"The city where was born, lived, and died the most gentle lady." (Vita nuova 40:1)
Dante's Vita nuova is an autobiography about the protagonist's love for "the most gentle lady," Beatrice. Throughout the text, the author glorifies Beatrice and reveals her absolute sacredness, "Heaven, which has no other defect but to have her" (VN 19:7). As the title of this essay suggests, the concept of sacredness also applies to time ("born, lived, and died" are events in time) and space ("city"), which are continuous themes throughout the Vita nuova.
The sacredness of Beatrice is made apparent very early in the text. The Dante persona first meets Beatrice at the age of nine, and describes the encounter with Biblical language, "first appeared the glorious lady" (VN 2:1). In the same paragraph, he refers to her as a "youthful angel" (VN 2:8) and quotes Homer, "she seemed no child of mortal men, but of God"' (VN 2:8). Some believe that this first encounter has reference to the first......
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Approximate Word Count: 647
Approximate Pages: 3 (260 words per double-spaced page) |