Essay About Dante Alighieri And Beauty Of Beatrice Portinari

Paradiso
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Dante Alighieri
So deeply to be reverenced, so fair,
My lady is when her smile bestows,
All sound of speaking falters to a close
And eyes which would behold her do not dare
Of praises sung of her she is aware,
Yet clad in sweet humility she goes
A miracle in which the world may share.
Dante Alighieri
Sonet XXVI Lavita Nueva
At age nine, Dante was graced by the beauty of Beatrice Portinari, and for the rest of
his life, many of his writings portrayed his intense love for merely the thought of her
which seemed to haunt him. Although his relationship with her was only from afar,
within his mind, Beatrice captivated him as he believed she was a miracle sent from
heaven.
Women have been portrayed in every way throughout time. More often, women have
portrayed as a model of Eve, the misguided seductress of Adam in the Bible. The lure of
a woman is ambiguous, a mystery of the sensual persona that has captivated many
medieval writers. Dante does not portray women as the weakness of all man, instead in
his Comedia, Beatrice is the divine beauty and guide of his journey into heaven.
Undoubtedly, Beatrice captivated Dante enough for him to dedicate his Comedia to, and
through his vivid imagination, he recreates her as a heavenly spirit who protects his
ultimate fate as she is the most influential
character.
Dante wrote La Comedia in the age of religious devotion and fear of sin, which
signifies La Comedia as an ultimate portrayal of medieval thought. A sure anxiety of the
afterlife was cultivated by the rise of Christianity. What is the ultimate sin? How does
one repent sin? What is the journey of the afterlife? Endless questions surely haunted the
medieval mind, and Dante was surely fascinated by the possibilities. Within his
curiosities was beatrice, who enchanted Dante and possibly encouraged his
medieval mind, and Dante was surely fascinated by the possibilities. Within his
curiosities was Beatrice, who enchanted Dante and possibly encouraged his
writing of La Comedia after her death.
My Soul- Such years had passed since last it saw
that lady and stood trembling in her presence,
stupefied by the power of holy awe-
now, by some power that shone from her above
the reach and witness of my mortal eyes,
felt the full mastery of enduring love.
Dante Alighieri
La Comedia
Canto XXX Purgatorio
This is Dantes first sight of Beatrice in La Comedia.