If I were to read the two remaining books of The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, I would expect some kind of transformation in the relationship between the writer Dante and the character Dante. I have been told that all three books end with a mention to the stars which may be a reference to the nature of humans to appreciate and see themselves and their lives reflected in other creations of God. Also the idea that the destiny of our souls after death will depend on our closeness with those stars, the godly, the celestial. “My guide and I came on that hidden road to make our way back into the bright world; and with no care for any rest, we climbed – he first, I following – until I saw, through a round opening, some of those things of beauty heaven bears. It was from there that we emerged, to see – once more – the stars.” (Inferno XXXIV: 133-139) Something I just noticed as I read this maxim is that there are several references in these lines that must have to do with the other books.
The first one is the “hidden road” which may be the road between human sin and God’s mercy. Through the book, Dante repeats the idea of permanent punishment, we can see this as we pass through limbo which is destined for: “those who were worthy but lived before Christianity and/or without baptism… Homer, Horace, Ovid, Lucan.” (Inferno IV) which tells us that not many souls are able to change their place after death. Not many will see those stars again and the most important fact, for our purpose, none will make their way through to reach that “hidden road”. This makes it clear that it’s not likely that we will see these characters again, as we move on we will have a new batch of adventures. This also gives importance and power to the character Dante, which will probably change through the other books. I wouldn’t bet that the people we will meet in Purgatorio and Paradiso will look at Dante in the way we saw him through the circles of hell where the souls were bewildered by Dante being alive in hell.
As the reader journeys through Inferno there is a constant search in his mind to understand the geographical world Dante’s journey is taking place in. As I searched through Wikipedia, my friends blogs, and on several educational websites I analyzed there was a geographical connection between the three books. Hell, according to Dante was created by the fall of Satan from heaven which displaced the land, creating a mountain in an island on the other side of the world which became purgatory. This theory of Dante’s Universe agrees with the diagram “The Universe of Dante” in my edition of the book and the “round opening” Dante talks about in Canto XXXIV. This connection gives place to an important difference between Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso which consists in the language, descriptions and allegory used by the author in these three different scenarios. I believe Dante will now have a different opportunity to show us how the other parts of the Catholic universe works, how we can change our state of misery due to our sins in Purgatorio and the reward we get for being close to God in Paradiso. As the scene changes, the purpose of the writing changes and as these two pieces change, they transform the language, allegory and descriptions giving a whole new meaning to this incredible, magnificent work.
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