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Canto 15
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Paradiso, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Earthly and Heavenly Justice
Creation and God’s Providence
God’s Character and Will
Vision, Knowledge, and the Pursuit of God
Language and the Ineffable
Summary
Analysis
Dante, overwhelmed by the honor of this moment, refers to his ancestor as “Thou,” prompting a smile from Beatrice. Dante requests to hear more about Cacciaguida’s life. Cacciaguida describes the smaller, purer Florence of his own day, back when families didn’t resort to deadly rivalries.
In a humorous moment, Dante somewhat pompously resorts to archaic language to greet his ancestor, which even Beatrice finds amusing. The point of Dante’s reaction is that, throughout the Divine Comedy, Dante places great stock on the importance of his Italian heritage, particularly as it traces back to Rome—for him the symbol of justice. Thus the decline of Florence, which Cacciaguida will soon describe, is a source of pain for him, and its divisions—nonexistent in his ancestor’s day—are a deeply personal matter.
Themes
Cacciaguida catalogues well-known Florentine families whose fortunes were already in decline in his day. Yet, on the whole, 12th-century Florence was at peace. It wasn’t torn apart by rival factions, envy, greed, and bloodshed.
The idealized Florence Cacciaguida describes is meant to show just how severe the moral decline has been in Dante’s own Florence. The discussion, linked to specific families whose names would have been recognizable to Dante’s audience, heightens the sense of urgency for Dante’s speaking out against injustice and corruption, as Cacciaguida will urge him to do in the next canto. It also shows that earthly injustices are relevant in Heaven and, in Dante’s eyes, demand God’s justice.
Themes
