Dante ALIGHIERI

Dante Alighieri

Life

Dante Alighieri was born in Florence on 1265 by a family of the little popular nobilty of Guelph part (Pope’s sostenitors).

He probably learned the rhetoric,namely the art of the “well talk”,and of the elegant writening.His intellectual and sentimental experience focuses around a woman’s figure,called by him Beatrice.

The death of Beatrice,on 1290 marks a period of bewilderment then estabilish a relation with civil and poetic life’s reality.

He deepens philosophical’s and poetic’s culture’s studies reading latins poets like Virgilio,considerated by him a “teacher”

Starting from 1295,he undertook various politics charges until in 1300 he was elected between the priors,supreme judiciary of the town.

But On 1300,he also had a lot of clashes with the Pope,Bonifacio VIII,clashes between white guelphs (sostenitors of the Florence’s liberty) and black guelphs (Pope’s politicity sostenitors) and for these,in 1301,when the black guelphs conquered Florence,Dante was exiled.

He estabilished in Ravenna,at the nobles’s courts and undertook politics charges.

During these years he wrote his most important work, “The Divine Comedy” On 1315,when the imperator took Florence,to Dante was given the permission of

return at home,but he wouldn’t return.He died on 14 september 1321 in Ravenna.

The “Dolce Stil Novo”

The “Dolce Stil Novo” is an Italian poetical moviment which developed in the second half of 1200.

It consist in a deep research through a gentle and “noble” aspect of own thought,separating the

language to municipal vulgar.

Are often used metaphors and symbolisms,like dual meaningsof words.

It was born in Bologna between 1270 and 1300.With this moviment,the female figure evolves to the figure

of an “angelic woman”,intermediary between man and God,able to sublimate the male’s wish provided he

shows to have a gentle and pure heart.

The style is characterized to sweets and flats rhymes.

The most importans authors of this literary moviment are Dante Alighieri,Guido Cavalcanti and Guido

Guinizzelli.

Dante Alighieri

The works During his life,he wrote a lot of works,in Vulgar and

in Latin;He supported the vulgar because he aspired to the realization of an his great dream:spread the vulgar to all the Italy like a national language.The most important work is the “Divine comedy” .

In this work he was very influenced by the christian religion,where he talk about a trip in the hell,in the purgatory and in the paradise,like an epic poem;He undertakes this (fantastic) trip for the God will,guided by Virgilio and Beatrice.The trip begins on 8 April 1300 and ends on 10 April,Easter day (symbolising the rebirth).In this trip he meets a lot of famous people of the past and the present.

Dante Alighieri Woman’s view In Dante,being a stilnovist,the woman’s view is fondamental. He conceives the woman like an angelic creature,with the function of direct the man to

the sublimation and ennobling:the absolute love,the love with the purity of God.

So,this woman in an object of platonic love,without act of courtship in her direction,though the simple talk about her took to the ennobling of the soul.The woman is almost never physically descripted,she is only compared to the nature’s beauty.

In conclusion,her love is the intermediary between the man and God,her love is salvation.

Dante Aligheri

An example “Tanto gentil e tanto onesta pare” So gentle and so dignified appears

my lady when she greets others, that every trembling tongue becomes dumb, and their eyes do not dare look upon her. The firsts adjectives attributed to the woman are the dimostration of the great devotion of the poet against the loved. The word “greets” in latin (salus,salutis) indicate the spiritual salvation which the woman grants to the men.The woman left speechless everybody when she walk for the street,because her image is contemplated on the divine plan,so that she take the appearance of an angel.Hence the concept of angelic woman. That vision will be exceeded by the next poetic’s production,by the stilnovist too,first Guido Cavalcanti,who adopt a vision more materialistic.