, the central thesis of the paper is statement that the main driving force of all human deeds, growth or failure was love or its absence. Subsequently, the comparison of two books will prove statement through explanation of the double meaning and representation of appropriate quotations as proofs.

The journey of Dante starts when got lost in the dark wood of errors, where he met three beasts and almost “lost hope of making the ascent” (Dante, “Inferno” 5). This initial stage of the narration creates the beginning of the whole quest of Dante in the book. If one would consider the metaphoric meaning of monstrous creatures embodied in animals of lion, leopard and she-wolf, one might see that those creatures were depicting the reality of human existence – threat from the supreme forces of envy, hatred and jealousy might describe the main obstacles standing on human way of development. In this context, an individual might become confused and lost like Dante. Fortunately, he found his guidance, an ideal teacher-master who showed him the way and accompanied in dangerous quest. In such way, the first canto of Inferno creates a preface for Dante’s further explorations.

From the point of structure and meaning of the first canto for both Inferno and Purgatorio, it should be outlined that Dante’s loss and confusion in the forest of errors describe the situation of an individual standing on the cross-roads of his life, deciding whether he should follow the material path of desires’ satisfaction, which leads to the imaginary Inferno, or to take a long path to Purgatorio, where he might gain a prize for his efforts and abstention from material temptations. The main dichotomy of opposition is in contrasting of Inferno, as a material world, with Purgatorio, as a spiritual one. In this context, it is not accidental that Dante’s path was first through Inferno and only then followed to the Purgatorio and finally to the Garden of Eden as a promised prize of the quest. In order to understand how two worlds collided and what the message of their comparison was, certain issues and separate cantos should be analyzed.

The first striking difference between two worlds is the ways an individual enters each of them. The common element for both dimensions of human degradation was human ignorance to the matters of goodness of evil, or their reluctance and impatience of repentance. Before the entrance to Inferno, there were souls of those who did not care for anyone or anything, who considered goodness or evil being alike:

“This miserable state is borne by the wretched souls of those who lived without disgrace yet without praise. They intermingle with that wicked band of angels, not rebellious and not faithful to God, who held themselves apart ” (Dante, “Inferno” 49).

The entrance to Purgatorio also reminds of a waiting room for those who were late for their last train to forgiveness. Among those people were negligent and those who died of violent death and could not be absolved in the right manner. Those cantos and people waiting in front of two worlds depict a substantial difference between two dimensions of the right-wrong dichotomy. Dante showed that being ignorant but finally realizing mistake, which resulted in waiting in front of the spiritual  path of Purgatory, was more justified than to deny both goodness and evil altogether and suffer in the middle of emptiness in front of Inferno. The moral was that it was better to make a wrong choice rather than not to make any at all. In this context, Dante was referring to the free will and ability of an individual to learn on his mistakes and evolve.

Dante was very thorough in his explanation of two paths of human development, the essence of both was depicted in quotes craved on the gates to each realm. The gates of Inferno stated: “abandon all hope you who enter here” (Dante, “Inferno” 47). The meaning of this phrase embodies the whole path of material world, where an individual might substitute spiritual virtue with immediate satisfaction of primary desires. Subsequently, it is very easy to get into that path; an individual simply had to give up his hope and confidence in God.  In this context, the way to the right realm is much more complicated. It is not only about entering gates straightforwardly. In order to enter the path of God and spirituality, one must take several steps in growth and development. The first step of “white marble serves as a mirror to the protagonist and thus seems associated with confession” (Dante, “Purgatorio” 178). The second step “darker than the deepest purple, of unhewn stone, looking as if had been burnt” was an embodiment of experience and long way of the traveler to come here (Dante, “Purgatorio” 179). It can be also interpreted as human knowledge and wisdom in matters of right decisions. The final step was “resting its heavy mass above, seemed to me porphyry as flaming red as blood that spurts out from a vein” (Dante, “Purgatorio” 179). In this context, the final spirituality an individual could gain was achievable only through cognition of God and Christ’s sacrifice.

Another essential distinction between two ways was that in order to follow the path of spirituality, an individual had to work on self-improvement all the time and that self-improvement meant struggle against seven mortal sins – “Once you are inside, see that you wash these wounds” (Dante, “Purgatorio” 179).  Subsequently, while the main motive of the Canto 3 of Inferno is hopelessness which causes human further degradation, the motive of Canto 9 of Purgatory is a constant struggle for one’s soul and purification of the spirit. Although it may seem that those comparisons are quite obvious and meaning of each path is clear, those descriptions give a background for further judgments on the topic of human relationship and meaning of love in the development of an individual.

Before emphasizing the interconnection of love with sin in Inferno and Purgatory, it is essential to pay attention to the degrees by which sins are judged in each part. The strangest thing that readers meet while studying Inferno is that the first circle of sins, subsequently the mildest ones correspond to such sin as lust, which in Christian perception and canonic description of deathly sins is considered to be one of the most devilish ones. In this context, the reason might be in a couple of justifications. From one perspective, Dante could have considered that the impure and unchristian love and lust are the first misdeeds which lead an individual to the disastrous path of collapse and degradation. In this context, the main evil is not in the harmful intention, but rather in their disastrous consequences which usually effect other individuals and moral, Christian society in general. On the other hand, Dante might have had compassion to people in love even though their affairs might have been illegitimate and immoral. In this context, two people can viewed as sacrifices of the circumstances, though it did not mean they were released of responsibility for their sin. The point is that Dante indeed could understand the rational or rather irrationality of lovers’ behavior.

The most essential proof of Dante’s compassion to physical love, even lust until certain extent, is Canto 5 of Inferno. Dante was surprised to meet many representatives of romantic love, of whom numerous legends and poems of antiquity sang. In this context, the story of Francesca and her lover shows Dante’s doubt about love and its sinful nature. The whole structure of Canto contributes to charging the whole situation and issues of love and lust in general.  The first part of canto is devoted to the description of judgment and how it is comically conducted by the damned Minos (Dante, “Inferno” 89). This passage creates an atmosphere of expectation for the new events, what an individual might deserve for his sins in the afterlife. The second part depicts the causality of the lust and unjust love in general. It refers to the description of human passion which is compared to the wind or spirit of the place – lack of control and overwhelming nature of the element and symbolical meaning of the birds in the air. The third part describes the meaning of cranes and whom they embody. In this context, Dante finds out that all those historical and literary famous lovers are condemned for their love because of its physical nature:

“See Paris, Tristan”; and he showed me more than a thousand shades, naming as he pointed whom love had parted from our life. When I heard my teacher name the ladies and the knights of old , pity overcome me, and I ahnost lost my senses” (Dante, “Inferno” 95).

In this context, Dante showed his true compassion to those people and actual comprehension of their situation and sorrow. Therefore, Dante, a human being, awakens. He does not comment issues from the perspective of judgment, though as a Christian he should have. The main rational of his comment about losing his way might  be a proof of his personal love experience when he had almost lost his wisdom in one moment of true passion and desire for another human being. In this context, the rational of his pity and reason why he put lust in the first circle and not in the sixth or seventh become quite obvious and justified.

Dante was even more moved by the story of Francesca and her lover. He was could not judge them as his teacher mainly because the reason of their fall was so innocent –reading romantic novel, which inflamed their passion and finally drew them to the edge of sin.  Dante’s reaction was not critical, but understanding and pitting: “While the one spirit said this, the other wept so that for pity I swooned as if in death. And down I fell as a dead body falls” (Dante, “Inferno” 99). Apparently, Dante knew what it was like to get to the edge. This might be the reason why he was addressing the issues quite mildly in terms of Inferno. On the other hand, from the perspective of just path of God, lust was treated in a due manner and placed as the highest sin to overcome before the promised Eden.

Dante’s behavior in Purgatory is also entirely different when it refers to the issues of love and especially of his beloved Beatrice. Just as in Inferno, he shows additional doubts concerning how just it is to keep love poets in the fire of purification and justification. One of the reasons why Dante was hesitating about crossing though the fire might have been a lack of confidence that he was entirely prepared for it, meaning that his thoughts about Beatrice were entirely pure, spiritual and had nothing to do with physical attraction which could have ruined all his spiritual growth. The only reason why Dante managed to overcome himself was his teacher who explained him the nature of pure love and reminded that real/pure Beatrice was waiting for him on the other side of the fire. The ideal love was emphasized by Virgil:

“Let us posit as a given: every love that’s kindled in you arises necessarily. Still the power to constrain it lies with you. That noble power is called free will by Beatrice, and so make sure that you remember this if she should ever speak of it to you” (Dante, “Purgatorio” 367).

The essence of love as free choice was the most essential justification of love in times of Dante, because it was making love a corner stone of human relationship and love was not condemned as something inappropriate and immoral as it was considered in times of Dante. He made an emphasis that it was not love, as a feeling, which should have been condemned by Church and Christian belief, but rather the intentions of an individual and personal level of morality or degradation of one. Dante was representing modern perception of the human behavior he was giving an individual a right and will to decide its destiny and final place in the afterlife. In this context, the pure, spiritual love was viewed as a path for the greater goodness and cognition of God. Although Dante was looking for the Divine Knowledge in his Quest, he would have never crossed the fire unless it was Beatrice whom he desired to meet.

On the other hand, it was also mutual desire contributed to the fall of Francesca and her lover. According to Dante’s attitudes to two cases of love, he was not making much of distinction between two feelings; he made a distinction between individual’s attitude to the same feeling. In other words, his ideal, spiritual individual was capable of controlling his desires and transforming them from the primeval to the noble one. Although one might make a distinction between love, passion and lust; in Dante’s world, they were the elements of the same phenomenon called love, the difference was only how people were taking care of it. In this context, Dante made a conclusion that “the mind, disposed to love at its creation, is ready moved towards anything that pleases as soon as by that pleasure it is aroused to act” (Dante, “Purgatorio”  363). Subsequently, an individual should be capable of controlling himself.

The issue of control over emotions, especially love is the central idea of the literary work. Dante showed the ruinous influence of love on young lovers in Inferno, on poets and himself in Purgatorio  in order to emphasize that love is the essence of everything, but what we do with it is only our own decision and our own fault if we spoil this divine gift of God. Except for emphasizing the importance of love in human and its harmful influence when it is given in hand and hearts of the youth, Dante gives an example of how love should develop together with an individual and become mature together with him. In this context, Dante’s quest might be seen as evolution of the mature Christian love based on respect and admiration rather than need to posses of the desired person.

If to analyze Dante’s work from the point of love evolution, the structures of Inferno and Purgatorio and the whole quest in general make sense. In this context, the initial stage of any feeling is confusion and misinterpretation of feeling’s nature. In this case, the dark wood would be an embodiment of an individual in the turmoil of his thoughts, feeling, and threats of the surrounding environment. After advice from a trusted guide or teacher, an individual realizes the essence of the situation and origins of his feelings. At that focal point, an individual is given two options of how to deal with his affection. In the first case, he might decide to stop his quest for the mature and pure love, and satisfy himself with its resemblance in a form of sensual love. In this context, the first circle of Inferno serves as an initial temptation of the searcher and his first option to decide what he really wants and accept the freedom of choice in his power.

Essential point of Dante’s Inferno and Purgatory is their structural difference in a sense of strictness of subordination in cause-effect relationship of love and sins. In this context is meant that inferno as a path of downfall is described from the perspective of the main consequences of certain human actions. Thus, an individual is capable of learning on mistakes of other people in order to avoid them in the future and build his of categorical apparatus of love and relationship development in opposition of those seen in Inferno. In this context, Dante’s pity to Francesca and her lover could have been conditioned by his realization of the fact that he could have been on their place. The educative connection between Inferno, as an embodiment of consequences of certain decisions, and Purgatorio, as a symbol of motives, is that, after viewing consequences of immoral actions, Dante had to understand their motives and learn what just motives should be and where they should drive him. His main motivation was achievement of pure and mature love of Beatrice. Development of his personal moral motives opened for him the way to Eden and Beatrice.

If an individual decides to reject substitution of the mature love by sensual satisfaction of desires, his path to the next level is figuratively and literary through all circles of Hell and Purgatory, reaching desired goal only on the top of all hardships. In this context, it is not the love itself that changes or that it is entirely different love waiting for an individual in the end, it is an individual who had changed, just as love within him had changed, became stronger and mature. In this context, Dante was describing that love was never letting him down. The image of Beatrice was always in his heart and mind and she was giving all assistance for him to accomplish his mission and meet her in the due time. Beatrice was the reason for his quest and she was leading him to the supreme divinity – God:

“I who bid you go am Beatrice. I come from where I most desire to return. The love that moved me makes me speak. And when I am before my Lord often will I offer praise of you to Him ” (Dante, “Inferno”  29)

The essence of their love is not even in final dissolution in each other, even spiritual one; the essence of mature love, according to Dante, is in couple’s dissolution in the image of divinity, God Himself. In this context, love might be interpreted as a path to the God and   actual fulfillment of his will and code of moral behavior. In this case, quest for love coincides with the quest for comprehension of God and his embodiment of the universal structure of the world. From a certain perspective, Dante was rebelling against medieval perception of God and love.

While scholars contemporary to him would suggest that God was rather about punishment, which was later embodied in the Holly Inquisition, Dante could not imagine that pure and spiritual love was to be denied by the Supreme divinity. In this context, he might have argued that an individual was to be tried exactly through the most pleasant and natural feeling he could have ever felt – love. In his interpretation of love, Dante might have eventually made a conclusion that love equaled God. Just as love might result in punishment and collapse of an individual due to his lack of virtue; disillusions about God might result in individual’s degradation, which was seen in the false prophets in the fourth Bolgia of the eighth circle. Again, the main conclusion in this context is that it is up to an individual to decide what path he is going to choose, so far it is not too late and the individual is not keeping to himself, being doomed to get stuck in between Gates of Inferno.

Overall, from all mentioned above, it can be concluded that Dante’s work “Divine Comedy” is a masterpiece of deep philosophical and metaphorical meanings and messages the author was sending to his contemporary audience and next generations. Things that seemed to be quite obvious in the beginning of the research turned to be entirely different in the end, just as Dante’s quest through all circles of hell and terraces of purgatory, the audience managed to cross the wall of fire and gain another interpretation of his work and moral advice. The main advice of Dante is that love is everything. It can break the person and throw into cold hell or it can give a stimulus for self-improvement and personal growth. It is also the essence of God and the way to him. In this context, individual’s success depends on his inner core of moral values and faith in God’s universal wisdom. The meaning of two books of Dante is in their interconnectivity as a unified model for human development in the framework of consequences’ evaluation and development of motives based on them.

Works Cited

Dante, Alighieri. Inferno. Trans. Jean Hollander and Robert Hollander. New York, NY: Anchor. 2002. Print.

—. Purgatorio. Trans. Jean Hollander and Robert Hollander. New York, NY: Double Day. Print.