The pilgrim may be on his way to the fifth terrace of Purgatory, but he’s still burdened by his dream of the seductive woman and the holy, speedy lady. Virgil comes to the rescue once again—this time with a reinterpretation of that dream (which leaves us a lot of questions!) and a command to look up at the heavens as the ultimate lure of desire.
Read MoreA comparison of the first two dreams of PURGATORIO. What can they tell us about the changing nature of PURGATORIO? What can they show us about the changing character of the pilgrim? And how can they help us understand the new landscapes of PURGATORIO ahead of us?
Read MoreDante’s dream continues with the ugly woman turned beautiful . . . and then into a siren. She sings a song about Ulysses (a song that gets his story wrong but brings him back into COMEDY) before a holy speedy lady descends to request Virgil’s aid in (once again) saving Dante the pilgrim.
Read MoreOur pilgrim Dante falls asleep on the fourth terrace of Mount Purgatory, just as he’s been passed by the racing slothful. The night air is chilly and his dream is chillier: a deformed woman made beautiful by our pilgrim’s act of observing her.
Read MoreDante and Virgil step onto the third terrace of Purgatory proper and the pilgrim is immediately struck with an ecstatic vision, the first such vision in a poem that itself may seem like one big ecstatic vision. This time, it’s Mary at the door, reprimanding Jesus and speaking in medieval Florentine.
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