ABSTRACT
The The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri brings together classical learning, Christian theology, and vernacular language to describe an imaginary journey through the three realms of the afterlife. The nature of love is a central theme in this poem: when Virgil, the Roman poet who guides Dante through the underworld, describes how he was sent to his rescue by Beatrice, he describes Beatrice as having been moved by love, amor. Though Dante does not describe their relationship in full, Francesca di Rimini was married to Gianciotto Malatesta in a marriage arranged to ensure peace between rival dynasties. Dante revisits the question of love in philosophical terms. Dante's philosophy of love as articulated here is deeply indebted to medieval scholasticism.
