Dante's Life of Dante, the Divine Comedy as autobiography

grantor: University of TorontoThis thesis proposes a comprehensive autobiographical reading of Dante's ' Divina Commedia.' The first chapter considers the notion of self and the narratology of life-writing in the Middle Ages, concluding that the ' Commedia' is Dante's story, or more precisely Dante's stor' ies.' The second chapter looks at the 'Vita nuova' as Dante's first attempt at autobiography. The use of religious imagery, the evocation of biblical analogy, and the adoption of classical literary devices within the context of a lyric work are examined as is the framework Dante creates with the "Book of Memory" to tell the story of his love for Beatrice. The third chapter, therefore, looks at Dante's political work, the ' Convivio' in its relationship to the 'Vita nuova' and examines how the 'Convivio' revises the earlier effort. Here Dante rethinks Beatrice's role and considers the effects of exile. We see Dante's first attempt to reconcile the personal and social aspects of his life. The 'Convivio,' however, remained unfinished and the reconciliation was not resolved satisfactorily. Chapters 4 and 5 look at how Dante's love story and political story are expressed in the 'Commedia.' Chapter 4 examines how Dante uses the 'Commedia' to rewrite the 'Vita nuova' and to present a revised version of his love story. The chapter considers the role of the framing metaphor, the journey, in effecting the revision Dante first attempted in the 'Convivio.' Similarly, Chapter 5 looks at the political story introduced in the 'Convivio' and its absorption and revision by the 'Commedia.' It considers as well, how the intersection of Dante's own particular story and its universal significance effects the reconciliation of both aspects of his life within a greater cosmic scheme. The thesis shows that the 'Commedia' picks up where the ' Vita nuova' and the 'Convivio' left off and represents the culmination of Dante's life-long project of self-examination while presenting not only Dante's vision of world history but of his own. In the 'Commedia ' Dante critiques the lives of others and his own life as well. The ' Commedia' is a self-portrait intended for public display and, therefore, may legitimately be considered as autobiography.Ph.D