Dante takes this process a step further, referencing and rewriting not only those works which had inspired him to compose the Divine Comedy, but also undertaking the same process with his own purported autobiographical work, the Vita Nuova. An example of a prosimetron (a work containing both poetry and prose), Vita nuova is not easily categorized. The book combines many genres—from journal entries to spiritual autobiography; from Bildungsroman to a poetry collection of Dante’s earliest canzoni--complete with exegesis of both the poems, and the events which inspired them.
One of several consistent threads within the text is an idea of "memory." In the prologue, the narrator refers to another “libro de la mia memoria” [lit. 'book of my memory,' perhaps a journal outside of this one] (Vita nuova I) from which the current work is a transcription. The scribe claims that he will transcribe all that appears under the Latin heading "Incipit vita nova" ['here begins the new life.'] Yet, as we read throughout the text, this definition of “memory” seems to be informed by his own fragmented role as both the redactor and key personage within the text being redacted. Dante's intention is only
“to copy into this little book the words [he] finds written under
that heading.”[1] We learn
that we will not to be given a full account of the author’s memory
but an amended one, customized to fit his intention as to how the
past should look. He modifies his original intention by saying “if not all of them [the words], at least the essence of their meaning [sentenzia].” This sentenzia is a telling word. The reader begins to inquire just whose meaning will be revealed, the meaning intended by the author of old, the meaning given by the current redactor, or rather a veridical synthesis of the two?
Do you find this work more autobiographical in premise, or rather the more rigidly structured Divina Commedia for which the poet would rightfully receive more acclaim? It should be noted that the latter work is also a part of his personal narrative, a response to the various poetry of Dante’s youth, collected in the Vita Nuova, themselves given "new lives" by the commentary of the Commedia.
[1] Longer passages which I cite in English come from
Mark Musa’s translation, Dante’s
Vita Nuova : Translation and an Essay
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1973). Shorter translations are my
own. Italian citations are culled from the Paternostro’s text La Vita nuova
tra gesto e memoria (Roma: Lithos
editrice, 2008).
Courtney Callahan
ReplyDelete25601720
Spiritual Autobiography
Dante's "La Vita Nuova" contains both poetry as well as commentary on the poems, or exegesis, the interpretation of a text. Before "La Vita Nuova" Dante used to write sonnets and he includes these sonnets in "La Vita Nuova". Dante puts these past sonnets in "La Vita Nuova" in order to try and interpret them. He feels a sense of shamefulness of the work he performed in the past. Dante wishes to go back and recall the thoughts and ideas he was feeling at the time he wrote the sonnets.
It is very difficult to recall the specific thoughts and feelings you had at certain points in the past. It is almost impossible to remember exact moments from the past let alone what you were thinking at the time. Depending upon how important and significant the particular moment was can make it easier to recall. Based on how well Dante was reminiscing his state when writing these sonnets brings up a question. How much can we believe that what he is recalling is true? Since it is Dante's autobiographical text it is hard to determine the actual facts. It is impossible to figure out if Dante was in actuality having those thoughts. When we read an autobiographical text we need to have an open mind into what the author is writing, since it is about his or her life.
Every autobiographical text is going to contain some flaws within it and not everything that is stated will be one hundred percent valid. It is incredibly challenging to create something that is entirely objective. I do not believe that anything I have written or worked on has been completely objective; it is very unlikely. I have not written many pieces concerning solely my life experiences or my thoughts and beliefs on particular things. The most recent piece of writing that could be distinguished as an autobiographical text would be from freshman year here at Umass. We were assigned to write about our family and background. This was the first time that I was able to reflect on the relationships that I have with my family members. If my family members were to read that piece I had written they would most likely have some criticism as to what I was saying about our relationships. That being said, everyone has his or her own perception of everything throughout life, which means that nothing can truly be objective.
The perception that Dante was very shameful of his past work is something that many people can relate to. As I grow older and think about what I have done in the past, I question what I was thinking at the time and the reasoning behind it. Thinking about not only my schoolwork in the past but the friends I had, the places I went, the life I was living. Obviously not everything I have done in the past I am shameful of, that would just be very sorrowful. But the naivety that I possessed is something that I am shameful of and I believe is what Dante is shameful of as well. Within Dante’s “La Vita Nuova” he consistently brings up the number three in order to connect to the holy trinity. The fact that the number keeps recurring throughout his text questions whether he is being objective. As I said before it is impossible to be completely objective but we can still analyze texts and be critical thinkers. The main reason I believe that Dante is reconstructing his past work is in order to not seem shameful of his past. Everyone has to be slightly shameful or regretful of certain things in their past and Dante is attempting to cover up this shame as if it never happened.
Autobiographical texts are difficult pieces of writing to both create and analyze, based on their objectivity and subjectivity.
In Dante’s writings, his love of Beatrice is a strange kind of love. It’s courtly love, but it’s a love borne out of only two or three meetings. Dante and Beatrice do not actually speak to each other save for a couple occasions. Although, the old saying goes, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” and Dante certainly surpasses fondness. Dante’s love for Beatrice goes farther than some people may ever feel for their spouse, much less a woman they’ve only met twice. But, something to note is that the way that Beatrice is described in La Vita Nuova suggests that she is an allegory for religion.
ReplyDeleteDante’s love for Beatrice is often labeled as courtly love. The definition of courtly love can be and unrequited or secret love between nobles, can involve chivalry or idolizing, and often does not end well. Such is the case with Dante and Beatrice in La Vita Nuova. Dante and Beatrice speak very few times, and in the absence of actually getting to know Beatrice, Dante builds her up to be some sort of perfect person. In La Vita Nuova, Dante says in his first canzone, “[Beatrice] is desired by highest Heaven: now I would have you know of her virtue.” He claims that she is so perfect a person to be desired by highest Heaven, all this despite only speaking to her twice.
This courtly love he has can be interpreted in a few ways. It can be taken at face value as his unrequited love for a woman named Beatrice, or it could be an allegory for religion. Oftentimes when a person converts to religion they have some sort of moment of clarity wherein they realize that religion is truth. Dante’s conversations with Beatrice could be interpreted as these moments of clarity or maybe even Dante being approached by angels or by God. He never speaks to Beatrice again after his conversion to her, and he builds her up in his mind. In the way that much of religion is based off of the analysis of scriptures, with no new material, his idolization of Beatrice could be similar to the analysis of scriptures such as the Bible, Koran, and New Testament. Both Dante’s love of Beatrice and religious scholars base their observations off of one static experience and then build their perceptions from it.
Dante’s love of Beatrice is both courtly and allegorical. It is courtly because it is at times unrequited, at times secret, and at times prone to idolization. It is allegorical because at times it seems to be representative of the inherent idolization of religion and religious texts, and because it has a distance that is found in religion. Beatrice later appears in La Comedia as a character who guides Dante through Paradiso (Heaven) because his guide Virgil is not allowed. Her presence in Heaven can be seen as a subtle confirmation of both her idolizations by Dante and of her allegorical presentation of religion.
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ReplyDeleteDante and Beatrice both appear in Dante’s Vita Nuova and La Divina Commedia. Both characters appear to have different relationships in each piece of writing although Dante’s affection towards Beatrice remains the same in both. In Vita Nuova, Dante describes how when he saw Beatrice for the first time when they were both 9 he fell in love. From that moment on Beatrice became almost an obsession of his. His affection for her can be described as courtly love. “Courtly love” can be defined as a very strong platonic relationship in which one individual truly loves the other and would do anything for their love. It’s a type of love that doesn’t quite focus on sexual urges; instead it focuses on truly loving and respecting the other person’s essence and being.
ReplyDeleteIn Vita Nuova, Dante explains how before Beatrice’s death, the only interaction the two of them ever had was her acknowledging him through a respectful head nod 9 years after their first encounter. Despite the lack of an actual relationship, Beatrice was Dante’s true love. Even Dante explained how his relationships with other women (the screen ladies) were just him expressing his affection towards Beatrice in a misguided manor.
In La Divina Commedia, the fictional relationship between Dante and Beatrice is much different than their actual relationship as described in Vita Nuova. In La Divina Commedia, Beatrice acts as this strong willed, outspoken woman who has come down from Heaven to save Dante from his sinful ways. Although La Divina Commedia was a fictional piece of writing, it very clearly reflected Dante’s spirituality and the emotions he was feeling regarding his love for the real and deceased Beatrice.
La Divina Commedia begins with Dante walking lost through a dark and terrifying forest. This scene is a metaphor for the actual state of Dante’s spiritual life at the time; he was lost and filled with sin (as expressed through his misdirected love towards the screen ladies). As La Divina Commedia continues, Dante is guided by Virgil through the 9 circles of Hell (Inferno) where he sees the sin of man for what it really is. Virgil eventually leads Dante to Purgatory where souls reside that have misdirected God’s love through the 7 sins. After nearing the top of the Mountain of Purgatory, Beatrice appears to Dante. Beatrice was the one who sent Virgil to guide Dante and upon seeing him, exploits him for his sinful ways. Dante confesses of his sins to her in shame saying after her death he participated in earthly pleasure. After this encounter Beatrice leads him to Heaven (Paradiso) where Dante eventually meets God. When Dante meets God he experiences a surreal epiphany like moment in which he comes to fully understand and embrace God’s love. This understanding and embracing of God’s love in essence saves Dante from his sinful ways and he is transformed.
It might seem difficult distinguishing which aspects of La Divina Commedia are reflective of Dante’s actual spirituality. Due to the parallels between Dante feeling lost at the end of Vita Nuova and the beginning of La Divina Commedia, I think it is safe to assume Dante’s character transformation in La Divina Commedia is reflective of the spiritual transformation he went through in reality.
(continued...)
DeleteThe non-fictional Beatrice played a very important role in Dante’s spiritual transformation. It appears that after Beatrice’s death, Dante came to a very important realization that defined his transformation from a sinner to having a spiritual and religious connection with the world. The courtly love relationship Dante had for Beatrice is very similar to God’s love which flows throughout everything and everyone as described by Dante. Dante misdirected his love for Beatrice through sexual engagements with other women and in essence was misdirecting God’s love. At some point Dante realized he was misdirecting both his love for God and Beatrice since they were pretty much the same thing. Although he doesn’t come out and say is in La Divina Commedia, I believe that the real Dante actually found peace of mind regarding Beatrice’s death by honoring the love he had for her through embracing God’s love.
Beatrice appears to have been an allegory of Christ to Dante. Beatrice was almost savior like to Dante. All the pure love he had in the world he directed towards her as seen in Vita Nuova. Beatrice represented the human embodiment of pure love to Dante. Since Dante’s love for Beatrice is equivalent to God’s universal love for everything, Beatrice can be viewed as representing God’s love in human form; just like Jesus. In this sense, Beatrice represented Jesus’s character in La Divina Commedia and helped save Dante from his sinful ways, just as Jesus saved man for his sin.
There are four ways of reading Dante’s Comedia, just as, according to Dante, there are four ways of interpreting love. In medieval times, there were three main places for travelers to pilgrimage to. In Dante’s lifetime, there were two main schools of thought when considering sin. For Dante, all of these ideas related back to one thing, one person, and one ideal. Beatrice.
ReplyDeleteThe Divine Comedy, and La Vita Nuova both focused heavily on the passionate obsession that Dante carried for Beatrice. La Vita Nuova is a collection of Dante’s early poems that have been annotated by prose in later years. The Divine Comedy by contrast is an epic poem that follows the pilgrimage of Pellegrino (the pilgrim) through the levels of hell. While both texts are presented to readers as a telling of Dante’s life and love, there are a number of ways of reading and understanding these texts. They are literal, allegorical, moral, and anagogical. Reading and interpreting Dante’s work with these perspectives allows for varying understandings of fact and his meaning.
Contemplating the storyline of La Vita Nuova in a literal sense forces the reader to believe that the events that Dante presents happened exactly as he wrote them, on a specific timeline. If read allegorically, the reader has the opportunity to understand Dante as they wish. They can project their own ideas and beliefs into his writing, even interpret events presented as facts as ideas of Dante’s as a way of presenting themes. Morally, is a conceptual and interesting way of reading this text because of the timeline that Dante presents. First, he sees Beatrice, and then nine years later she salutes him. As a result, he becomes obsessed and begins writing about her and praising her through his art form. He then sees visions that he projects are about Beatrice, and when the themes of his visions translate to real life, Dante decides to stop writing about her altogether. It begs the question of whether Dante felt a moral obligation to not write about Beatrice following her death, or if he felt a sense of responsibility for her demise following his visions. Read in this voice, the readers may ask themselves whether it was morally wrong for Dante to use Beatrice as the subject of his work if they never spoke, or interacted, and if his visions do or do not impact that sense of moral wrongness. Both The Divine Comedy and La Vita Nuova can be understood in an anagogical sense, or spiritually interpreted. For Dante, there was only Beatrice. While he was a religious person, his worship for Beatrice was stronger than any other worship that he seemed to project.
Dante also defined love in these ways. In the literal sense, love is good because love puts the focus on people, emotion, and passion and takes away from material or physical objects. Allegorically, love is interpreted as bad because of its tendency to force the lover to become obsessed and narrow-minded about the loved. In many ways, I think that the allegorical approach to understanding Dante’s passion is a logical one. It is hard to be sympathetic towards Dante because he is so desperate and obsessed with this one person who hardly acknowledges him. But morally, sympathizing with the passion and emotion of Dante, and the impact that he allowed Beatrice to have on his development, transformation and life in general is an important aspect to consider. It is wrong to cast aside someone’s feelings simply because you don’t feel the same way, but at the same time, allowing someone else to dictate so much of your life without a word is a bit extreme. Throughout his texts, however, Dante pleads with readers to understand love in an anagogical sense, which would explain love as a wonderful thing, because of Beatrice.
The two works discussed here are largely a recollection of Dante’s life as he remembers it. He refers to La Vita Nuova within the first paragraph as “the book of my memory,” which is a valid summary of the content. The poetry published in this work was primarily written early on in his life (roughly between 1283-1293) with the exegesis written later on as he collected the poems together, so the two together become a structured understanding of Dante’s life events. With both the prose and the poetry, Dante aspires to capture the essence of the meaning of his memories.
DeleteIn his time, there were two primary schools of thought when it came to memory and recollection of sin. In medieval times, arguments revolving around understanding of people’s sins were based on Augustine and Aquinas’ differing ideas of memory of sin, versus history of sin. In La Vita Nuova Dante focuses on his memory of life, which includes his memory of sin. While Augustine was a huge influence to Dante from the start, (Dante having taken the title of La Vita Nuova from an idea presented in Augustine’s Confessions), he entertains and even develops the ideas of other religious and historical scholars like Saint Thomas Aquinas. In The Divine Comedy Dante gives a more rounded understanding of sin as a development of history.
However, according to Dante, the only thing that mattered when talking about love, sin, self-actualization, self-realization and life was Beatrice. Everything that he wrote, from poems to prose, centered around her in some way. Her influence and overwhelming control on his emotions was the focus of the two of his more famous works. They both idolize her, and present her as the epicenter for everything that ever meant anything to him throughout her lifetime. Even following her death, her influence on his writing was astounding. And while they never spoke in real life, Dante’s portrayal of her in the afterlife was a serious projection of his ideas of her, and the silent influence that she had on him.
While her on-screen part (so to speak) was minimal at best, her voiceover throughout the rest of Dante’s life was ever-present. He carried her with him in whatever he did, and her influence in the way he carried himself, and decisions that he made is evident. Although their romance (or his romance with her) was never realized, Beatrice becomes the foundation for everything that Dante builds upon. She becomes the standard he sets for other women, for love, for worship, for his art, and for himself. In many ways she is the symbolization of perfection and idealism in Dante’s world. Dante was a true romantic, and through everything else that his work discussed, there was always the underlying tone of amor vincit omnia: love conquers all.
Describing Dante’s writing as feminist could be a little problematic. A traditional feminist narrative would have the main character as a powerful woman, and Dante’s tale does not seem to fit this traditional stereotype. Instead the way Dante writes shows a respect and admiration for women. I personally would describe Dante as more of a womanist than a feminist, in that he has a strong support and belief in women’s abilities.
ReplyDeleteThe character of Beatrice, and Dantes obsession is what makes his writings feminist. In Vita Nuova the character of Beatrice is seen as a passive force that is acted upon by others, she has no lines and does not have many actions. She comes to Dante in a dream though and thus starts his love for her. In the tradition of courtly romance Dante does not physically act upon his feelings toward her emotionally but instead places her onto a pedestal. When Beatrice dies, Dante offers to write a poem to honor her for her family, but it really is a way for him to emotionally deal with his feelings for her.
In The Divine comedy the character of Beatrice becomes a lot more powerful. She almost becomes a sort of emotional antagonist that Dante struggles against emotionally. Because Dante remains human, while Beatrice has passed away and is now a supernatural being, it is almost the personification of the courtly romance from the Vita Nuova. Dante wants to be with Beatrice but she becomes this powerful entity that is unreachable and chastises him for his actions. Even though Beatrice is this powerful almost omnipotent being Dante still holds his courtly romance for her.
Love Hurts
ReplyDeleteDante and his beloved Beatrice had a very strange relationship. Well, strange to me as a modern, however it was the epitome of courtly love for the time. Dante fell in love with her when he was nine years old and seemed as though never fell out of love with her even after she died. She brought him to Heaven, after he had lost sight of his righteous path, with the help of the Poet Virgil. I wonder if it weren't for Dante's love for her if would have even written any texts, since the Vita Nuova and The Divine Comedy were inspired by Beatrice.
In The Divine Comedy, Beatrice sends Virgil to earth to retrieve and guide Dante to her in heaven. She doesn't make much of an appearance in the Inferno, except when she's urging him to journey to her and asked to guide him as well. Dante has strayed from a life of salvation and Beatrice is suppose to represent a mentor figure in Purgatory and Paradise for him to return to the correct course with religious purpose. He views her as a very spiritually powerful human being by comparing her to an eagle in line 48 of Paradise,
“When I saw Beatrice turned to her left hand
And looking straight into the sun: never
Had an eagle so fixed his sight upon it!”
It then mentions in the commentary by the translator James Finn Cotter that the eagle is believed to be the only living thing able to look at the sun.
It also seems as though her beauty escalates when becoming closer to God: A few lines later in twenty five and on,
“I saw myself arrived at a thing of wonder
Which drew my sight to it, and therefore she
From whom my close concerns could not be hidden 1
Turned toward me, as glad as she was lovely,
And said, "Direct your mind with thanks to God
30 Who here has made us one with the first star."
I believe this is on one of his first exchange with Beatrice in Paradise. He is astonished by her sight and she asks him to praise God who has made them along with the moon.
Beatrice's role in Dante's life was a symbol of the love of God which was most likely the highest honor a person could be associated with, at least that's what it seems like for Dante. The thought of seeing her is his motivation to continue through hell.
Dante views his precious Beatrice as someone holy and purely superior, she is his wakeup call for putting his spirituality into perspective. Therefore he learns from her by following her to Heaven and wanting to live that way as well. Dante's life changing adventure is made possibly by the way of Virgil and Beatrice's portrayal of mystical endearment.
Beatrice looked at me with eyes so filled
140 With sparks of love and so heavenly
That my powers, overwhelmed, broke loose,
And, eyes cast down, I almost lost myself.