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Canto 9
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Purgatorio, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Purgatory and the Heavenward Journey
Love, Sin, and God
Free Will
Spiritual Power vs. Earthly Power
Time
Summary
Analysis
The gate of Purgatory slams shut behind Dante and Virgil, and they climb cautiously up a narrow, zigzagging cleft of rock. They eventually stop to rest on a deserted road that circles the mountain—a ledge that’s about the width of three body-lengths. Around them, Dante notices beautiful images carved into the marble bank, which Virgil encourages him to study carefully. The images include the Angel Gabriel addressing the Virgin Mary, David dancing before the Ark of the Covenant, and the legend of Trajan and the poor widow.
In this canto, Dante and Virgil reach the lower level of Purgatory—the first of three levels where they will witness souls being purged of the sin of love perverted. On each level, there will be examples of the positive virtue corresponding to the specific sin that’s being purged—in this case, humility in place of pride. The examples here include God’s humility in becoming a man (the impending event Gabriel announced to Mary) and Mary’s humble acceptance; David’s humility in freely dancing in celebration before the Ark of the Covenant; and the classical story of the emperor Trajan, who was loved by the people for his simplicity and justice.
Themes
Dante and Virgil notice humanlike forms moving toward them, but their appearance is strange, as they are bent almost to the ground. Dante realizes that these are souls doing penance for the sin of pride. Each soul is bearing a stone, its heaviness matching the weight of his or her sin.
The specific sins named in Purgatory are not meant to provide an exhaustive list of human sin but to include those sins that are, in Catholic theology, understood to be the source of all others. The first three sins addressed in Purgatory are categorized as perversions of love. Pride is the first example of a perversion of love, because it puts the self, instead of God, at the center of a person’s life. Hence these souls, who once strove to occupy a Godlike position in life, are now literally and metaphorically brought down to earth by heavy rocks. This is an example of how penance functions in Dante’s Purgatory, cleansing the soul by instilling virtue in place of sin.
Themes
