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Canto 11
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
As Virgil and Dante continue to climb, Dante notices fine carvings along the path, depicting various biblical and classical figures. Among these are Satan being thrown down from Heaven; Briareus, who tried to overthrow the Olympian gods; Nimrod, who tried to climb to Heaven by building the Tower of Babel; and the destruction of the city of Troy. As Dante contemplates these, Virgil urges him not to waste time; an angel is approaching.
These carvings correspond to the carvings Dante saw when he first entered the Pride level of Purgatory. While those carvings showed examples of humility, these ones give examples of prideful behavior and its consequences. Each level of Purgatory contains a meditation of this type, showing a virtue and its sinful opposite.
Themes
The angel shows them a set of steps that will lead them more easily upward, and he brushes his wings across Dante’s forehead, erasing the first of the seven “P”s. As the two climb, they hear voices singing Beati pauperes (“Blessed are the poor in spirit”), and Dante notices how different this is from the atmosphere in Hell. He also notices that he’s walking more lightly, and Virgil explains that as each “P” is erased, Dante’s journey will become easier. As he climbs higher, he will be led by his own will, and it will be his delight to climb higher.
Each level also includes a concluding blessing, or benediction, from Christ’s Beatitudes in the Gospel of Matthew. The singing gives Purgatory a sense of hope that contrasts with the despair of Hell. The erasing of each “P” marked on Dante’s forehead symbolizes the purging of a particular sin. Because pride is the root of so many other sins, its purging makes the rest of the journey easier already, and it also liberates Dante’s will to more freely desire and pursue God.
Themes
