Dante the Pilgrim was once a spiritual and holy man, but as of recently he had felt less than holy. Yet, he still wants to remain spiritual. To do this, Dante must recognize the true nature of his sin(s), renounce them, and pay penance for them by travelling though the nine levels of hell. Dante the Author constructs several perspectives in the poem starting here. The light and dark imagery that will become repetitive and more abundant in later cantos. The light represents reason, truth, righteousness, and goodness. The main points in canto two lie in the fact that Dante introduces the character of Beatrice. Dante held her in high regard and thus immortalized her in his literature. In Canto III Dante and Virgil enter the gate that leads to the Vestibule of Hell, a place described as "nowhere." Here, "souls who lived a life but lived it with no blame and no praise" (ln 36) must spend their eternity. In Canto IV, Dante awakens and finds himself "upon the brink of grief's abysmal......
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Approximate Word Count: 881
Approximate Pages: 4 (260 words per double-spaced page) |