Purgatorio

Published sometime in the year 1307-08, Purgatorio relates the second part of poet/narrator Dante Alighieri's depiction of his fictional journey through the divine realms. Having told of his experiences in Hell in Inferno, Dante now relates his experiences cleansing himself in Purgatory as he prepares to visit Heaven. As a text, Purgatorio has always played second fiddle to the far more violent and bitter Inferno. However, Purgatorio introduces an important topic largely ignored in Inferno – Dante’s childhood love for a woman named Beatrice.

Most historical sources have determined that Dante first met Beatrice when he was nine years old and she eight. He immediately fell in love. Some claim he only saw Beatrice twice in his life, though scholars disagree over this. Though unrequited, Dante’s love for her continued to blossom, and he obsessively composed poems in Beatrice's honor, often in the courtly love tradition popular in 13th century Florence. The two eventually went on to marry different people: Dante, a certain Gemma Donati, by whom he fathered four children, and Beatrice, a banker named Simone dei Bardi.

Beatrice’s death at the age of twenty-four threw Dante into despair. Only after her death did he commit himself to religious studies. So, one might say with some accuracy that Beatrice was indirectly responsible for the creation of the famous Divine Comedy. A recurring character in Dante’s works, Beatrice is heavily featured in La Vita Nuova, an autobiographical poem with a famous first line inspired by a dream about Beatrice. Beatrice goes on to appear at the end of Purgatorio as an angelic figure who will guide Dante through Heaven.