Entitled Opinions (about Life and Literature)
Dante’s Characters: Part One, Francesca da Rimini
Dec 14, 2023
In this podcast, Professor Robert Harrison discusses Dante's captivating characters in his Divine Comedy. He explores the irony and deception in the sinners' monologues and analyzes Francesca da Rimini's tragic fate and passionate encounter. The podcast also delves into the intersection of Nietzsche and Francesca's happiness.
36:18
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Quick takeaways
- The monologues in Dante's Inferno are filled with infernal irony, revealing a discrepancy between what the sinners say and what they mean.
- Francesca's deep knowledge of romantic literature and her allusions establish her as a modern literary heroine in Dante's poem.
Deep dives
Francesca's Monologues and Infernal Irony
Francesca's monologues in Dante's Inferno are filled with infernal irony. The sinners in Hell, including Francesca, offer misleading and manipulative confessions due to their knowledge that Dante will eventually report their stories to the world. Francesca's confession, permeated by infernal irony, reveals a discrepancy between what she says and what she means. The presence of an interlocutor, Dante, gives the sinners an incentive to be deceitful. Unlike Shakespeare's soliloquies that expose true intentions, the monologues in Inferno contain opaque confessions that demand a hermeneutics of suspicion.
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