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Love on the Line // Abigale Bell

 


From a modern perspective, courtly love is something that is hard to understand. It's hard to imagine that people were able to separate their desire for physical connection form their admiration of a person. Compared to a modern view of love, which is often completely focused on the physical aspect, courtly love is very clearly an idealized version of love. However, it is too far of a stretch to believe that every "relationship" that began as courtly love remained pure. Canto V of Dante's Inferno gives us a clear view of the line that should not be crossed. 

Canto V describes Dante's experience in the second circle of Hell. He has descended from the first circle, Limbo, to a place of greater punishment. As he looks around, Dante sees two spirits floating side-by-side, Francesca and her lover. He asks how they came to be there. Francesca tells their sad story. What began as an innocent meeting (the two simply reading together) ended in their surrendering to the temptation of the moment. "But one particular moment alone it was/ Defeated us: the longed for smile, it said,/ Was kissed by that most noble lover..." (Dante, 118-120). It was in one moment that they crossed the line and that moment doom them. Both killed for their actions, they were cast into the second circle of Hell to be blown in the winds forever. 

The picture of Francesca and her lover is a reminder that one moment can change a good situation into one that is deeply regretted. Such a dichotomy between courtly love and the second circle of Hell is a stark picture of what can happen when the line is crossed. 


Commented on Braylan's and Emmett's posts.

Comments

  1. IsabelleMarch 16, 2021 at 8:07 AM

    I'm going to be honest, I passed over Francesca, and I really regret it now. You made a great connection with courtly love gone wrong between she and her lover. I agree with the conclusion you drew. One wrong decision can deeply burden our souls. Also, I love that the further we get into the assigned readings the more women play roles in lessons to be learned. Great post!

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  2. Emma Kate PattersonMarch 16, 2021 at 8:58 AM

    I like how you related the book we are currently reading to a subject we learned about a few weeks ago in class. It is cool that we can study courtly love in multiple books and use the knowledge we have about courtly love to be able to better understand what we are reading.

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  3. Braylan StringfellowMarch 16, 2021 at 9:01 AM

    I find it interesting how one choice can completely change the course of someone's life. That one moment was enough to doom Francesca to the second circle of hell. Kind of makes me wanna think even more thoroughly with some of my decisions.

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