The Divine Comedy - A Summary

The Divine Comedy, one of the greatest works of literature is the product of Dante Alighieri, a renowned Italian poet. The poem is a masterpiece and is broken down into three books which are further broken down into chapters. It can be said the Dante favored the number three as the poem was in three books each of which had 33 chapters. Then he divides the chapters into 3 line units. This is cross referenced to the theological concept of the Trinity. The poem is a timeless piece of literary work.

Upon the first reading the poem you can get a bit befuddled as there are many references to politics, classical literature and medieval theology. You also have to be careful of which translated version you choose to read as some are better than others.

The plot of the poem is set around Dante’s pilgrimage through the afterlife. He starts out being lost and is advised by Virgil the poet (whom he admired), advising him that he had to go through Hell to get out. With Virgil’s aid he goes through Hell in which he intertwines real characters with fictional ones. This continues as he goes through Purgatory. He is then guided by another (believed by many to be the woman whom he loved since childhood Beatrice) to Heaven where he encounters God.

This is a trailer from a modern adaptation of the Divine Comedy, which has almost nothing to do with the original work by Dante.

In the first section when he goes through Hell he allots nine circles. Each circle is a corresponding punishment for particular types of sin. It gets even more complex as the sixth circle through the ninth circle has other levels within them. In the second stages of the journey Purgatory Dante highlights the seven levels of sin of which you have to be atoned to get safe passage. At the seventh level there is a passage through a wall of fire-the final stage of cleansing after which he is guided by Beatrice to Heaven which again had levels in the form of seven Spheres. Each sphere represented a different virtue. It is at the final Sphere that he gets to meet God whom he is significantly left alone with.

The poem is rampant with symbolism and some of its content parallels what is occurring in our society today. It is a timeless classical literary work to which no other can be compared. The Divine Comedy is a rather satirical piece as Dante unabashedly makes reference to real people and placed them in either Hell or Paradise, depending on what he thought about them. His political enemies found themselves consigned to Hell, experiencing various eternal torments.