Purgatory
Questions
The most common questions about Purgatory, answered from the canticle.
- What is the summary of Dante's Purgatory?Purgatory, the second canticle of Dante Alighieri's Comedy, tells how Dante and Virgil leave Inferno, climb a mountain of seven ledges, where souls...
- What is Dante's Purgatory about?Purgatory is about how a crooked will is set straight. It is the cantica in which the souls are no longer what they did, they are ceasing to be it,...
- How is Dante's Purgatory organized?Purgatory has 33 cantos in terza rima and recounts the climb of a mountain in three parts: Ante-Purgatory, at the base, where those who came late...
- What is the difference between Purgatory and Inferno in the Comedy?In Inferno the souls are what they did; in Purgatory they are ceasing to be it. That is the central difference, and it is why Inferno punishes and...
- Who is Virgil in Dante's Purgatory?Virgil is the shade of the poet from Mantua, author of the Aeneid, who guides Dante through Inferno and continues to guide him through Purgatory up...
- Why does Virgil disappear at the end of Purgatory?Virgil is not sent away or punished: the poem takes him off the stage because the reason he represents reaches, there, the end of its reach. He takes...
- Who is Beatrice in Dante's Purgatory?Beatrice is the woman whom Purgatory promises from canto VI and delivers in canto XXX: she appears in the Earthly Paradise, in a cloud of flowers,...
- Who is the old guardian of the shore at the beginning of Purgatory?The old man who guards the shore of Purgatory is a solitary figure with a long white beard, his face lit by the four stars that only the first men...
- What are the seven P's on Dante's forehead in Purgatory?They are seven letters P that the gatekeeping angel writes on Dante's forehead, with the point of his sword, as he opens the gate of Purgatory, in...
- What does Virgil teach about love in canto XVII of Purgatory?In canto XVII, Virgil teaches that every act, good or bad, is born of love: neither creator nor creature was ever without love, whether natural or of...
- Who is Statius in Dante's Purgatory?Statius is the Latin poet whom the mountain makes tremble. In canto XXI, the earthquake and the souls' praise are the sign that he, after more than...
- What is Dante's reunion with Beatrice in Purgatory like?The reunion is a scene of accusation, not of consolation. Beatrice appears in canto XXX, in a cloud of flowers, and Dante feels the old love before...
- What are Lethe and Eunoe in Purgatory?They are the two rivers of the Earthly Paradise, which rise from a single source: Lethe takes from whoever drinks it the memory of sin, and Eunoe...
- Who is Sordello in Dante's Purgatory?Sordello is the Lombard soul, the poet from Mantua whom Dante and Virgil find alone in Ante-Purgatory and who rises when he hears the name of Mantua....
- What is the most famous line of Dante's Purgatory?There is no official line, but the most famous passage of Purgatory is the invective of canto VI against Italy, which begins with "Ahi serva Italia,...
- Is Dante's Purgatory hard to read?Purgatory calls for attention, but it has a thread that is easy to follow. The climb has stages, the rule of the place is stated in a few lines, and...
- How many pages is Dante's Purgatory?Purgatory has 33 cantos and 4,755 lines, which comes to around 125 pages in an ordinary edition. The number varies with the edition, the page format...