The Purgatory Companion (Includes Study Guide, Historical Context, and Character Index)

By BookCaps

Dante’s "Purgatory" (or Pugatorio) is a true classic that people have appreciated for over a hundred years. The fact that it is a classic doesn’t mean every reader will breeze through it with no problem at all. If you need just a little more help with Dante's classic, then let BookCaps help with this simplified study guide!

This book contains a comprehension study of Dante's classic work (including chapter summaries for every chapter, and an overview of themes and characters). This edition does not include the novel.

We all need refreshers every now and then. Whether you are a student trying to cram for that big final, or someone just trying to understand a book more, BookCaps can help. We are a small, but growing company, and are adding titles every month.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookCaps
• Release date: May 23, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301419043

BookCaps

We all need refreshers every now and then. Whether you are a student trying to cram for that big final, or someone just trying to understand a book more, BookCaps can help. We are a small, but growing company, and are adding titles every month.Visit www.bookcaps.com to see more of our books, or contact us with any questions.

Book preview

Introduction

Purgatorio is the second of a trilogy of epic poems written by Dante Alighieri, a famous Italian poet. Since he has already passed through Hell, he must continue his journey now through both Purgatory and Heaven. Purgatorio, as you might guess, is the story of Dante’s trip through Purgatory.

Purgatrio, like Inferno before it and Paradiso after it, makes up part of the Divine Comedy. The word Comedy in the title doesn’t mean the epic poem is meant to be funny. It means it’s not a tragedy. In other words, in classical literature, the word comedy means the story has a happy ending.

This second part of the Divine Comedy is much lighter and happier than the first, and the end of Purgatorio promises the Paradiso will be even happier and more glorious.

Before we look deeply into the characters and individual cantos of this poem, let’s take a brief look at Inferno, just to catch up with the story, and then we’ll see a general summary of the plot of Purgatorio.

Previously, In Inferno

Inferno began with Dante finding himself in a deep, dark valley. He could not leave the conventional way, since wild animals blocked his path. But the ghost of the Roman poet Virgil appeared, telling Dante that he was sent by the Virgin Mary herself to guide him through the three Divine Realms—Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven.

They pass through the various circles of Hell, each deeper than the last and each dedicated to a certain kind of sinner. The first circle was Limbo, dedicated to good men and women that lived before Christ. Virgil was from Limbo.

The second circle held the lustful, tormented by great storms. The third was for the gluttons, who suffered under freezing rain. The fourth circle was where both the greedy and the wasteful had to eternally push giant weights around. The wrathful and the sullen suffered in the muddy river Styx in the fifth circle.

The travelers reached the city Dis and needed an angel’s help to get in through the hostile residents. When the crossed the gates, they also entered the sixth circle, where heretics were trapped in fiery tombs. The seventh circle was where the violent were punished, and the eighth and ninth circle were dedicated to different kinds of fraud.

When they finally got to the bottom of the ninth circle, they saw sinners trapped under a glassy sea of ice. Half buried in that sea was Lucifer, a three-headed beast, a different sinner in each of his three mouths.

In order to get out of Hell, Virgil and Dante climb Lucifer, ending up coming out of the subterranean horror world and onto the southern hemisphere of the earth, where they come to the mountain of Purgatory.

Plot Summary

Purgatorio picks up right where Inferno left off—Dante and Virgil on the southern hemisphere, standing at the base Mount Purgatory, which is also on an island. Boats of souls arrive on the shore, and the sinners must wait a very long time before they can even begin to climb the mountain to Heaven. That first area is called ante-Purgatory. Dante and Virgil see the Valley of the Rulers, where a bunch of dead kings reside. A shadowy serpent appears at dusk, but it is driven away by two angels.

No one can travel in Purgatory at night. So each time the sun goes down, Dante and Virgil must stop and rest until sunrise. Dante sleeps this first night, only to wake up at the gates of Purgatory. It seems St. Lucia carried him there through the night.

The climb the three steps to the gate, and the angel and the entrance marks seven P’s on Dante’s forehead. That’s fitting, since Dane and Virgil must climb seven terraces to get to the top of the mountain. Each terrace is where a different kind sin is paid for.

The first terrace if for the Prideful. Large sculptures show examples of humility. The prideful penitents must climb with giant, heavy weights on top of them. Because these souls must always be bent over, Dante bends himself over to talk to them. He feels such compassion for them that he walks hunched down all the way