Jung’s Anima and Literature
In Dante’s Divine Comedy the entire journey through the horrors of Inferno and the labours of Purgatory are framed by the desire for a reunion with the love of his youth, Beatrice, who herself came down from heaven to commission Virgil to take Dante on this journey on the arduous path to the Divine Light. Virgil, himself condemned to the limbo of hell, can only take Dante as far as where Purgatory ends and the garden of earthly delights begins the way to Paradise, and it is here that Dante is reunited with Beatrice. Virgil leaves Dante, and after the procession that leads Beatrice and the unveiling of her beauty, the meeting is surprising. It is not an embrace, weeping or hugging or happiness, no: Dante is scolded. In a long list of accusations Beatrice says:
…when from flesh to spirit, I
had risen, and my goodness and my beauty
had grown, I was less dear to him, less welcome:
he turned his footsteps toward an untrue path:
he followed counterfeits of goodness, which
will never pay in full what they have promised.
Nor did the inspirations I received-
with which, in dream and otherwise, I called
him back — help me; he paid so little heed!
