Dante Aligieri - The Divine Comedy

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

There are many kinds of masterpiece of literature spread out through the world. Many country or most of them have their own kind masterpiece of literature base own their perseptions. Especially English literature, generally its divided into three major part. We have poetry, prose and drama. In this section, we focus to analyze poetry and every elements related to it. Especially in this opportunity, we try to analyze one of the greatest poetry made by the remain Italy’s greatest poet named Dante Alighieri. His masterpiece entitle The Divine Comedy created by unusual way through the author’s life. Thanks to him Tuscan dialect become official literary language of Italy. That is all the introduction of Dante Alighieri and his masterpiece. More detail about The Divine Comedy will be analyzed in next chapter. 

BACKGROUND OF DANTE ALIGHIERI - THE DIVINE COMEDY

Dante Alighieri

              Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) remains Italy's greatest poet. He was born in the city of Florence, in the region of Tuscany, Italy in the spring of 1265. He wrote the Divine Comedy (Commedia) from 1308 to 1320, completing the work the year before he died. The Divine Comedy is one of literature's boldest undertakings, as Dante takes us through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and then reaches Heaven (Paradiso), where he is permitted to partake of the Beatific Vision. Dante's journey serves as an allegory of the progress of the individual soul toward God. The work is arranged in 100 cantos in 3 parts, 34 for the Inferno, 33 each for Purgatorio and Paradiso. The work is written in groups of 3 lines, or tercets, reminiscent of the Trinity. While Dante was critical of the Catholic Church as an institution, his writings remained faithful to his schooling by the Dominicans, where he learned the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274). The Divine Comedy signaled the beginning of the Renaissance. The Commedia by Dante had everlasting impact on Italy, for the Tuscan dialect became the literary language of Italy. He died in political exile in Ravenna, Italy in September 1321. 

 

That is all short history about Dante Alighieri, the Italy’s greatest poet. As he wrote about his journey through Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso to partaken of Beatific Vision with help of Virgil (author of Aeneid), the real reason he made such outstanding poet was for Beatric, the woman he admired all his life. Although Divine Comedy divide into three chapter, Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso here we only analize about Inferno and Purgatorio due religion issue.   

CHAPTER TWO

INTERPRETATIONS

INFERNO

"Midway in our life's journey, I went astray
from the straight road and woke to find myself
alone in a dark wood. How shall I say

what wood that was! I never saw so drear,
so rank, so arduous a wilderness!
Its very memory gives a shape to fear.

Death could scarce be more bitter than that place!
But since it came to good, I will recount
all that I found revealed there by God's grace."
Inferno, Canto I, lines 1-9

So begins the Inferno. Dante realizes he has wandered from the "True Way" in mid-life, and finds himself in the Valley of Evil. He is rescued by the spirit of Virgil (author of the Aeneid), who tells him he has been sent to guide him out of Hell because of prayers by Beatrice, the woman whom Dante admired all his life. To leave Hell, they must go through all nine circles of Hell, the deeper the circle, the more grave the sin and its appropriate punishment. Perhaps the worst punishment is that no one helps or cares for another in Hell. By going through Hell, Dante - and the reader - learn to recognize and detest man's sinful nature and the power of evil, and the need to guard against it. Dante learns those in Hell choose to go there by their unrepentance. Dante enters Hell on Good Friday and reads the following posted above the gates of Hell as he is about to enter (Canto III, line 9):

"Abandon all hope ye who enter here."

PURGATORIO

Dante and Virgil emerge from Hell just before the dawn of Easter Sunday, and in Purgatorio Dante begins the difficult climb up Mount Purgatory. Souls that are repentant of their sins against God and man go to Purgatory and become free of temptation, and know that they will eventually be with God. The renunciation of sin occurs in Purgatory, as one begins his ascent to Purity. Purgatory is a Mountain with seven ledges or cornices, one for each of the seven deadly sins (pride, envy, anger, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust). On the first cornice (just above Hell), one is purified of Pride by learning the corresponding virtue, Humility. When one is cured of Pride, he moves up to the next cornice, Envy, to be purified by Caritas, love of others, and so on. Virgil, the voice of Reason, takes Dante step-by-step up the mountain of Purgatory to the Garden of Eden, where man resided before his fall, and releases him in Canto XXVII (27) to himself, as he is now purged from sin. He meets Beatrice, the unrequited love of his earthly life, in Canto XXX (30), and she leads him to Heaven. Repentant souls, even those with great sin, and even if they repent just prior to death, still go to Purgatory, as we learn from Canto V:

"We are souls who died by violence,
all sinners to our final hour, in which
the lamp of Heaven shed its radiance

into our hearts. Thus from the brink of death,
repenting all our sins, forgiving those
who sinned against us, with our final breath

we offered up our souls at peace with Him
who saddens us with longing to behold
His glory on the throne of Seraphim."
Purgatorio, Canto V (5), lines 52-60:

MEANING PER STANZA

INFERNO (NERAKA)

"Di tengah catatan hidup kami, aku tersesat
dari jalan kebenaran dan terbangun menyadari diriku
sendirian di hutan gelap. Apa yang akan kukatakan ?

Hutan yang satu ini, aku tidak pernah melihatnya begitu suram,
begitu mengerikan, begitu berkemaruk sebuah keliaran
Ingatan yang begitu terang hingga merinding

Sang Kematian bisa lebih pahit dari tanah itu !
Tapi sejak berakhir baik, aku akan mentasbihkan
semua yang kugapai di sana kasih Tuhan. "

Inferno, Pupuh I, baris 1-9

PURGATORIO (DUNIA ANTARA)

"Kami jiwa-jiwa yang gugur oleh kebiadaban,
seluruh pendosa di ujung napas kami, yang seketika
gemerlap Surga memancarkan kemilaunya.

ke ralung kami. Ya, dari jurang kematian kami,
bertobat pada semua dosa, mengampuni mereka
yang berdosa, dengan helaan terakhir kita

Kami mempersembahkan jiwa yang tenteram bersama

dengan-Nya
yang meruntuhkan air mata kami dengan kerinduan

untuk menatap
Kemuliaan-Nya di atas takhta Tertinggi. "

Mount of Purgatorio

Purgatorio, Pupuh V (5), baris 52-60:

DICTION

Dante Alighieri’s masterpiece – a litle part of Inferno and Purgatorio have a few conotative meaning among  them. Inferno and Purgatorio simply very excelent piece of art. But still, it store not only denotative meaning concern Dante’s life history as well.

Midway in our life's journey means Dante is thirty-five years old, half of the biblical life expectancy of 70 (Psalms 90:10). The action in this tale begins in 1300 A.D., or Dante, the writer’s thirty-fifth year.

from the straight road means “right way"  to salvation.

so rank, so arduous a wilderness! means assailed by beasts (a lion, a leopard, and a she-wolf)

THEME

Divine Comedy entirely tells about Dante’s journey through Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory) and Paradiso (Heaven) to meet his beloved Beatrice, the woman he admire in all his life. Yet in this part of his masterpiece, we only include Inferno and Purgatorio. From Inferno and Purgatorio, Dante meets Virgil who take charge as guide to be take him through nine circle of Inferno and climb Purgatorio.

ATMOSFER

Divine Comedy takes a story about Dante’s journey through Inferno and Purgatorio. In Inferno of course , the atmosfer we feel from his literature describe as worried, fear, eeriness, fluster and many other feeling base on what happen when we alone in such scary place as Hell. At meddle of the story, after throughout nine circles of Hell, Dante and Virgil emerge from Judecca in Mount of Purgatorio. Dante describes Purgatorio as place of salvation for sinners who seek God’s grace to purify their sins and people who have sin to theme. This place fill with atmosfer and feeling about soul who not dead or life, neither save nor damn.

POINT OF VIEW

Divine Comedy uses first person point of view as Dante himself as main character through the journeyof his story. Obviously because he always uses word “I” so much. This is the way how he describe what the Infernn and Purgatorio better as wel. Through the journey he made comment and answer it himself is also hint that he uses first place point of view.

FIGURATIVE SPEECH

Divine Comedy uses Allegory or Parable style. Allegory of simply Parable is a poetry in the form of a narrative or story that has a second meaning beneath the surface one. Since Divine Comedy is poetry with narative-like style about Dante’s journey through Inferno and Purgatorio, it is possible to be belongs to Allegory style.

VALUE AND COMMENDATION

Divine Comedy and his author Dante Alighieri put value and commendation as one side. Whatever happen in his journey through nine circles of Inferno and Mount Purgatorio, it is obviously Dante threw everythings he got to meet with his beloved Beatric. He sacrifised his life, met eery creatures, saw appropriate torments for sinner, climbed Mount Purgatorio for Beatric’s sake. It is involving all word relate to love and at last impress the readers for his extraordinary doing.

CHAPTER THREE

REFERENCE

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Alighieri

www.greatdante.net/

www.online-literature.com/dante/

www.worldofdante.org/

www.dantealighieri.com