Analysis of Dante's Works - Assignment Example

1342 Editing Exercise Read over the following passage to identify and correct mistakes in grammar, punctuation, syntax and spelling. Underline and mark the mistakes in red on the text itself, identifying each mistake with the abbreviation given below. Consult also and use the table of Editing Symbols on the back inside cover of The Little Brown Compact Hand book. If you proofread this passage carefully you will find the following mistakes: Eight sentence fragments--frag Six comma splices—cs At least four needless uses of the passive voice—pv Two misplaced or dangling modifiers—mod Three vague pronous—v prn One incorrect use if relative pronoun—rel prn Eight instances of faulty or inconsistent verb tenses—tense Five mistakes in punctuation—punc Atleast two examples of conspicuously needless wordiness—wordy Two spelling mistakes-- sp Dante’s Divine Comedy 1 Dante’s Divine Comedy is considered by many the supreme literary work not only of medieval Christendom but of the Christian faith in general (pv). Many consider Dante’s Divine Comedy as a supreme literary work, not only of medieval Christendom but of the Christian faith in general. Rivalled only by Milton’s Paradise Lost. (pv) (The comedy is only rivalled by Milton’s Paradise Lost). Never has a poet given a more compelling vision of Christian love than Dante in his Commedia (The Divina was added after Dante’s death). This massive and intricate structure of almost fifteen thousand lines, or one hundred “Cantos,” is divided equally into three large sections- Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso (pv). This massive and intricate structure of almost fifteen thousand lines, or one hundred “Cantos,” divides into three large sections- Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. that correspond to Dante’s conception of the states of souls not only after death but in life as well (mod). that correspond to Dante’s conception of the states of souls not only after death but also in life. This forms what Dante himself called the “Sacred Poem.” A stirring drama of the human soul discovering faith in a faithless world. (Frag). (It is a strirring drama of the human soul discovering faith in a faithless world.) Pilgrim and Poet(punc) 2 Using himself as a fictional character, Dante the poet relates what happens to Dante the pilgrim in the Comedy when, “midway in the journey of life,” he awakes and finds himself lost in the dark and savage wood, he has somehow “left the straightway” but he is delivered from death when a figure of great importance from his life appears from the dead to intervene. Sent by Beatrice, who has descended from heaven into hell to call him to this task, the pagan poet Virgil comes to guide Dante back to the true path. Frag. (Dante is guided back to the true path by Virgil, a pagan poet sent by Beatrice, who has descended from heaven into hell to call Dante ti his task). The lost pilgrim must travel through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven, the three realms of the afterlife that reveal God’s justice and his love. 3 As Dante travels he glimpses things unknown to people in this life. He relates the story of his, sometimes perilous, sometimes pleasurable journey: the souls he encounters in each realm; the sights he sees from the dismal gloom of hell to the blinding light of heaven; and the wisdom he gains as he is finally prepared to resume his earthly trials. (wordy). (He relates the story of his, sometimes perilous, sometimes pleasurable journey. He tells of the souls he encounters in each realm, the sights of the dismal gloom of hell and the blinding light of heaven. He also talks about the wisdom he gains as he is finally prepared to resume his earthly trials). The poem ends with one of the most memorable images in Western art when Dante beholds the Beatific Vision and comes face to face with God. No Home for the Exiled(punc) No Home for the Exiled. 4 Born in Florence, Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) grew up in an Italy torn by opposing political and religious factions. Indeed, throughout Medieval Europe during this period, Princes, Kings and would-be emperors battled sometimes with and sometimes against the papacy in Rome in along chronicle of strife between church and government. 5 In 1925, Dante threw himself into the struggles, and early 1302 he found himself on the losing side-exiled from his beloved city and condemned to death. He never saw Florence again, but wandered from Patron to Patron in Italy. Even as his literary fame grew during the last two decades of his life (frag). His literary fame grew during the last two decades of his life. He wrote the entire comedy in exile, his pride would not allow him to accept the conditional offers of pardon issued by Florentine officials once his poem became known. 6 The Comedy alludes to these events frequently, however by far the greatest influences from his life were two figures already mentioned: Beatrice a young woman of Florence and Virgil, the famous Roman poet that lives just before the birth of Christ and wrote his epic poem Aene The Pilgrim’s Guide to Divine Love(punc) The Pilgrim’s Guide to Divine Love. 7 Hi love for Beatrice is chronicled by Dante in Vita Nuova (the “New Life”). A slender readable volume of thirty-one love poems interspersed with prose commentary. Approaching thirty years of age his sight of Beatrice is recalled when he was almost nine and she had just turned eight. The visionary experienced stirred within him an enduring love and forever changed his life. 8 The impression was deepened when, nine years later, she greeted him on the streets. From that moment onwards, he says, he placed himself in the service of love as he sought to understand her extraordinary impact. When she turned on him her beautiful eyes and remarkable smile, he was moved to a nobility that he had not felt before. Although they were not intimate at all; she married someone else: he came to regard her as a manifestation of God’s grace and love that he alone could discern (frag). They were not intimate at all and she married someone else, but he came to regard her as a manifestation of God’s grace and love that only he could discern. After her death at the age of twenty-four, he concluded from “marvellous vision” that he should compose no more until he should compose of her what had never been composed of any woman, that composition was the Comedy. 9 The other seminal influence in Dante’s life was Virgil’s epic story of Rome’s origins. Medieval theologians regarded the Aeneid as a masterpiece cs and employed the hero Aeneas and the events of the poem to shed light on the Bible. The other seminal influence in Dante’s life was Virgil’s epic story of Rome’s origins. Medieval theologians regarded the Aeneid as a masterpiece, and employed the hero Aeneas and the events of the poem to shed light on the Bible. Like all other poetry however, this was held as fictional and thus greatly inferior to the Scripture. 10 Dante chose Virgil as his guide to the threshold of Heaven in the Comedy, describing him as journeying in darkness but lighting the way for those who follow. In so doing he began a movement that broke down the presiding scriptural elitism and reclaimed non-Christian achievements as aspects of God’s truth worthy of study (punc). In so doing he began a movement that broke down the presiding scriptural elitism, and reclaimed non-Christian achievements as aspects of God’s truth worthy of study. In this sense Dante bridges the Medieval and Renaissance worlds; gathering up the former and stepping prophetically into the latter. 11 The fact is that central roles of Beatrice and Virgil reflect Dante’s “sacramental” view of the world and history. God is seen by Dante as revealing his abundant love everywhere and at all times in his creation. This is why nothing is lost, no life lived or action performed in futility, because both the greatest good and the greatest evil show forth divine truth and advance of his plan.(frag) This is why nothing is lost entirely, and no life is lived or action performed in futility, because both the greatest good and the greatest evil show forth divine truth and advance of his plan. The Divine Comedy exemplifies the meaning of the word Catholic – inclusive and redemptive – as no other poet does. 12 A Journey of Love(punc) A Journey of Love. The single unified theme of the entire comedy is love. Or amor. God is love, indeed every aspect of his creation especially his humanity is infused with this divine attribute. According to Dante people cannot live without loving; because they have free will, however, they may choose to love the wrong object or the right object too much or too little. In the very middle of this poem, on Mount Purgatory, Dante has Virgil speak at length on this truth of life’s drama: the arduous search to love the right things in the right way. Thus Dante the pilgrim is journeying toward the full understanding of the love of which God intends for him to live and find joy, not only in this life but in the next (frag). Thus, Dante the pilgrim is journeying toward the full understanding of the love of which God intends for him to live and find joy, not only in this life but in the next. What he must come to see is that his love for Beatrice is merely an imperfect reflection of abundant love to be found in the blessedness of God’s will. 13 Each main section of the poem portrays a different stage in this human understanding of God’s love: the Inferno reveals the most horrid consequences of love perverted or defective; the Purgatorio depicts flawed souls actively seeking perfection in love; and the Paradiso shows the absolute happiness of perfect love achieved. And as Dante moves through the three realms-observing, acting suffering, and learning- the drama of his own salvation unfolds. Because he is alive, he is an alien in the strange landscape, but he steadily gains the needed maturity in love to return to the fallen world. 14 Inferno(punc Inferno. Vigil first leaves a terrified Dante into Hell. He relieves Dante’s fears, however, with news that Beatrice herself, the last link in the chain of “blessed ladies,” beginning with Virgin Mary, summoned Virgil to be Dante’s guide. Thus Dante sees that heaven itself blends to his distress, calling on him, an ordinary person to become a hero. 15 Dante learns that in Hell he will see the “the woeful people who have lost the good of the intellect.” The souls of the damned reside within the inferno’s ten levels that lead downwards to ever-tightening circles to Satan, fixed in ice at the centre of the earth. After observing the sad mystery of the first circle of those seemingly innocent- the unbaptized (sp) the yet to be baptized infants and virtuous pagans who sought but missed the good- on other levels are witnessed by Dante souls twisted by incontinence, violence, and fraud during their earthly lives. This terrifying often grotesque spectacle is punctuated by stories of people from the past and present. After going past Satan, the two travellers are climbing upward and finally emerge “to see again the stars.” 16 Purgatorio(punc) Purgatorio Once out of Hell, Dante has to ascend Mount Purgatory, the abode of souls saved but not pure enough to enter paradise. Here (cs) the pilgrim must actively purge his own sins as he mounted the seven terraces, each prescribing a different method of cleansing. Here, the pilgrim must actively purge his own sins as he mounted the seven terraces, each prescribing a different method of cleansing. On the third ledge, for instance, he must endure the blinding smoke of wrath, or on the level of the lustful, he must join the souls by entering a “refining fire” that seems to him hotter than “boiling glass.” 17 In the journey up the mountain, he continues to mature in God’s love, becoming aware that Beatrice awaits him at the peak. Once there he discovers the marvellous Garden of Eden. Inaccessible to mortals after the fall but here the entrance to Heaven for the redeemed (frag). The garden is inaccessible to mortals after the fall, but here it serves as the entrance to Heaven for the redeemed. Contrary to what he expects, Dante suffers further anguish, first from Virgil’s sudden departure and then from Beatrice’s stern rebuke for his forsaking her after her death. After they reconciled and he is commanded by her to write this very poem, she prepares him to “mouth the stars.” 18 Purgatory mostly resembles out earthly existence, where the souls in the Inferno are occupied with self-centred and fruitless activity, those on the mountain move arduously up towards God through their suffering (frag). Mostly, purgatory resembles earthly existence, where the sould in the Inferno are occupied with self-centred and fruitless activity. Those on the mountain move arduously up towards God through their suffering. The “purgatorial virtues” abound: forgiveness, humility, generosity, and community, all of which flow from an increasing commitment to love. Thus Dante depicts the joy of suffering for those who struggle to live within God’s circle of love. The great “Lecture on Love” in Cantos 16-18 expounding Dante’s belief that although life is perilous, people are not only capable of but ultimately responsible for the choices that determine their eternal destiny (wordy). The great “Lecture on Love” in Cantos 16-18 expounds Dante’s belief that although life is perilous, people are not only capable of, but ultimately responsible for, the choices that determine their eternal destiny. 19 Paradiso (punc) Paradiso. This last portion of the Comedy is a grand feast of song, light and movement. By far it is the most detailed, abundant image of heaven ever composed. With Beatrice as his guide and companion, Dante rises through the seven heavens towards the Empyrean, the highest heaven, again pausing at each circle to speak to the inhabitants and witness the spectacular expressions of God’s glory. 20 These thirty-three Cantons depict the Pilgrim’s spiritual refinement as he ascends with the specific goal of reaching the unparalleled Beatific Vision at the poems conclusion. With every sight he sees and the soul he hears; his understanding increases. The final four Cantons take place in the Empyrean, described by Beatrice as “the Heaven of pure light/ a light intellectual, full of love.” 21 Here Dante is bending to drink from the river of life and witness its transformation into the celestial rose, alive with the activity of the saints and angels- the “holy company” who abide eternally in God’s presence. What Dante writes in Canto 33, when he beholds the Beatific Vision, is arguably the high point of Christian poetry. Even as he attempted to discern the divine mystery of this vision (frag). He is thrust back to the earth (tense). Now, however, he is in a decisively different state from that in which Virgil first found him lost in the dark wood; (wordy) his “desire and will” now turn in harmony with the “ Love which turns the sun and the other stars” (frag). As he attempted to discern the divine mystery of this vision he is thrust back to the earth. Now, however, he is in a decisively different state from that in which Virgil first found him lost in the dark wood. His “desire and will” now turn in harmony with the “love which turns the sun and the other stars.” Read More