Darrell Falconburg, “Following the Gaze: Beatrice’s Eyes and Beauty in the Divine Comedy (2020)

“In the Convivio, Dante writes about his admiration for a Florentine girl named Beatrice. Here Dante reveals that he first looked at Beatrice when he was only nine years old, and she was only eight. It was at this moment that, in a chivalric manner befitting of a young medieval man, Dante fell in love. Over the course of the next nine years, Dante saw Beatrice occasionally, but he did not have the chance to speak to her. This changed, however, when Dante was eighteen years old. Walking down the street with her two friends and veiled in a dress, the young Beatrice looked at Dante to say hello. The two did not exchange any more words, yet this encounter would remain one of the most memorable of Dante’s life. Dante again meets and memorializes Beatrice in his magnum opus The Divine Comedy. In particular, Beatrice is given a central role as Dante’s guide through the heavens. As the woman who Dante loved in real life, Beatrice symbolizes in the poem the beauty of the highest heavens. Throughout the poem, special treatment is given to Beatrice’s eyes which, as symbols of beauty, reflect like mirrors the splendor of God.”    —VoegelinView (December 22, 2020)

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