12-04-2017, 12:05 AM
Le_Regard wrote:
There are three parts to The Divine Comedy. Dante was guided through Hell and Purgatory by Virgil, the epic poet.
But he needed Beatrice to guide him through the mysteries of Heaven.
In real life though, Beatrice was more like this idealized symbol of unattainable love. He said he loved her "at first sight", and he wrote her love poems, and was just love sick and couldn't stop thinking of her.
I'm not sure if there was or was not any expectation that his love would ever be consummated, but I'm guessing there wasn't, and being hopelessly unobtainable and yet somehow spiritually elevating seems to have been the point.
And again... the weirdest thing about it is that DANTE knew what he was doing. HE knew there were two Beatrices, a literal and symbolic one, but for some reason... you'd think The Paradisio would be a poem about Heaven, or God, or something right? But no... still basically a love poem for Beatrice.
I like to believe each person wears many masks, but that it's more complex as it extends into the arena of the soul (or Spirit, w/e). We have our tonal selves and our soul, and sometimes the two mingle with one another. Sometimes we see in others more than just their tonal identities and have the luxury of gazing into their soul. When we are aligned enough within, we're able to gaze without to see beyond the veils of reality--including into the potential of others.
I personally believe Dante was impacted by Beatrice's soul, which is likely very different than her tonal identity. That's just the way people seem to be, so vastly ignorant of who they are without their masks. Dante was a visionary with the sort of powerful insight into the things beyond normal understanding. That type of intelligence doesn't come around too often.
Yet, he was so taken with Beatrice that he put the concept of existence secondary to his love for her.
It's not too often an intellectual is guided past the gates of Heaven as a mortal. Given a tour and such. I thought only slaves gave tours and Beatrice, the way Dante made her sound, seems more like an angel than a slave. Weird.
There are three parts to The Divine Comedy. Dante was guided through Hell and Purgatory by Virgil, the epic poet.
But he needed Beatrice to guide him through the mysteries of Heaven.
In real life though, Beatrice was more like this idealized symbol of unattainable love. He said he loved her "at first sight", and he wrote her love poems, and was just love sick and couldn't stop thinking of her.
I'm not sure if there was or was not any expectation that his love would ever be consummated, but I'm guessing there wasn't, and being hopelessly unobtainable and yet somehow spiritually elevating seems to have been the point.
And again... the weirdest thing about it is that DANTE knew what he was doing. HE knew there were two Beatrices, a literal and symbolic one, but for some reason... you'd think The Paradisio would be a poem about Heaven, or God, or something right? But no... still basically a love poem for Beatrice.
I like to believe each person wears many masks, but that it's more complex as it extends into the arena of the soul (or Spirit, w/e). We have our tonal selves and our soul, and sometimes the two mingle with one another. Sometimes we see in others more than just their tonal identities and have the luxury of gazing into their soul. When we are aligned enough within, we're able to gaze without to see beyond the veils of reality--including into the potential of others.
I personally believe Dante was impacted by Beatrice's soul, which is likely very different than her tonal identity. That's just the way people seem to be, so vastly ignorant of who they are without their masks. Dante was a visionary with the sort of powerful insight into the things beyond normal understanding. That type of intelligence doesn't come around too often.
Yet, he was so taken with Beatrice that he put the concept of existence secondary to his love for her.
It's not too often an intellectual is guided past the gates of Heaven as a mortal. Given a tour and such. I thought only slaves gave tours and Beatrice, the way Dante made her sound, seems more like an angel than a slave. Weird.