Dante Thoughts

James Jordan · 12 Apr 2001, 15:38 · from whorl-v0012.mbox · original

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From: James Jordan <jbjordan4 at home.com>
Subject: (whorl) Dante Thoughts
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 15:38:12
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At 11:43 AM 4/12/2001 -0500, Adam wrote:

>I like this, though I don't know if Wolfe intended it.  But surely Purgato=
ry
>would be the Whorl _and_ Blue, with the conversation with Remora
>corresponding to the final purging of Dante's sins; and the undepicted
>voyage to the stars would be the Paradiso.  That would make either Seawrack
>or Nettle Beatrice; either would fit.  But who is Virgil, then?  Since
>Virgil left Dante at the end of the Purgatorio, the logical candidate would
>be Horn's spirit, which (as I've argued before) leaves Silk's body around
>this time; which would mean that it is Silk who corresponds to Dante.

         The logical candidate for Virgil is Oreb, especially since Oreb,=20
while at one level a figure of the Holy Spirit, is throughout this time=20
ridden by Scylla, a political and pagan type of character. True, Oreb is=20
not left behind at the end, but Scylla has left him (right?).
         I wonder if more could be done with this. I recall that when Horn=20
fell into the pit, in OBW, he says that this was the end of all his=20
happiness. "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here"? Entrance into Inferno?=20
The rest of Blue would be Limbus Patrum, Green would be Inferno proper, and=20
Whorl would be Purgatorio.
         Beatrice would seem to be both Seawrack and Nettle, in that Horn=20
and later the Narrator frequently think of both of them in idealized terms.=20
The real-life Beatrice, for those who may not know, was a young girl that=20
Dante fell in love with, though he and she were married. Nothing happened,=20
of course, this being courtly-love. And then she died very young. She=20
became his ideal and inspiration, and the departed literary-Beatrice=20
conducts Dante through Paradisio after his journey with the "good pagan"=20
Virgil through Inferno and Purgatorio.
         I suppose Mantis needs to produce a chapbook on literary allusions=20
and underpinnings of the SS books, showing the Odyssey and Divina Commedia=20
sequences.
         Interesting. Wonder if Wolfe really intended it....?

Nutria


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