Jeremy Tambling - Dante and the Modern Subject: = Overcoming Anger in the Purgatorio

From: Subject: Jeremy Tambling - Dante and the Modern Subject: Overcoming Anger in the Purgatorio - New Literary History 28:2 Date: Mon, 3 May 2004 20:31:21 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_003F_01C4314D.98E5B410"; type="text/html" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1409 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_003F_01C4314D.98E5B410 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://0-muse.jhu.edu.opac.sfsu.edu/journals/new_literary_history/v028/28.2tambling.html Jeremy Tambling - Dante and the Modern Subject: = Overcoming Anger in the Purgatorio - New Literary History 28:2

Copyright =A9 1997 by New Literary = History, The=20 University of Virginia. All rights reserved.

New Literary History 28.2 (1997) 401-420=20

Dante and the Modern Subject: =
Overcoming=20 Anger in the Purgatorio

Jeremy=20 Tambling

If to read a medieval text means beginning with = its=20 alterity, as Jauss and Paul Zumthor urge, ¹ alterity is not something determinate, nor = single:=20 distinctions in writing medieval texts may suggest not "the = question of=20 the alterity of the Middle Ages" but "the alterities within it." = ² We read as "moderns," and confirm that = modernity by=20 reference to differences in the medieval text, but that depends = both on=20 being able to locate what modernity means and then on being able = to=20 confirm the medieval character of the text we interpret. Some = readings of=20 medieval texts may still disavow the consequences of their own = rootedness=20 in modernity, and use the medieval as that which is outside modern = questions of the subject produced in the text as nonunitary, = decentered in=20 psychoanalytic and gender terms. In Dante criticism especially, it = has=20 been easy for a logocentrism to persist so that the text still = affirms a=20 movement toward clarification and stability, the privilege of = reading thus=20 coming from the argument that the text is not modern. The = danger of=20 reading otherwise, as though the text were modern in our terms, = is, as=20 Zumthor suggests, to ignore our own historicity as modern, "by = giving an=20 achronic shape to the past, [to] hide the specific traits of the = present."=20 ³ Yet to call a text medieval is also to = choose to=20 read it in a certain way, to construct it intellectually as such, = and what=20 is constructed in one way may in a further moment be taken in = another. And=20 while we may mark the difference of the medieval from the early = modern or=20 Renaissance, a medieval text cannot simply be medieval, otherwise = it could=20 not take part in any historical transition, and the text needs = also to be=20 read for those signs of an internal difference which enable = translation=20 from medieval to modern.=20

Thus it is fascinating to find in Dante's = Commedia=20 allusions to the "modern." While the text is ambiguous about = whether it=20 wants to use that term at all, that it is there at least suggests = that its=20 own discourse is not single, that it is a text in movement, and it = implies=20 also a textual unconscious. This paper concentrates on the first = use of=20 the word "moderno," in Purgatorio, canto 16. ⁴ The word never appeared in Inferno, = perhaps=20 because that text was the prison-house of old sad spirits ("li = [End=20 Page 401] antichi spiriti dolenti," Inferno 1.116), = ⁵ but in Purgatorio it becomes an = issue, and=20 surfaces first in the context of cantos devoted to wrath and the = purging=20 of anger. The link between modernity and anger in the text becomes = a=20 teasing one which I want to pursue: it seems that anger becomes = the trope=20 of modernity. Dante tells the wrathful soul Marco Lombardo whom he = meets,=20 and who is learning to control his anger in conditions of dense = and acrid=20 smoke, that he is privileged to see God's court "in a manner = altogether=20 wholly outside modern use" ("in modo tutto fuor del moderno uso"=20 [Purg. 16.42]).=20

Dante disavows being modern, as though joining = with those=20 who would read the text as if it were medieval. And anger is = annotated by=20 Dante commentators from Aristotle or Seneca or Aquinas, which = implies a=20 transhistorical understanding of an emotion which could itself be=20 historicized. But commentary need not stop there: Nietzsche, = Freud, or=20 Walter Benjamin, all writing in the archive of these others, might = be=20 equally relevant for an attempt to think through anger, and there = seems no=20 reason not to use them as well. It is not a question of trying to = update=20 Dante or of using these figures of modernity to comment on a = medieval=20 text: it is more that there is a genealogy of the modern implied = through=20 Dante's use of the term, and reading should be attentive to those=20 discontinuous moments in the text that are the signs of an = emerging=20 modernity. The distinctions made between the classical and the = medieval=20 and modern avoid spotting such a genealogy. They work as stable=20 representations, but it is a teasing point that anger in = Purgatorio=20 is that which breaks down such stability of representation, which = is not=20 only the source of further anger, but part of its fascination, and = a=20 reason for concentrating on these particular, not so well known, = cantos.=20 In using theory that applies to the modern subject, there is a = payment by=20 results since it makes the text speak its modernity in ways = unobtainable=20 through an older critical theory marked by a historicist approach, = and to=20 the objection of anachronism, it may be answered that there is an = equal=20 anachronism involved in reading Dante as though there were a = determinate=20 knowledge of how the fourteenth century felt, accessible outside = the text,=20 as if the medieval had not been created as such by Romantic or=20 post-Romantic readings. So I come back to Dante's disavowal of = being=20 modern and want to suggest that it is not simple. It suggests an = awareness=20 of differing modes of thinking, of writing (since this journey, = which is=20 not being done in the manner of modern use, is still only being = done in=20 writing). The text is not seamless in that it is aware of another=20 discourse that it consciously excludes. If modernity in the = medieval=20 period suggests a changed attitude toward textuality, as Eugene = Vance=20 suggests, ⁶ a recognition of the text as plural, this = text=20 overtly sides with elements, such as those in Marco Lombardo = himself, that=20 assert rather a [End Page 402] clear, simple relation = between text=20 and referent--but that also enact the point that the text is = problematic,=20 baffling, and double.=20

Dante differentiates himself from the modern in = contrast=20 with the place he assumes in canto 26. ⁷ Modern there but not modern here, perhaps = the line=20 involves humility, if to be modern is an ideal. Or better, perhaps = the=20 line suggests that to call oneself modern is folly, as in the view = of the=20 philosopher Castoriadis, for whom "the term 'modern' expresses a=20 profoundly auto- (or ego-) centric attitude. The proclamation 'we = are the=20 moderns' tends to cancel any true ulterior development." = Castoriadis adds=20 that it "only makes sense on the absurd hypothesis that the period = that=20 has proclaimed itself modern will last forever and be a perpetual=20 present." ⁸ This position could become reactionary, or = better,=20 it could suggest the desire to be not modern but = "postcontemporary."=20 Applied to Dante it might suggest an attitude toward his then = modernity,=20 which while not accepting that, equally does not turn back in=20 nostalgia--as his interlocutor, Marco Lombardo, definitely does. = But=20 Castoriadis's critical position toward modernity may be compared = with=20 Lyotard's where modernity is not a historically specific term, but = "in=20 whatever age it appears, [it] cannot exist without a shattering of = belief=20 and without discovery of the 'lack of reality' of reality, = together with=20 the invention of other realities." ⁹ The modern shatters older representations, = but the=20 postmodern is evoked as the critique of the rationalist, = totalizing drive=20 within modernity, the desire to bring everything into = representation. The=20 modern and the postmodern stress the "unrepresentable" (PC = 81), and=20 this, which fits with a stress on textuality in the episode, which = I shall=20 show, relates also to their drama, to the black smoke that cuts = out the=20 subject's dependency on the eye. In this section, Dante has = visions, whose=20 effect is to make him act like a drunk (15.123), outside rational = control.=20 In Lyotard, "the postmodern would be that which, in the modern, = puts=20 forward the unpresentable in representation itself, that which = denies=20 itself the solace of good forms . . . which searches for new=20 presentations, not in order to enjoy them, but in order to impart = a=20 stronger sense of the unpresentable" (PC 81). In anger, as = this=20 section of Purgatorio gives it, there is a breakdown and = taking=20 over of the subject in control: anger as excess is indefinable, = not a=20 single emotion, but double, its constitutive parts throughout = matters for=20 displacement.=20

At this point, I will move to a reading of the = episode,=20 to show how the anger affects subjectivity. ¹⁰ While the framing visions in cantos 15 = and 17=20 enact rather than comment openly on wrath, the canto in the middle = talks=20 about everything else, as though the angry man, Marco Lombardo, = was really=20 a modern rationalist able to discourse on free will, mind, the = knowledge=20 of good and evil, justice and government, and the crucial [End = Page=20 403] relationship between the Roman empire and the papacy. The = text's=20 silence about wrath is the "other" in all this, but the silence is = not=20 because there is nothing to say. Another text is implied in the = smoke that=20 blacks out vision, but which the text displaces, hardly commenting = on it=20 openly. Wrath implies passion which suggests through its = etymology,=20 passivity, the subject being made to suffer, made to undergo. = These cantos=20 make passion primary for a construction of the self, including its = rationality, and they also gender it, making it further not a = unitary=20 state.=20

The cornice of anger is reached at the end of = Dante's=20 second day of purgation, and is different in type from those of = pride and=20 envy, already encountered on that second day. Dante as the = narrator enters=20 into the punishment, in a way that happens again only with the=20 fire-purging lust, at the end of the third day. As there is no = smoke=20 without fire, so there are important relations between the cantos = of anger=20 (smoke) and lust (fire); cantos which show the subject possessed = and=20 defined by emotions of reaction and desire; wrath having the = erotic as its=20 unconscious and lust touched by erotic sadness, if melancholy as a = profoundly modern state is, as I shall argue, displaced but = present in=20 canto 16. In the way that the subject experiences the smoke (in = canto 16)=20 and the fire (cantos 26 and 27), a sense of distance, and of = rational=20 subjectivity is overthrown by a series of sudden interventions. In = canto=20 16, these include the one made by Marco Lombardo, heard but not = seen=20 because of the smoke. He breaks in on Dante from his own prayings = for=20 peace with "Now who are you?" ("Or tu chi se?" [16.25]), which = presumably=20 resumes his impatient nature heard also in his exclamation "uhi!" = (16.64).=20 In the frequency and the violence of these moments, the narrator = receives=20 disconfirming shocks. And this continues from the beginning of the = sequence when Dante is decentered, seeming to be in "an ecstatic = vision"=20 ("una visione estatica" [15.85-86]), when he suddenly seems to see = people=20 in a temple, in the first of three examples of inward visions of=20 gentleness.=20

The first draws on Mary and her words in Luke = 2:48. Mary=20 is not quite in the room, but is on the point of entering--"in su=20 l'entrar" (15.88). Nor are her words heard so much as intuited = from her=20 description: "a lady with the sweet attitude of a mother" ("una = donna . .=20 . con atto dolce di madre" (15.88-89). The nonpresence of the = mother=20 appears, her "trace" in Derrida's terms, in this visionary and = kinetic=20 state where no place or voice quite exists for her. She is = followed by two=20 other visionary encounters--Pisistratus and his wife, and Stephen = and his=20 murderers. They differ from the example of Mary by the doubleness = they=20 evoke, gentleness and anger put together. In what they suggest = about=20 wrath, they encode that quality with the erotic (another way of = recalling=20 this cornice's associations with the cornice of lust). = Pisistratus's wife,=20 like Mary, is in a state of grief ("dolor"); but she is also = scornful and=20 her [End Page 404] anger is on behalf of her daughter, = because a=20 youth in love with her came up to her in the street and kissed = her. In=20 this offstage narrative, wrath is inseparable from the erotic and = its=20 violence, which in this context could imply attempted rape. The = erotic=20 entails attack and a reaction creating its own violence, which = intrudes=20 into the public order of Athens, a regime itself established after = a=20 dispute between a god and a goddess, resolved when Athena produced = the=20 olive tree (peace and fertility) as the best gift for humankind. = The=20 doubleness of attitude shown by Pisistratus's wife, which shows = the=20 instability of any settlement of peace or unification of the = polis=20 displaces the erotic while her words displace her daughter, who = does not=20 appear and whose narrative is un-represented. The doubleness = exists in her=20 speech. ¹¹ Her anger is inseparable from = representation in=20 language and gesture; her passion is encoded, not outside the = text.=20

In the third example, Stephen's murderers are = "burning in=20 the fire of wrath" ("accese in foco d'ira" [15.106]), a line which = while=20 it recalls Aristotle's De Anima on anger as a "blazing of = the blood=20 around the heart" also has resonances of Dantean love poetry. = ¹² The fire links hatred and love and wrath = and=20 passion. Pisistratus in the second example asks what should we do = to those=20 who desire our ill if he who loves us is condemned by us ("che mal = ne=20 disira / se quei che ci ama =E8 per noi condannato" [104-5]). His = rhetoric=20 changes the representation of events by transmuting the violence = of the=20 youth into love (and each expression of gentleness in these three = examples=20 is shown in the rhetoric of the gentle person), but the statement = also=20 turns anger into desire, eroticizes it. Pisistratus's question is = answered=20 implicitly and brutally by the death of Stephen, which working = with=20 Pisistratus's statement, also suggests that hatred may displace = sexual=20 desire, the more so as Stephen the man is called a boy, "un = giovinetto,"=20 evoking an affective response, even implicitly eroticizing him. = Here it=20 may be added that the symmetry of one canto number in relation to = its=20 equivalent number in Inferno makes one the unconscious of = another=20 and gives point to Marco Lombardo's reference to valor and = courtesy=20 ("valore e cortesia" [16.116]) because this replays the inquiry of = the=20 sodomite Iacopo Rusticucci about the existence of "cortesia e = valor" in=20 contemporary Florence (Inferno 16.67). The cantos = describing the=20 sodomites and burning sands of their lust become an underlay for = these=20 cantos of anger, which in turn activate a rereading of the earlier = cantos.=20 They situate sexual desire in relation to the polis, and to = the=20 concept of civitas. In the case of Stephen, lynch law, open = violence against a passive youth suggests the overdetermined = nature of=20 passion. The knot of anger as it is called (Purg. 16.24) is = hard to=20 untie because of those strands both of sexual desire and of = reaction to=20 it, the return of those emotions in a [End Page 405] = different=20 form. The reactive attack on the helpless youth is also encoded = within the=20 language of Dantean love poetry, for Stephen prays "with that look = which=20 unlocks pity" ("con quello aspetto che piet=E0 diserra" [114])--as = though he=20 were a fin amors lover interceding with a stone woman (a = donna=20 pietra). ¹³ This compares with the stoning of = Stephen, an act=20 which might have a veiled homoeroticism behind it, the more so as = it is a=20 quasi burial, repressing of the other, putting him out of sight. = The=20 reaction of wrath would conceal its own self-hatred.=20

The examples of gentleness double anger, giving = it an=20 unconscious. They show desire's reactive side--the smoke of the = fire of=20 canto 26. Such double emotions as construct anger meet, but are = not=20 reconciled, in Dante, who keeps no self-possession. Virgil asks = Dante who=20 is reeling under the effect of these visions, "What is the matter, = that=20 you cannot hold yourself properly?" ("che hai che non ti puoi = tenere?"=20 [15.120]). The disturbing quality of the passions occupies a space = both=20 inside and eccentric to Dante. His self-control is further = overthrown when=20 the smoke rolls toward him so that he cannot keep his eyes open.=20

The smoke makes spatial definition complex. = Dante's body,=20 unlike the bodies of the souls, cuts through it (16.25). Other = souls are=20 part of the atmosphere, not different from the passion haunting = them,=20 their bodies not resisting the smoke. The narrator's body enables=20 spatializing and keeps him within linear time (16.26-27), but the = cantos=20 hardly keep the body as a separate marker of subjectivity. Dante = is=20 embodied, but his "being there" (his Dasein) comes from = outside, so=20 that inside and outside are terms which no longer apply. As the = ecstasy=20 suggests, the body becomes like the smoke itself: obscuring, but = also=20 open, permeable. It acts as no barrier to the perception of = inwardness:=20 Virgil tells Dante that if he had a hundred masks on his face, his = thoughts would not be shut off from him, ¹⁴ and the body's porousness, its openness, = comes at=20 the beginning of canto 17 in an image of blind moles who see = through their=20 skin (1.2-3). Inside/outside divisions (which license the = soul/body=20 dichotomy) are threatened when Dante speculates on the power of = fantasy:=20 "O imagination, that sometimes snatches us away from outside = conditions,=20 so that we do not listen even though a thousand trumpets sound = round=20 about, what moves you if sense does not give you nothing?" (O = imaginativa,=20 che ne rube / talvolta s=EC di fuor, ch'om non s'accorge / = perch=E9 dintorno=20 suonin mille tube, / chi move te, se 'l senso non ti porge? = [17.13-16]).=20 Sensory perception has no effect when the imagination works. = Whatever=20 place or function Dante assigns to the imaginativa, ¹⁵ the imagination is taken over, and = examples of=20 wrath (17.19-39) play out a momentary and unstable drama in the = mind,=20 canceling out the body. It is not that he sees visions so much as = these=20 images of anger are splittings in the mind: he is these wrathful, = envious,=20 weeping people: [End Page 406] Procne, Haman, Amata the = suicide,=20 and her daughter Lavinia. Being snatched away from outside = conditions=20 means that in this last case, he becomes inseparable from two = women. When=20 the light, which should restore clarity and singleness, strikes = him after=20 the visions, Dante still cannot see: "But as at the sun that = oppresses our=20 sight, and by its excess veils its figure, so was my power failing = me" (Ma=20 come al sol che nostra vista grava / e per soverchio sua figura = vela, /=20 cos=EC la mia virt=F9 mancava [17.52-54]). As the smoke was excess = itself and=20 canceled out all stable representations of people, so the sun's = excess=20 ("soverchio") cancels out its own representation. Cognition, = imaged in=20 references to seeing, is baffled. Excess suggests that there is = nothing=20 else, except the veil which does not figure anything. And the veil = itself=20 is used in Dante to suggest the text, its allegorical overlay, but = with=20 the suggestion that there is no passing beyond it to anything = else.=20 ¹⁶=20

In this negation of the embodied masculine = self, the=20 point can be put another way: Dante could see the proud and the = envious,=20 and keep apart from them; but cannot remain separate from anger. = The=20 pathology of anger is different, and I want to move toward the way = the=20 text constructs it. While the smoke evokes Inferno = generally,=20 ¹⁷ the anger is specifically comparable to = the=20 conditions of Inferno, 7.115-30, describing the wrathful, = and,=20 importantly, the melancholics, the accidiosi, whose = punishment is=20 to lie underwater in the slime: Virgil points out to Dante the = bubbles=20 that rise to the surface: "Fixed in the slime," they say, "We were = sad in=20 the sweet air that is made joyful by the sun, carrying within a = sad smoke;=20 now we are sad in the black mud" (Fitti nel limo, dicon, "Tristi = fummo /=20 nell'aere dolce che dal sol s'allegra, / portando dentro accidioso = fummo:=20 / or ci attristiam nella belletta negra" [7.121-24]). The smoke in = Purgatorio 15 recalls the linking of wrath and acedia in=20 Inferno. Aquinas refers to those who retain their anger = (the=20 amari, the bitter ones) who are: "insufferable to = themselves and,=20 above all, to their friends, with whom they cannot live together = in=20 harmony; and for this reason they are called 'bitter.' And the = people who=20 are most disposed to this kind of excess are the melancholic, in = whom=20 sense impressions persist for a long time because of the density = of the=20 humour." ¹⁸ Melancholy as a medical condition and = acedia=20 (becoming redefined in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries as = sloth)=20 coincide with each other, acedia including sadness or sorrow=20 (tristitia) in its scope. ¹⁹ Bitterness, the black bile of = melancholy, and the=20 black night of the opening of the canto go together; Marco = Lombardo=20 combines in his words and exclamation impetuosity and the = bitterness of=20 melancholy: "He put forth a deep sigh, that grief constrained into = 'Uhi,'=20 and then began, 'Brother, the world is blind, and truly you come = from it'"=20 (Alto sospir, che duolo strinse in "uhi!," / mise fuor prima; e = poi=20 cominci=F2: [End Page 407] "Frate, / lo mondo =E8 cieco e = tu vien ben=20 da lui" [16.64-66]). Blindness was the condition of those who = could not=20 see the sun when melancholy darkened them with its smoke. Smoke = fits with=20 the blindness passion induces, bitterness with the negativity of = someone=20 who writes off the world (and I should guess, particularly its = modernity)=20 by saying he had knowledge of it (47). Marco Lombardo affects = Dante who=20 responds with an equal negation, making the smoke a symbol of = malice=20 (violence, and so wrath): "The world is indeed completely deserted = of all=20 virtue, as you say to me, and is covered with heavy malice" (Lo = mondo =E8=20 ben cos=ED tutto diserto / d'ogne virtute, come tu mi sone, / e di = malizia=20 gravido e coverto [58-60]).=20

Hot anger and cold melancholy as discussed in = classical=20 psychology are elided in these cantos. The two states of heat and = cold may=20 be bridged, as in Freud, whose work characteristically discusses=20 "Discontents" (Unbehagen) rather than anger, but whose = "Mourning=20 and Melancholia" speculates about the violence nascent in love for = another. Here the melancholic is inwardly angry, passively = aggressive,=20 relating melancholia to feelings of "ambivalence" about a loved = object.=20 ²⁰ In the earlier essay "Instincts and = their=20 Vicissitudes," Freud discusses a destructiveness in love, which = takes the=20 form of "incorporating or devouring" the loved object. He speaks = of "a=20 type of love which is consistent with abolishing the object's = separate=20 existence and which may therefore be described as ambivalent." = ²¹ Love takes over the other in an = inevitable step,=20 so that in the next paragraph of "Instincts and their = Vicissitudes" Freud=20 declares hatred--a "primordial repudiation of the external world = with its=20 outpouring of stimuli"--older than love, as a relation to objects. = But=20 also in "Mourning and Melancholia," a relationship of love to the = other=20 takes the form of trying to associate the other with the self, in = what=20 Freud calls "narcissistic identification": "If the love for the = object--a=20 love which cannot be given up though the object itself is given up = [as in=20 the loss of a loved person]--takes refuge in narcissistic = identification,=20 then the hate comes into operation on this substitutive object, = abusing=20 it, debasing it, making it suffer and deriving sadistic = satisfaction from=20 its suffering. The self-tormenting in melancholia, which is = without doubt=20 enjoyable, signifies . . . a satisfaction of trends of sadism and = hate=20 which relate to an object and which have been turned round upon = the=20 subject's own self" (MM 260). The melancholic self-hatred = displaces=20 attitudes toward the other, which imply that the melancholic has=20 internalized the external world, made him/herself the other.=20

In the light of Freud, both Marco Lombardo and = Dante in=20 response react too nihilistically to the outside world, as though = the=20 smoke itself, compared to the world's malice, constituted the = Freudian=20 "outpouring of stimuli" which is feared and must be repudiated.=20 Expressions of [End Page 408] contempt for the world, which = exist=20 in a continuum from saying the world is blind or opposing the = lover in the=20 street and extend to stoning Stephen and to Amata's suicide in = canto 17,=20 may be the voicings of anger, or self-hatred (of the self as = other), of=20 melancholy.=20

Anger can only questionably be called a = discrete state.=20 In Aristotle's Rhetoric, it is a desire for revenge, = accompanied by=20 pain on account of an apparent slight to oneself or one's own, the = slight=20 being unjustified. "Anger may be defined as an impulse, = accompanied by=20 pain, to a conspicuous revenge for a conspicuous slight. It must = always be=20 attended by a certain pleasure--that which arises from the = expectation of=20 revenge." ²² It is a response to an unjustified = insult, a=20 practical emotion aiming at revenge (since where there is no = possibility=20 of revenge, Aristotle believes that anger is absent). The pleasure = in=20 revenge, which may be compared to Freud's sense of the pleasure = involved=20 in melancholia, is at the prospect of annihilating the other--that = which=20 is both in the self and external to it.=20

Virgil, commenting later on the cornices of = envy and=20 anger seems to criticize Aristotle's view of anger altogether, = while=20 glossing him when he refers to envy as a sadness: "There is the = person who=20 fears losing power, grace, honour and fame because another mounts = up; this=20 makes him so sad that he wishes for the contrary; and there is the = person=20 who appears so outraged by injury [to him] that he is greedy of = revenge,=20 and must contrive another's evil" (=E8 chi podere, grazia, onore e = fama /=20 teme di perder perch'altri sormonti, / onde s'attrista s=EC che 'l = contrario=20 ama; / ed =E8 chi per ingiuria par ch'aonti, / s=EC che si fa de = la vendetta=20 ghiotto, / e tal convien che 'l male altrui impronti [17.118-23]). = Singleton's edition of Purgatorio (2:404) draws out other=20 relationships: he quotes Aquinas that the wrathful man is = "displeased=20 [tristatur] . . . with the injury which he deems done to = himself,=20 and through this displeasure [tristitia] he is moved to = seek=20 vengeance." The sorrow that is envy and the sorrow that is anger, = Virgil=20 says (17.124-25), is wept for below (that is, in the cornices they = have=20 just left). Sadness is driven out by sadness, but it seems = important that=20 the categories of envy and anger turn into each other, and both = may relate=20 to the sin of sloth (accidia, 18.32) which appears next, = being=20 punished in the nighttime, under the moon, just as anger is = punished in a=20 day made night. The characteristics of envy, wrath, and sloth move = toward=20 each other, as if they become interchangeable. ²³ In the last vision of anger, Amata's = suicide,=20 because she fears the loss of her daughter to Aeneas, leads to her = daughter Lavinia's weeping ("piangendo forte"). Her lament echoes = the=20 pathological Filippo Argenti, the wrathful sinner in = Inferno who=20 bites himself with rage, and says "You see I am one who weeps" = ("Vedi che=20 son un che piango" [Inf. 8.36]). It comments on the = melancholia of=20 her mother whose suicide demonstrates [End Page 409] that, = as Freud=20 puts it, "in mourning it is the world which has become poor and = empty: in=20 melancholia it is the ego itself" (MM 254). In vision, Dante = imagines=20 Lavinia's words to her dead mother: "O Queen, wherefore, through = anger,=20 have you willed yourself to be nothing? You have killed yourself = not to=20 lose Lavinia; now you have lost me. I am she who weeps, mother, at = yours,=20 rather than at another's ruin" (O regina, / Perch=E9 per ira hai = voluto=20 esser nulla? / Ancisa t'hai per non perder Lavina, / or m'hai = perduta! Io=20 son essa che lutto, / madre, a la tua pria ch'a l'altrui ruina=20 [17.35-39]). To end the visions and the whole episode with the = daughter's=20 mourning and with the word "ruina" brings about the desolation of = the=20 melancholy vision that Walter Benjamin, in The Origin of German = Tragic=20 Drama, describes as basic to Baroque allegory: allegory being, = like=20 anger, loss of form, awareness of ruin, of a breakdown of thought, = of=20 representation being unable to sustain a clear signified. ²⁴ In Benjamin, melancholy and awareness of = the ruin=20 is a modern condition: the movement is from the Baroque to the = modern to=20 the unrepresentable. Significantly, these near allegorical = examples of=20 anger in canto 17 discount the New Testament and revert to Old = Testament=20 and classical sources, and illustrate a narrative regression which = implies=20 emotions bound to end with ruin and the fragment. A sense of=20 destructiveness becomes pervasive. The metamorphosis of Procne, = who, in=20 canto 17, reacts to the rape of her sister by killing her son = suggests a=20 narrative that contrasts firstly with the earlier example of Mary = with her=20 son, but more so with Pisistratus's wife, angry about the = potentiality of=20 rape in the case of her daughter. The crucifixion of Haman, who = contrasts=20 with Stephen in his anger even in death, and the suicide of Amata = and=20 Lavinia's lament, completes the regression, and adds to wrath's=20 implicatedness in the erotic and melancholic, its associations = with=20 despair. For Freud, the suicide of a melancholic indicates that = the self=20 treats itself as an object, directing "against itself the = hostility which=20 relates to an object and which represents the ego's original = reaction to=20 objects in the external world" (MM 261). That reaction to the = other is=20 erotic, or a reaction to the erotic. The contempt Pisistratus's = wife feels=20 for those "daring arms" ("braccia ardite") that have held her = daughter,=20 and which her speech has eroticized, consciously and = unconsciously, is=20 paralleled by Amata. In the Aeneid, Dante's source, Amata = is=20 stirred up by Allecto, the principle of violence and of = furor, to=20 incite opposition to Aeneas. She is marked by "a woman's distress, = a=20 woman's passion" ("femineae ardentem curaeque iraeque coquebant"). = Amata=20 kills herself because she thinks that Turnus, whom she wants to = marry=20 Lavinia, is slain and in remorse she calls out that she is the = guilty=20 source and spring of sorrows ("se causam clamat crimenque caputque = malorum"). ²⁵ In Dante she kills herself not to lose = Lavinia, in=20 [End Page 410] anger directed at Aeneas, another possessor = of=20 daring arms. In the Aeneid, she raves madly, tearing her = hair and=20 cheeks. In contrast, "Io son essa che lutto, / madre" makes = Amata's anger=20 a deliberate statement or staging of passion, to be contrasted = with the=20 daughter's desolation, where her subjectivity "I am she who weeps" = ("Io so=20 essa . . ."), is identified with mourning, as the mother's=20 nothingness--being "nulla"--is also identified with her grief.=20

The enjambment in Lavinia's words foregrounds = the mother=20 and her loss, and brings out what is implicit in Virgil: the = relationship=20 between gender and passion. Four of the six exempla here are=20 mothers--Mary, Pisistratus's wife, Procne, Amata. The first has = not quite=20 come into the room; the last has gone out altogether. With the = possible=20 exception of Mary, all exhibit some feature of failure. If loss of = the=20 mother is, as in Julia Kristeva on melancholia, so primal, ²⁶ so much willed perforce by the subject = trying to=20 constitute its separate identity and yet so mourned at the same = time, the=20 text must invest the mother with both loss and suffering. That is = so even=20 with Mary: "Behold, your father and I sought you weeping" ("Ecco,=20 dolenti, lo tuo padre e io / ti cercavamo" [15.91-92; my=20 emphasis]). The mother's presence in these examples is not = affirmed, is=20 ambivalent, and separate subjectivity is overcome by passion. = Amata and=20 Lavinia's anger is not contained; it produces its own excess, = first=20 mother, now daughter. A narrative pattern that begins with one = mother=20 about to appear but ends with the suicide of another threatens to = reverse=20 the idea of growth and ascent in Purgatorio, in that the = telos of=20 lives touched by anger seems only to be ruin, the word resonating=20 painfully at the end of Lavinia's speech.=20

The ruin, melancholy, and Lyotard's sense of = the=20 unrepresentable in representation may be put alongside each other, = for=20 Benjamin links the ruin and melancholy to the violence of the = "destructive=20 character," whose "deepest emotion is an insuperable mistrust of = the=20 course of things and a readiness at all times to recognise that = everything=20 can go wrong." While it is true that "where others encounter walls = or=20 mountains, there too he sees a way"--a comment which seems = applicable to=20 Dante--yet "what exists he reduces to rubble, not for the sake of = the=20 rubble, but for that of the way leading through it." ²⁷ Melancholy in Benjamin is part of a = perhaps=20 salutary pathology of modernity, perceiving or contemplating ruin = or=20 bringing it about, including the ruin of systems of thought, and = the=20 emotion may be summed up in terms of a double valency, both of = which are=20 seen in these cantos. Negatively it is a grief for what the = subject cannot=20 possess, as even with Mary, or with the two mothers protecting = their=20 daughters against another. It mourns its own insufficiency, and = tries to=20 produce myths of the past (like Marco Lombardo's myth of a = previously=20 peaceful Lombardy) in order to [End Page 411] compensate = for=20 history or to recuperate its own past viewed as no more than gaps = and=20 fragmentary ruins. It also relates, more creatively, to a thinking = in=20 Benjamin that destroys ordered cognitions, hierarchies of thought = building=20 toward a totality, and ordered representational thinking. ²⁸ This reading of melancholy, which puts = it on the=20 side of that which inhabits the unrepresentable, all that escapes = the=20 cognitions of the subject, makes it the other of anger as the = state of the=20 subject trying to assert its being. It subverts what anger tries = to do,=20 just as anger also subverts the subject.=20

Anger for Aristotle is a matter of reaction and = of desire=20 for revenge, an emotion intending to protect the subject's being, = its=20 sense of itself in the face of slights and attacks from the real = or=20 imaginary other. For Nietzsche, this anger is reactive, the = product of=20 ressentiment, the quality by which the modern subject tries = to=20 protect itself by staking out its autonomy. In Thus Spake=20 Zarathustra, Nietzsche is anti-Aristotelian in seeking = redemption from=20 the drive toward revenge. This would be redemption from = redemption,=20 because Nietzsche identifies the characteristic move in = Greco-Christian=20 ethics as thinking that penalty and punishment are inscribed in = the nature=20 of things, and are the proper response to an act of injustice = which has=20 already happened: paying the penalty is the redemption. The = will=20 toward revenge in Nietzsche can be linked to the spirit of=20 ressentiment, an envy that is felt because the will of the = subject=20 can only ever react to events already past. Significantly, the = discussion=20 opens with Zarathustra commenting on the prevalence of ruin all = around=20 him, finding people "shattered to pieces" as though after a = battlefield:=20 "And when my eye flees from the present to the past, it always = discovers=20 the same thing: fragments and limbs and dreadful chances--but no = men."=20 This discovery of ruin is productive of a decreative, negative=20 melancholia: "It is sullenly wrathful that time does not run back; = 'That=20 which was'--that is what the stone which it cannot roll away is = called. .=20 . . This, yes this alone is revenge itself: the will's = antipathy=20 towards time and time's 'It was'. . . . The spirit of = revenge: my=20 friends, that, up to now, has been mankind's chief concern. . . ." = ²⁹ The "sullenly wrathful" will--the very = spirit of=20 Inferno 7--is redeemed only when it ceases to fight against = everything in the past and can reply to the realization that time = has gone=20 by "But I willed it thus."=20

Nietzsche brings the concept of will to an end = simply=20 because the will as the agency of the subject always comes in too = late,=20 reacting to events which have overcome the self. Marco Lombardo's = doctrine=20 of free will is given a further context in Amata's suicide. Though = she had=20 free will, Lavinia says that it is controlled by = passion--"wherefore,=20 through anger, have you willed to be nothing?" ("perch=E9 per ira = hai voluto=20 esser nulla?"). Anger has made the subject will the action, a = willing of=20 its own [End Page 412] revenge on itself for not having the = power=20 of success to stop Aeneas, being able to control neither time or = events.=20 The will, like the urge to anger, protects the subject as an = integrated=20 whole at the cost of annihilating it. Perhaps Dante is here as = negative as=20 Nietzsche about the effects of anger, which should encourage a = revision of=20 the readings of Inferno that see it in terms of the = movement toward=20 revenge. This cornice might be considered as initiating a Dantean = or=20 Nietzschean and modern rereading of Inferno. ³⁰ Marco Lombardo stresses free will, but = the will is=20 powerless to preserve the self in its state of passion, for in = anger there=20 is a mutilation or halving of being. Singleton (1:118) quotes = Gregory of=20 Nyssa: "acedia est tristitia vocem amputans" (torpor is sorrow = depriving=20 of speech). ³¹ So Marco Lombardo is only a voice, while = Procne=20 loses her body and becomes a singing bird, and, like Haman, she is = not=20 named (17.19-21). The visions are marked by privation: people not = quite=20 there, or coming and going before they have had time to form. = These=20 half-moments question the subject's autonomy. Dante's melancholic = vision=20 reads the melancholy of anger: sees it as fiercely protective of = the self,=20 but unable to maintain autonomy.=20

What is it that causes such der=E9glement de = tous les=20 sens, and undoes such control? Comparison with the fire of = canto 26,=20 which burns the lustful, is relevant. They hide in the flames to = aid their=20 punishment (though they also desire them since the fire is their = poetic=20 language for love where they conceal their individual passion). = Hiding is=20 their gesture of shame, if shame is definable in terms of an = attack made=20 on the subject's narcissism from outside. Such an attack would = produce=20 anger directed against the other whose aggression is so damaging = to the=20 subject, but shame would be an emotion felt prior to that, so it = fits that=20 the movement in Purgatorio should go in the direction of = treating=20 anger before souls are met who embrace shame: the sodomites who = "help the=20 burning by their shame" ("aiutan l'arsura vergognando" [26.81]), = the other=20 lustful sinners who as a punishment call out Pasiphae's name "in = shame of=20 ourselves" ("in opprobrio di noi" [26.85]). In contrast, Marco = Lombardo's=20 speech is self-assertive, and he takes offense. While the souls of = canto=20 26 seem to want to escape representation, Marco Lombardo tries to = assert a=20 full subject position.=20

But here the text's modernity is evident, as it = becomes=20 reflexive on its own semiotic procedures. Marco speaks = nostalgically of=20 Frederick the Second (117), ³² whose Sicilian court has gone since his = death in=20 1250, exiling the Italian language, as Dante says in his prose = text De=20 Vulgari Eloquentia, so it wanders stranger-like (DVE = 1.18.3, p.=20 66), described as a panther, marked by "traces," "scatter[ing] its = fragrance everywhere and show[ing] itself nowhere" (DVE = 1.16.1, p.=20 64). It "belongs to every city, but seems to belong to none" = (DVE=20 1.16, p. 65). The smoke of anger is [End Page 413] also=20 animal-like, with its "pelo," and it smells rather than is = fragrant, but=20 it is also described--as is the sun's light (Purg. = 17.53)--as a=20 veil. Unlike other references to the veil in the Commedia = as=20 suggestive of allegorical poetry, lightly covering a literal = truth, there=20 is no going beyond it. The clarity of a language that yields = definitive,=20 representational meaning is replaced by language as overpowering, = opaque,=20 nongraspable, especially in the opening six lines of canto 16, = which=20 present the smoke as textual excess. ³³ Language, that which is passion itself, = is so=20 dense and overcoming that the two poets Dante and Virgil must hold = onto=20 each other as they pass through it. It takes over the subject, = creating=20 its inward passion.=20

This thickness of language is unrecognized in = Marco=20 Lombardo's speech. Nostalgically, he puts old times ("l'antica = et=E0")=20 against the new (122) (nothing "modern" for him), looking back to = the old=20 Rome, or to Italy under Frederick. His two references to the good = ("buon")=20 Gherardo (124, 138) invest in language as transparent, pleonastic, = a=20 matter of terms repeating each other, as though Gherardo were = summed up by=20 his goodness, and "goodness" (as with the "buoni" of line 120), = was=20 self-evident. ³⁴ Marco Lombardo would like his own name = to be=20 allegorical, summing up a straightforwardly good Lombardy, just as = he=20 calls Guido da Castel "the simple [semplice] Lombardo" = (126), where=20 simplicity fits with his description of the innocent new-born soul = as=20 "semplicetta" (88) (in the line Eliot cited in "Animula": "Issues = from the=20 hand of God the simple soul"). Yet Lombardy--as a modern allegory = for him=20 as the subject--is divided, war-torn, "selvaggio"--wild (135), = neither=20 simple nor single. As the examples of the punishment of wrath = include the=20 effects of "the element of foreignness, the intrusion of a = stranger as a=20 figure throwing into havoc one's familiar world," ³⁵ so throughout, from Pisistratus's wife's = anger at=20 the intrusive male to Amata's fear of Aeneas, the fear that = generates=20 anger is of otherness.=20

Marco Lombardo feels for Lombardy, which = accounts for his=20 passion, but his anger only ups the stakes when he calls it = "selvaggio."=20 The clarity Marco desires is disabled by the smoke and his speech. = Dante=20 tells Marco he has acquired an added intellectual doubt about free = will:=20 "first it was single, now it is made double" ("prima era scempio, = e ora =E8=20 fatto doppio" [55]). That is metapoetic, for doubleness = proliferates in=20 the images Marco uses: in Rome's two suns, and the = two=20 rivers delimiting Lombardy, the Adige and the Po, with their = separate=20 resonances of war and love, and in his own rhetoric, full of = replication,=20 repetition, and chiasmus: ³⁶ "I was a Lombard, and was called Marco; = I knew the=20 world and that valour I loved at which now everyone has bent the = bow . . .=20 I pray you that you pray for me when you are above" (Lombard fui, = e fu=20 chiamato Marco, / del mondo seppi, e quel valore amai / al quale = ha or=20 ciascun disteso l'arco. . . . / . . . I'ti prego / che per me = prieghi=20 quando [End Page 414] s=F9 sarai [46-51]). The doubleness = of rhetoric=20 creates the simple subject and the worth that he loved as = something=20 unitary. Catachreses run through this rhetoric: the shepherd that = leads=20 chews the cud but does not have the hoofs divided (98-99); Rome = had two=20 suns (107), one sun has put out another (108); the sword is joined = to the=20 crook (109-10). ³⁷ A poetic catechresis (abusio in = Latin)=20 describes an abuse in the Church. But a catechresis involves a = confounding=20 of two elements, so it works against everything Marco calls = "semplice."=20 The use of catechresis images the state it describes, where = distinctions=20 have been confounded, where the hoof is not divided. But = catechresis also=20 destabilizes. As a device it moves to fill an empty space, as = though there=20 is a prior signified that lacks a signifier. But Marco Lombardo's = text=20 displays the excess of the signifier, which subverts the rational=20 argument. If the world is blind, catechresis is an ambivalent way = of=20 making people see. The smoke without is matched by the smoke of=20 catechresis from within. The reality of two putative subjects is = not=20 questioned, because both are hidden, one by smoke (Marco), the = other, the=20 signified of his discourse, by catechresis. The point can be put = in two=20 ways: catechresis represents a violence in and on language: but, = if all=20 language uses involved catechresis, since there are no "proper" = figures of=20 speech, language itself is wrathful, passionate, figuring in ways = that=20 point to the excess of the signifier. If smoke does not let the = eyes stay=20 open, representation is impossible because all perception is = dependent on=20 passion--wrathful, erotic, and melancholy. The smoke is the = language of=20 passion, as the fire in canto 26 is the language of desire. Such = language=20 enwraps the subject, making single subjectivity impossible.=20

Gender awareness intersects with the = impossibility of the=20 modern subject being single. The marginal status of the women (in = four of=20 the six examples in cantos 15 and 17) in relation to the central = masculine=20 voice in canto 16 fits with something else: the interplay between = open=20 anger and anger which is hidden. The women's excess compares with = the=20 virtues and vices in Giotto's frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel, = where=20 Giotto's Wrath (Ira) is a powerful woman, bending backwards = sharply, making a violent effort to tear apart her garment at the = front=20 and to bare her breast, as though she were bursting. Her hair is = loose and=20 hangs down her back. Her eyes are half closed, her mouth tight = shut.=20 Oswald Sir=E9n compares her to a classical Maenad, working herself = up into a=20 frenzy, like Amata, portrayed as a Maenad in Aeneid Book 7. = ³⁸ Desperatio is an old woman who = has hanged=20 herself by a cloth attached to a beam. Her body emphasizes the = shock; arms=20 jerking upwards and body pushing downwards, the garment touching = the=20 lintel below, the downwards movement being expressive of = melancholia as=20 well as of death. In contrast to feminine, shameless, open forms = of anger=20 and despair in [End Page 415] Dante there is the = melancholic anger=20 of Marco Lombardo, with whom Dante identifies ("Marco mio" [130]). = Just as=20 he says the church of Rome has fallen in the mire and made itself = foul ("e=20 s=E9 brutta"), ³⁹ Marco calls Lombardy shameless: "Now = anyone who=20 for shame would avoid speaking with good people, or coming near = them, may=20 pass there safely" (or pu=F2 sicuramente indi passarsi / per = qualunque=20 lasciasse, per vergogna, / di ragionar coi buoni o d'appressarsi=20 [16.118-20]). This attack on a society that has lost its power to = shame=20 anyone comes from someone hidden, who cannot be commented on in = his turn.=20 The self-protection--desiring not to be shamed--may relate to the = gender=20 difference. And, for a last point, he describes the simple soul as = a baby=20 girl, weeping and laughing ("piangendo e ridendo" [87]). But while = weeping=20 intensifies through cantos 15 to 17, laughter does not. But then = we see=20 that Marco praises three examples of good men like himself: = Currado da=20 Palazzo, the good Gherardo, and Guido da Castel. When Dante asks = who=20 Gherardo is, Marco replies that he can give him no other name or=20 attribution except what comes from Gherardo's daughter Gaia. But = this last=20 supplementary example in the canto may give to Gherardo a name = that=20 subverts everything both he and Marco represent, if she is truly=20 describable as "a truly gay and frivolous woman" ("Mulier quidem = vere gaia=20 et vana"). ⁴⁰ That's where all the laughter seems to = have gone=20 to. The disorder she represents is inseparable from the order = Marco=20 praises, the other of, a double of, "il buon Gherardo." Nothing is = "semplice"; rationality and order, sexual passion, and the passion = of=20 anger all come together, and in the feminine is the principle of = excess=20 and of doubling.=20

The text ties together anger as displaced and = unconscious=20 melancholy, prompted by the fear of an unpresentable space, the=20 nonrepresentable being bound up with the doublings of the text. = Dante is=20 the subject of that text and proclaims himself outside modernity. = It=20 remains a matter of interpretation what the "modern use" is from = which he=20 thought he might have thought himself separate. Yet in any = distinction=20 between the medieval and the modern, seen from the standpoint of = our own=20 modernity, with its own blindness and insight, it seems = irresistible that=20 this textual disavowal is another example of textual doubling, = where the=20 subject that speaks in the text has been waylaid by those elements = in the=20 cantos he must needs pass through and beyond. Recognition of = modernity is=20 recognition of alterity. Overcoming anger, he is overcome. =

University of Hong Kong =

Jeremy Tambling is Professor in = Comparative=20 Literature at the University of Hong Kong. He has published widely = on=20 Dante, and on literary texts of the nineteenth and twentieth = centuries as=20 well as on opera. His most recent book is Opera and the Culture = of=20 Fascism (1996). He is currently working on Henry James, and=20 intermittently on the topic of melancholia.

Notes

1. "The Alterity and Modernity of Medieval = Literature" is=20 Hans Robert Jauss's title for a symposium in an issue entitled = "Medieval=20 Literature and Contemporary Theory," New Literary History, = 10=20 (1979), 181-230; "alterity" comes from Paul Zumthor, Essai de = po=E9tique=20 m=E9dievale (Paris, 1972). On Zumthor, see Eugene Vance, "The = Modernity=20 of the Middle Ages in the Future: Remarks on a Recent Book," = Romanic=20 Review, 64 (1973), 140-51. On the impact of current literary = theory on=20 readings of medieval texts, see "The New Philology" issue of=20 Speculum, 65 (1990), 1-108, ed. Stephen G. Nichols.=20

2. Kent Kraft, "Modernism in the Twelfth = Century,"=20 Comparative Literature Studies, 18 (1981), 291.=20

3. Paul Zumthor, Speaking of the Middle = Ages, tr.=20 Sarah White (Lincoln, Nebr., 1986), p. 33.=20

4. The other appearances of "moderno" are in=20 Purgatorio 26.113, whose context is the importance of the=20 vernacular, and Paradiso 21.31. This is my third essay = prompted by=20 the word "moderno" in Dante: see "Nostro Peccato Fu Ermafrodito: = Dante and=20 the Moderns," Exemplaria, 6, no. 2 (1994), 405-27, on canto = 26, and=20 "Melancholy Displaced: Dante in the Sphere of Saturn," Modern = Language=20 Review, 90 (July 1995), 632-45, on Paradiso 21. I have=20 discussed cantos 15 to 17 earlier in my Dante and Difference: = Writing=20 in the Commedia (Cambridge, 1988), pp. 120-22. For the = melancholy I=20 discuss here, see my "Dante and Benjamin: Melancholy and = Allegory,"=20 Exemplaria, 4, no. 2 (1992), 342-62.=20

5. Quotations from the Commedia are from = The=20 Divine Comedy, tr. Charles Singleton, 3 vols. (Princeton, = 1970-75). I=20 also use Natalino Sapegno's edition, 3 vols. 2nd ed. (Florence, = 1968), and=20 Aldo Vallone and Luigi Scorrano's edition (Naples, 1986). I have = quoted=20 the Vita Nuova from Opere di Dante Alighieri, a cura = di=20 Fredi Chiappeli, 2nd ed. (Milan, 1974). Translations are mine.=20

6. See Eugene Vance, Mervelous Signals: = Poetics and Sign=20 Theory in the Middle Ages (Lincoln, Nebr., 1986); his review = of Brian=20 Stock, The Implications of Literacy: Written Language and = Models of=20 Interpretation in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries, = "Medievalisms=20 and Models of Textuality," Diacritics, 15 (1985), 55-64; = and his=20 work on twelfth-century narrative, From Topic to Tale: Logic = and=20 Narrativity in the Middle Ages (Minneapolis, 1987).=20

7. Canto 26, which I refer to several times, is = the=20 level--the cornice--on the mountain of Purgatory where the seventh = and=20 last deadly sin is purged--lust. It is associated with love poets, = and the=20 souls are all hidden in the fire which refines them. See n. 4.=20

8. Castoriadis is quoted from Le monde = morcel=E9: Les=20 carrefours du labyrinthe III (Paris, 1990), p. 13, by Karlis = Racevkis,=20 Postmodernism and the Search for Enlightenment = (Charlottesville,=20 Va., 1993), pp. 80-81. Racevkis adds that "because it is based on = the=20 premise of its own endless, never-changing mode of being, = ironically,=20 because it cannot, by definition be overcome, the notion of the = modern=20 ends up negating progress . . . in the attempt to establish its=20 unchallengeable status of ever-newness, modernity was in fact = negating=20 history by pretending to be able to escape from the effects of the = past."=20

9. Jean-Fran=E7ois Lyotard, The Postmodern = Condition: A=20 Report on Knowledge, tr. Geoffrey Bennington and Brian Massumi = (Manchester, 1984), p. 77; hereafter cited in text as PC.=20

10. The whole episode runs from canto 15, line = 82, through=20 canto 16 to 17, line 69. As with the purgings of the other deadly = sins in=20 Purgatorio, the meeting with a particular soul (here the = virtually=20 unknown Marco Lombardo) on the particular cornice of the mountain = Dante=20 and Virgil are ascending, is preceded by presentations of the = opposite=20 virtue to it--here humility--and followed by examples of the sin's = effects. In this case, the examples come in the form of objective = or=20 inwardly perceived visions. In canto 15, the visions of gentleness = comprise Mary, Pisistratus, and Stephen the martyr; in canto 17, = the=20 wrathful souls are Procne, Haman, from the Book of Esther, and = Amata and=20 her daughter Lavinia, from the Aeneid.=20

11. Corrado Calenda notes her speech to be = marked by=20 periphrasis, antonomasia, hyperbole, metonymy, paranomasia, and = use of=20 diastole--see his "Purgatorio XV," Modern Language Notes, = 108, no.=20 1 (1993), 26.=20

12. Aristotle, De Anima 1.1.403a32, = quoted by=20 Patrick Boyde, Perception and Passion in Dante's Comedy = (Cambridge,=20 1993), p. 246. "Dolce" (sweet) applied to Mary (89) recalls the = point that=20 Dante's love poetry is "the sweet new style" ("il dolce = stil nuovo"=20 [Purg. 24.57; my emphasis]) and the filiations of love = poetry link=20 this kindling of fire in the heart with Francesca da Rimini's = words "Love=20 which is quickly kindled in the gentle heart" ("amor ch'al cor = gentil=20 ratto s'apprende" [Inf. 5.100]), which derive from Dante's = master,=20 Guinizzelli's "Foco d'amore in gentil cor s'apprende" (the fire of = love is=20 caught in the gentle heart).=20

13. Dante wrote several love poems to a woman of = stone, a=20 donna pietra. The words of the crowd stoning Stephen, = "Kill, Kill"=20 ("Martira, martira" [180]), replay one of the fantasies of Dante's = Vita=20 Nuova, from "Donna pietosa e di novella etate": "Women's faces = appeared angrily to me, that kept saying, 'You will die!' 'You = will die!'"=20 ("visi di donne m'apparver crucciati / che mi dicean pur, = Morra'ti,=20 morra'ti" [Vita Nuova 23. 41-42]).=20

14. "Ed ei, 'Se tu avessi cento larve / sovra la = faccia,=20 non mi sarian chiuse / le tue cogitazion . . .'" (15.127-29).=20

15. See Kenelm Foster, "The Human Spirit in = Action,=20 Purgatorio XVII," in The Two Dantes and Other = Studies=20 (London, 1977); for the background arguments, see E. Ruth Harvey, = The=20 Inward Wits: Psychological Theory in the Middle Ages and the=20 Renaissance (London, 1975); Boyde, Perception and Passion = in=20 Dante's Comedy, pp. 119-39.=20

16. The veil is suggestive of allegorical = writing that=20 covers a literal meaning: see Inf. 9.16-63, Purg. = 8.19-21.=20

17. Several word images recur from = Inferno: the=20 smoke "aspro pelo" (6) echoes the "selva selvaggia e aspra e = forte" of=20 Inferno 1.5, and "smarrisi" (11) the opening of = Inferno=20 (lost--"smarrito" [l.3]) and "l'aere amaro e sozzo" recalls "tant' = =E8=20 amaro" (Inf. 1.7). The harsh smoke recalls the atmosphere = of the=20 City of Dis, where the smoke is most bitter ("ove il fummo =E8 = pi=F9 acerbo"=20 [Inf. 9.75]).=20

18. Quoted from Aquinas's paraphrase of = Aquinas's=20 Ethics, 4.11.1126a; see Boyde, Perception and Passion in = Dante's=20 Comedy, p. 261.=20

19. On melancholy, see Raymond Klibansky, Ernst = Saxl, and=20 Erwin Panofsky, Saturn and Melancholy (London, 1964); = Siegfried=20 Wenzel, The Sin of Sloth: Acedia in Medieval Thought and = Literature=20 (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1967); Stanley W. Jackson, Melancholia and=20 Depression: From Hippocratic Times to Modern Times (New Haven, = 1986),=20 pp. 46-77. See also Morton W. Bloomfield, The Seven Deadly = Sins=20 (East Lansing, Mich., 1952). On the extensions of anger, see = Penelope=20 Doob, Nebuchadnezzar's Children: Conventions of Madness in = Middle=20 English Literature (New Haven, 1974), pp. 28, 51, 52. = Furor=20 (madness), which Dante's Amata suffers from in Virgil's text, she = shows to=20 be differentiated from ira (anger) by Richard of St. = Victor; but=20 Doob adds "wrath may be madness in that the wrathful man = voluntarily=20 ignores his reason and thereby sins" (p. 65). For the = characteristics of=20 medieval wrath, see Chaucer, The Parson's Tale, ll. = 531-675.=20

20. Sigmund Freud, "Mourning and Melancholia," = The=20 Penguin Freud (Harmondsworth, 1977), 11: 260; hereafter cited = in text=20 as MM.=20

21. Sigmund Freud, "Instincts and their = Vicissitudes,"=20 The Penguin Freud (Harmondsworth, 1977), 11: 136-37.=20

22. Rhetoric 2.1378a30-32, 1370b13, = quoted by=20 Boyde, Perception and Passion in Dante's Comedy, p. 255. = See also=20 W. W. Fortenbaugh, Aristotle on Emotion: A Contribution to=20 Philosophical Psychology, Rhetoric, Poetics and Ethics = (London, 1975),=20 pp. 12, 80, 87.=20

23. The Old Testament Michael, an image from the = cornice=20 of pride, watching David dance around the ark is "as a woman = scornful and=20 sad" ("come donna dispettosa e trista" [10.69]), as Pisistratus's = wife has=20 both great scorn ("gran dispetto") and tears streaming down her = face=20 (15.94-96); Haman who exemplifies more envy against the just than = anger,=20 when crucified remains "scornful and fierce" ("dispettoso e fero"=20 [17.26]), recalling Farinata the heretic in Hell who was "as if he = held=20 Hell in great scorn" ("com' avesse l'inferno in gran dispitto"=20 [Inf. 10.36]) and Capaneus the blasphemer "scornful and = tortured"=20 ("dispettoso e torto" [Inf. 14-47]). These differing=20 characteristics are retained in wrath. In Inferno, "the = spirits of=20 those that anger overcame" ("l'anime di color ciu vinse l'ira"=20 [Inf. 7.116]) include those who were "tristi" (7.121). = (Farinata=20 would be an example of mad wrath, since for Penelope Doob, = furor in=20 the Middle Ages was the condition of those involved in "false = doctrine or=20 heretical error" [Nebuchadnezzar's Children, p. 30]. = Frederick the=20 Second, in Hell for his heresy, alongside Farinata [Inf. = 10.119] is=20 spoken of positively as the last Roman Emperor, in Purg. = 16.117.)=20

24. For Benjamin, "allegories are in the realm = of thoughts=20 what ruins are in the realm of things" (Walter Benjamin, The = Origin of=20 German Tragic Drama, tr. John Osborne [London, 1977], p. 178). = John=20 McCole, Walter Benjamin and the Antimonies of Tradition = (Ithaca,=20 1993), p. 143, comments on this: "Since allegories themselves are=20 fragments of meaning, shreds of a lost whole, ruins are allegories = of=20 allegory."=20

25. Aeneid 7.345; 12.600, tr. H. Rushton = Fairclough=20 (Cambridge, Mass., 1959), pp. 26, 27, 340-41.=20

26. Julia Kristeva, Powers of Horror: An = Essay on=20 Abjection, tr. Leon Roudiez (New York, 1982), ch. 3, pp. = 56-89.=20

27. Walter Benjamin, "The Destructive = Character," in=20 One-Way Street and Other Writings, tr. Edmund Jephcott and = Kingsley=20 Shorter (London, 1979), pp. 158, 159.=20

28. Benjamin, The Origin of German Tragic = Drama,=20 discusses melancholy (pp. 145-57) and allegory as a melancholic = form (pp.=20 174-85). "The only pleasure the melancholic permits himself . . . = is=20 allegory" (p. 185). In Charles Baudelaire: A Lyric Poet in the = Era of=20 High Capitalism, tr. Harry Zohn (London, 1973), this is = continued into=20 a reading of modernity, so "Baudelaire's genius, which drew its=20 nourishment from melancholy, was an allegorical one" (p. 170). = These are=20 Baudelaire's weapons against the conditions of modernity--its = control, its=20 instrumental rationalism.=20

29. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, "Of = Redemption," in=20 Thus Spake Zarathustra, tr. R. J. Hollingdale = (Harmondsworth,=20 1961), pp. 160, 161, 162.=20

30. A comparable rejection of Aristotle on anger = appears=20 in Seneca, De Ira, 3.3.1-6: Seneca, Moral Essays, 3 = vols.,=20 tr. John W. Basore (London, 1928), pp. 259-61. It should be added = that=20 such negativity about anger prevails in the Purgatorio even = though=20 the cornice closes with a reference to "ira mala" (17. 69) = conceding that=20 there may be a justifiable kind of anger. Yet by that stage it is = too late=20 to argue for something else for a positive anger; the events of = the=20 cornice have finished.=20

31. Acedia, according to John M. Bowers, was = "unique among=20 the seven deadly sins because it could result from no movement of = the will=20 at all. That is, it could arise from a volitional deficiency" = (John M.=20 Bowers, The Crisis of Will in Piers Plowman [Washington, = D.C.,=20 1986], p. 63). On the relations between anger and sloth, see = Bowers, p.=20 146.=20

32. Dante praises the Sicilian court of = Frederick the=20 Second (1194-1250) in De Vulgari Eloquentia 1.12, saying = that it=20 established Italian poetry as illustrious, pivotal, courtly, and = curial=20 (De Vulgari Eloquentia: Dante's Book of Exile, tr. Marianne = Shapiro=20 [Lincoln, Nebr., 1990], p. 66; hereafter cited in text as = DVE). The=20 translation "pivotal" matches Derrida on language as "la brisure" = (the=20 hinge), that which is neither inside nor outside (see Jacques = Derrida,=20 Of Grammatology, tr. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak [Baltimore, = 1976],=20 p. 65).=20

33. The first six lines of canto 16 pluralize = images: the=20 smoke of hell; a night bereft of every planet; a barren sky which = is=20 obscured by clouds--delaying the reference (the "fummo") until the = sixth=20 line. See Mario Trovato on canto 16 in Dante's Divine Comedy:=20 Introductory Readings: II: Purgatorio, ed. Tibor Wlassics, in=20 Lectura Dantis, 12 (Supplement, Spring 1993).=20

34. Compare the reference to Gherardo as noble = in Dante's=20 Convivio. 4.14.12 (and to Guido da Castel, similarly,=20 Convivo 4.16.6). These references seem taken up, but their=20 valuations also made relative, in Purgatorio.=20

35. Giuseppe Mazzotta, Dante's Vision and the = Circle of=20 Knowledge (Princeton, 1993), pp. 130-31.=20

36. The rhetoric is referred to by Umberto Bosco = and=20 Giovanni Reggio in their edition of the Commedia, 3 vols.=20 (Florence, 1979), vol. 2, notes to canto 16, ll. 50, 51.=20

37. The "two suns" (a famoux crux) compares with = the sun=20 and moon imagery of Monarchia 3.4.12-22 and the relative = status of=20 pope and emperor in Monarchia 3.16. See
U. Limentani, = "Dante's=20 Political Thought," in The Mind of Dante, ed. U. Limentani=20 (Cambridge, 1965); Charles Davis, Dante's Italy and Other = Essays=20 (Philadelphia, 1984), pp. 12-15, 35; Timothy G. Sistrunk, = "Obligations of=20 the Emperor as the Reverent Son in Dante's Monarchia," = Dante=20 Studies, 105 (1987), 95-112. (It is not clear whether=20 Purgatorio or Monarchia is the later text.) I take = the "two=20 suns," which contrast with the "buio d'inferno," to be an = impossible=20 figure (defying representation), despite Ernst H. Kantorowicz's = "Dante's=20 Two Suns," University of California Publications in Semitic=20 Theology, 11 (1951), 217-31. I do not think Kantorowicz proves = the two=20 suns he locates in literature as more than one literal sun given a = metaphorical value, plus a ruler metaphorized as the sun. The = figure of=20 two independent suns is textual excess, implying there can be no=20 imaginable rational resolution between the two contradictory = demands of=20 the two forms of government.=20

38. Oswald Sir=E9n, Giotto and Some of His = Followers=20 (1917; New York, 1975), p. 52.=20

39. Cp. Dante to Filippo Argenti in the water = with the=20 other wrathful souls: "Who are you that have made yourself so = filthy?"=20 ("ma tu chi se', che s=EC se' fatto brutto?" [Inf. 8.35]).=20

40. Singleton's edition quotes Benvenuto on Gaia = saying to=20 her brother "Procure amorous young suitors for me and I will = procure=20 beautiful girls for you." The brother, Rizzardo, who also gives = color to=20 the name of Gherardo, appears in Para. 9.50, spoken of in = the=20 context of the heaven of Venus, and murdered for his pride and = because he=20 seduced the wife of Alteniero degli Azzoni.

http://0-muse.jhu.edu.opac.sfsu.edu:80/journals/new_literary_hi= story/v028/28.2tambling.html=20

------=_NextPart_000_003F_01C4314D.98E5B410 Content-Type: image/gif Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Location: http://0-muse.jhu.edu.opac.sfsu.edu/images/journals/buttons/nlh.gif R0lGODdhZAAkAPcAAP///+/v787Ozr29vZSUlISEhPfv7+fe3tbOzsa9vbWtrZSMjO/e3tbGxs69 vca1tb2tra2cnKWUlJyMjJSEhNa9vYx7e72lpYRzc//e3vfW1rWcnHNjY+fGxt69vda1tZyEhM6t rcalpe/GxmNSUoxzc7WUlN61ta2MjNatrXtjY1JCQs6lpaWEhOe1tb2UlP/GxpRzc9alpa2EhM6c nOetrb2MjJxzc1pCQtacnLWEhP+1tYxjY/etrb2EhNaUlHtSUmNCQkoxMc6EhLVzc2tCQntKSrVr azkhIXNCQpRSUv+MjFoxMcZra4xKSpxSUq1aWs5ra7VaWoRCQmMxMe9zc85jY4xCQu9ra6VKSpRC QoQ5OYw5OVIhISkQEMZKSt5SUpw5OcZCQnspKTEQEMY5OVoYGGMYGIwhIWsYGEoQEHsYGFIQEL0h Ic4hIWMQEL0YGFIICM4AAMYAALUAAJQAAIwAADEAACkAACEAABgAAMYYEM4QCL0IAM5aUs45MZQp IYwYEIwIAL1rY8ZaStZ7a86lnN69tbWUjPfe1s61rZR7c9bGvbWlnNa9refOvf/375SMa9bWxrWl rc6ctee9zt6lvc6ltffe59a9xue1xufO1qWMlO/O1oxrc5RSY+/GztattYxja7Vjc86cpc5zhIwx Qv/O1saUnKVze5xrc5Rja4RSWtZre4wYKb0QKTEACN6lrc6UnL2EjNaUnM6MlMaEjJxja6Vja5xa Y5RSWntCSoxKUv+ElP97jGsxOYQ5QnMxOb1KWsZKWlohKbU5Sr05SqUpOVIQGKUYKXsIGIQIGIwI GEIACDkACN6UnM6EjNaEjMZze9Z7hJxKUoxCSnsxOWshKbUpOXMYIbUhMb0hMa0YKaUQIa0QIVoI EKUIGEoACP+cpe+EjMZrc/d7hL1aY6VKUq1KUpxCSrVKUqU5QpQxOYQpMZQpMWMIEHMIEO9ja8ZS Wt5aY9ZSWs5CSs45QpwpMa0pMZQhKZwhKYwQGJwQGHsIEJQIEAAAACwAAAAAZAAkAAAI/wABwDh1 KkMGTAASCjRI8BSMHQkzLAEACcCOckuWlNtYBcu4TZpknDj07FAKGdNo/VjZSkYoGSly/FCUghQj UiFCGFJEitTOWg3E2LP3pUGtP2LcDBFQxl4ZeQLElPlSZkgIRTlDoFLUANNAgxAVWiSY4aHCHT0S QoLhq5dGjvEQdIgV61CDCinwNiDVoGaFBzUfCAhBigZgGoZIPehpKMQDRQ/klZFK+A/VKALqNSU0 QHLSSYqGXDBkApWhTTV2EEyUoaLYDGTFigsL4NQScRrFVYlXI5GmR4diWYqVIkWokxVIOXCRU1It whVkGNqqlVSKBzqfe/Az9Q+qC0idNv/w7OcB9y9/XqR4QepCiAsSDlWatiORN2/avL26n/8+/vv6 AHhfN/4N6E03BCKo4IIIeuMPgvosiAaDCvLTjYUWTohGhhZ2s4+HG3r44T5ojFjLaChEYIkkh4Bh RX8C+gejf/sVmOCBCd5IoYL7nDHDLKV0o08ct+gwixGzzKADCjNAw4sTKMyyiw5KouDDLrPYEoaH XGo4IogKoCKBBDqcIEMD89CjHxz6vAIHfwXaGOeBdNK5447KeJFQEwTCQos535AAADTgpOGKLXgo AMAuGACAyzUuwPJCKfxM+OU+I5bYDTOKyJAiCoec4AECVtSo36kyehNggP41SKCdOt7/yU+EyzSD AAIAkNONM9FA8c4Kg3rIDzZnIAGADHocYIALrsThQqVcZsplpR/qtIEJjZh5AgI0/Gcqq3Oq6h+r OuJ4J4PLvNMAGbiS0ww0wvwKQDTdsEHLh3hEAMA1gsbyzhW2dEltl5f2dK0JZlZwQgX37demfq+A +9+4cuaIo7l3ZvPOCMywC4AKtajDBrAVzNBCJwh+IwQAL+hpgBqxHPMlgppmimk3lzDSyLUnMBIK DRd4G+7EQ78aq4IYo/tOB5t63Em8wELTzTLnXNhNHg4YEMQBAKRygobdaGohiZfuU0EF31l3yNqG FFhjfzPGGKDRdsJ67tTfdBBhxw0A/wD1vGF/Qy8a8hpARgC5TmtztCVOyIglF0xiSHIhhHLBNhPH XaDEFZt78bloNMOJAbSMTUYnu6igaCYttPAC0/wwowcDsbDBgwEPbmip1ZmOvU8DDRgygCLEnQBY qnASDaPEzNTtTYd3LrNGPx9SuMwydIKz6fX9hO3NPmEA0k0/xYTYZdhkRxv2CY9c4lgKh1DigiKY ewMHjDXCA0ICFciCzfO7UIADZNCOB7wABBDIhA4owIBrXCABIviRBEaxhQsAIAScQAAL7nGhCK2M AQoaQ6MaMAMEPOAKKkgABLGxDBU0QBbQ+tLA0leJR6QAMqRwhCNkEDRUEe0+30gAAP/GxQwL+O0b MujGO4S4KVRwI2oIgkc0lGFEdXiDCQD4gYLgEQOuQSFs3YDiGQ7ANBUA4ART64Imqncp9Y1oE49g RAgWRonkXEAbpjJVf5Y4RP8sw4jD6AY2lCjEA93jiYBjxjGmZkRh6AMWANCEguKwCRwAIBZgBBa9 1MBEZuiLCN/4wJagdSFNoQ9BHwJFIjzwALw84AeHmASc3lagNDARQPsoAACseB8+au9AwLpANYxQ ganpMgtmGJ0UFESMD7xDWclAELB88A4zSgMcaMgGAgwwA1t0qHciAtGIErEJu8RCEg3wQAoMMSOJ 5YePDfNGEQEQyAPBs0HAkoEwqBH/iqlRAAAiwJUwFJQGCWRiBkIkh4WAlQkIsGxaWAQhiNTnJcbt AAYVCIUi/FAIwwTNTW16E9HgeSBX3AOQdOJjgsChSQQtsh+NPEMADDBIfjQDFAgKRwA64SBNwkOI 5qCZMwDQARKV0o2L2wcDGOAzRsxBDk9tQx59iJ8gAiBAcUhBO6r4KjbcUprB6kY4TkBFACwzCADY BD72UYQcICgNEwDAF7FILzPMtBgfugMAMoGgGDJuWpoCxQHy0gABNOAQFQhafr7lH3jM4mw/QgU0 qvGBTMhgkP14bP+OsYxbiKACEZxFaW7RShEIgx+rOMABUHCJB5Cjs628xCpE0IBL/xyhG1vYZimu 8YJMeMAGX9JdcC+VCA1UgBGHkEFyHiCLeD7sFRErUH5eJbFYfY5C5tIHP7QHDu2CsXob0h7N+gqi b3KJZpcq0YdqWIEQ/IUUz3DABoQWrrjBYxdJ2IUxunGGIuyiGu3A7y6K0Y1m6AIFPFjHMopQjV34 t8GsGOQ7rnGLFvBgS91oBw4oMAMQxEALb/hFEYxwDm4sgwpGQEdFx1YzEcExFFfJQQMM8wC3JU9z AQICADBhDPwY0QXY0DGPwyEBF4ADGAZQBpDOoa9SqOMC5oDFyQZ5AwCM4kOCopcqAFCLdeBKBu7Y BxMM8EV+JFWcaADHJkDRWlLIQf8Sr2wD5uA2NHHdpxlEHVBLh9oBcLABAAiIpjn2EaRl6FId3TiG LjgAgGNMiBlxRbQloYGGIBqAGdmYKTfegYtS6G5ajPOdJg5wFUXIIQqbiEIfkJc5VusDzxV4h6yj 5g08M40ZGwBAAHCRozVwVaxyuRgWY8HSefWDDAdAGRqSAIAGIKMB5vVSiz+EhkdY7jFyKAMC/NCH +t2PRnWuNQAMoIkGaAJX9MLzCAiUjBckhAUK+qPfZsXn8fJ5HwylgFzCwA95GtEA5TuqDGumKQ80 4AKk2MAc+CCAP7Qhnsmj2OZs7Q1weEOT3hiqJJeBIHfgKqiM9BuBnmkA6OEBADT/KDY0rGEABHAD jLbWHhvd6MbjGmIDF6jHHAoxBxSc6mFwWt7E8KwJ/7Q05uFIAYLUAIAgGXOXCvrnKBBUzUZ3Y9Jo MOMHrDZUaKNvdzYj+ANccK0LDEEOfeDDIJQ3J1PdBx46PkAxvHGGFgAgFO3QMQOKoQwE4CIcrDDA MbyxjGAoAgCzWAeGLmCAaqhhF5gggj+oYPcQFAMcub4AN8yg9yfMHA1g552HUoCKDTTCBKSYgxvg sGqI09f13hCGOb6wX20IQx3DOMYw1CGMuRdDGD8oxcsR9HveD/JC4ChGKaJBjuHj4xy8z4KHzAEN IuBDGFm4/YSgZeYZovkCijAB/yJM0AA57MENdMDj6yUuLnDRzWJ3iz8YGWS+CaHyvJ9n3KW0kiId CIAPezAHvAQjQhdudeMqObIj3rWAHWJ/YOSAYYMhmmIpFCgsp7Q4pDAAKJAiAtAHc8AOBGAHdhAI WiCCFEABi2ABKGgBnpCCi5CCJ0gBJWABMWABi+AJFCAKKriDFGABPBgDMdCDQuiDPriCL0gBnrAA FGAHBHCCopCCQEgBdTCFdWAHWvAESqCEQbgIMZgLgFAHgqAFBIACEtAGc5APBBAIIyiCSkAATSgK MVACJUABMZCCPliDooCDNFiDcdiDNegJNBiINhiINZiDKMiFMBiIdEgBgCCGXHmIgjmohFOQD/ng BAQACDvIhToYhGDoD/5QB2KoA3LACyE4goJAipHABYFgCgtQiEEIiDGwAKLQg4tQh0iogrU4i0Xo g3poiDhYApqogoD4CTYohDFQACG4CATwCS4ohBPghgQAik14CyioClx4iXUACIGghoBAAAEBADs= ------=_NextPart_000_003F_01C4314D.98E5B410 Content-Type: image/gif Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Location: http://0-muse.jhu.edu.opac.sfsu.edu/images/b_muse.gif R0lGODlhMgATANX/AP////T09Orq6t/f39XV1crKysDAwL+/v7e3t7W1taurq6enp6GhoZaWloyM jIeHh4GBgX9/f3d3d29vb2xsbGJiYllZWVhYWFdXV1JSUjc3Ny8vLyUlJR8fHxYWFg8PDwcHBwAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACwAAAAAMgATAEAG/8BIB0QsFj/GY1Jp RC6XngjogKlaqwAFwFHJAh6RLOaRnQAGikCgUhEIEAHCdY4BeQ4WjX7P7/v/gIEcHlN0hoeIiVcW VURUhlldW2EREmcPA1lkBA8IAA1mA5gCFYiOEqipqqusra6vDxOOVYxXAGdVnl+KvIazkAoIA8Jh YGJkChgGtwAEFVrMu4e/vYq11VcgGoYW3d7f4N0Y3uPh5t0T6RMaBwgH7/Dx8vP09fYLGoVz19j9 ixbU5hAgsKDKg4ES/PWaxQ8LAQClBjyMMEHBAwwVLz4oQMBAQowGCCgoZUpfwywEEDj4AiACMgxh FIQZ0CAWhgZbMHiaUJJKQ0IMWVYOI+NSTEwMqBoUyLIgJ6Jav04my1SBzEVPATwlW5ApQDIMDgQA EOAgUcBy4biJQ3tukRWoIDY8mUu3rt0iQQAAOw== ------=_NextPart_000_003F_01C4314D.98E5B410 Content-Type: image/gif Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Location: http://0-muse.jhu.edu.opac.sfsu.edu/images/b_search.gif R0lGODlhPAATANX/AP////T09Orq6t/f39XV1c/Pz8rKysfHx8DAwL+/v7e3t7W1ta+vr6urq6en p6GhoZ+fn5aWloyMjIeHh4GBgX9/f3d3d29vb2xsbGJiYllZWVhYWFdXV1JSUjc3Ny8vLyUlJR8f HxYWFg8PDwcHBwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACwAAAAAPAATAEAG/8AQaUgsGo2jIymp ZBKdSqKokuBYr9cMAECAXKwZwUARIHAmgEIBEOEQAtsKAaAYAC5oul2C7ZMYGh6Cg4SFhoeIiYoe ICJVVhp9kpOUlZaSkRwkj5MWAAMSFXYVF58TAwIZaxJrDG4AVwIBEgcAFRUArriulCQKFRbBwsPE xcbHyMkTF5uQkhkBAQoKAAGX11dovJfNlhm0cBEMW+S3dnCuc1baWLtnuZXdlRoTExnYmdj6JBf9 kBoAAwqMNLBgQQ4BERocqLBfPwgJIkqcSLGixYsYM0Z04KEAlkwEEYoMSXKkyZIoT37UQOKAJQt2 0ljQd80CgTbXmuXDgkaBFYgHBGZeOECAwT0OEQgUtRKhKQF7DAgUmMAB17Sl8R7tvBIBzhafEQDw ofbFwoVx6QA44FCqygUvuKq461Vl67qpViTkgiAWS61b8NRx8OTzLR54cz9a6WaXgwNydPIKACCA j4XJdcwIHjwnQBt27Hq5vCLQZJ+tIE2LVIxJoTNNH6LInk27tuwgADs= ------=_NextPart_000_003F_01C4314D.98E5B410 Content-Type: image/gif Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Location: http://0-muse.jhu.edu.opac.sfsu.edu/images/b_journals.gif R0lGODlhQwATANX/AP////T09Orq6t/f39XV1c/Pz8rKysfHx8DAwL+/v7e3t7W1ta+vr6urq6en p6GhoZ+fn5aWloyMjIeHh4GBgX9/f3d3d29vb2xsbGJiYllZWVhYWFdXV1JSUjc3Ny8vLyUlJR8f HxYWFg8PDwcHBwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACwAAAAAQwATAEAG/8AQaUgkjopGZLJ4 VDpJTWd0KKokOFiOJpsFEDiXwIAh5lQADDOaAwgAAOeAYgCQcAgB8kAzQV8AYwIBGVxcJAwaHoqL jI2Oj5CRkpAgIldYW4Wam5ydnp9aWCSXhQdoDgAKHBIACRUDgxaAE3RpXlh9DmoMsgesABx9DGcE EwoAEZwkChUWzs/Q0dLT1NXW0xMXo5ict6DfnMLgHNuetwTAwWhnaexsX+pp4sdtwOIJb16Em+Wb FRPjAnrK5InEhYNcNChcyLChQi0PHUqcSJHhwYMQEmjcyLGjx48gQ4oM6cBDAU0EBapUqZDEgU8E VK0EZ4FAMnDbUhbyZuFATJFCFxgADApQqIICE3j5TAPGZwELu4IVIHAAqrJLOrt8wQcVAjJxudgA gHrmirsMFyoIAHbGwZkBEbJ1ysmNQwR4twoAuGAXAIS28d5hccdO1kl0UZ1F0Ms0S6ZyKcO8GbAv wtoBVo/JWePNXdhjAo5NcOeATp65LxPWhdgQIkqHhTJlDRXbsagPT3Lr3s27N5EgADs= ------=_NextPart_000_003F_01C4314D.98E5B410 Content-Type: image/gif Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Location: http://0-muse.jhu.edu.opac.sfsu.edu/images/b_thisjournal.gif R0lGODlhWgATANX/AP////T09Orq6t/f39XV1c/Pz8rKysfHx8DAwL+/v7e3t7W1ta+vr6urq6en p6GhoZ+fn5aWloyMjIeHh4GBgX9/f3d3d29vb2xsbGJiYllZWVhYWFdXV1JSUjc3NzY2Ni8vLyUl JR8fHxYWFg8PDwcHBwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACwAAAAAWgATAEAG/0BRaUgsGomko3LJ bDqTzuKokuBYr1gA4QoAFA4ABYcA4IAVBQADe52oORKvIsxhACr1ewUQ0NoFDH0ZGQEDc1V2E2xs JQwaHpCRkpOUlZaXmJmaliEjVVYai6KjpKWmp6hsoRwln6NaXFscsGRjABESAgJYAgASCb4ccw4S AVsQAAnFABN7a3mKdhXIDHZb0qUlChUW3d7f4OHi4+Tl5ufiExetoFgRBGTGBBawWAqyp27PqfxX idmuRNWbJYtWGQt9+EQQ5YygFWnYEjXMgyeRhniw/pFi16+jlQwTLIxa5bEkqwsoQWlYyXKlypYw YbZjyWFVqJgtX8bUiRMnSuyUEBIIHUq0qNGjSJMqXco0qQMPBbCQNEm1Kr+VJQ6IegevqwUCYuzh M/V1odVS70RurDI1Cz4tDggcyMAhwpoMDOA5GDVRQgECezlMYHBBMOELDCwUSDBYMQEJVib8nUsR YLtFAwHscliLzDY8DN8ICGAlzQUHzDigruBGAF3UC/+hjHPtjuW2sXJzLpPBQoVAZa4oEKOPQ4DN wCz8kzYx4h3UezPaXrSKI26HVuoZ5HAhjRa1VuJ0caWgT4FQGcgIAMb6TeVE6bUUCIA39UatV3Bf v3zK5s38NUlFyn6oVAdCFAgmqOCCDA4RBAA7 ------=_NextPart_000_003F_01C4314D.98E5B410 Content-Type: image/gif Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Location: http://0-muse.jhu.edu.opac.sfsu.edu/images/b_contents.gif R0lGODlhRgATANX/AP////T09Orq6t/f39XV1c/Pz8rKysfHx8DAwL+/v7e3t7W1ta+vr6urq6en p6GhoZ+fn5aWloyMjIeHh4GBgX9/f3d3d29vb2xsbGJiYllZWVhYWFdXV1JSUjc3NzY2Ni8vLyUl JR8fHxYWFg8PDwcHBwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACwAAAAARgATAEAG/0BRaUgsGomko3LJ bC5HlQRnSp1eAAdqxjI9AAiBQYYDGAwEAAcDwK5MyoHAhWxGq9mACuEbn1epJQwaHoSFhoeIiYqL jI0hI1JTGn+UlZaXmJl/kxwlkZUKAAUVEX0WohwOABFkBFNfHHsZGQUAFhYEEq2vrrIXAgQZV1mV JQoVt8nKy8zNzs/Q0RMXnpKUFgFfaAOaVWvdVN/gnZ9/FQAMlKoVvK2TsHuvAQR7rl/vvQBdbAEJ nJTVMGmYMOFPhgp+OEzgopChBXZT3FBZOIUih4dTDha8VOKCR0kaQooMCXKkSZPWRHLgNOnkyJIn PXqEkKCmzZs4c+rcybOnz7IEDjwUqPJvnNGjAjWUIGbpggJ6DpBuHDe1W7WiVMAwrMWKgwQGEcYo vDABLIcLAwBMGHOBgQOx08qyQqt2TAS3CQFGwvom3Z83CryiIxNgFjx9HM5ouBIYQOEMh18JuOUg b5WrlcpQiTDAwhpdkO252hWPjhuKsEgj9qogbYGinAJinRKKny4OEfAQSw1rjVoLaABM3rXL9wQI eIYXY7qS0myk0C21nFIChJPr2LNrLxIEADs= ------=_NextPart_000_003F_01C4314D.98E5B410 Content-Type: image/gif Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Location: http://0-muse.jhu.edu.opac.sfsu.edu/images/b_end.gif R0lGODlhAQATALP/AP///5+fn4eHh1JSUjc3Ny8vLyUlJR8fHwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAACwAAAAAAQATAEAEC1AQUoopNJxJZxkRADs= ------=_NextPart_000_003F_01C4314D.98E5B410 Content-Type: image/gif Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Location: http://0-muse.jhu.edu.opac.sfsu.edu/images/b_top.gif R0lGODlhJQATANX/AP////T09Orq6t/f39XV1c/Pz8rKysfHx8DAwL+/v7e3t7W1ta+vr6urq6en p6GhoZ+fn5ubm5aWloyMjIKCgoGBgX9/f3d3d29vb2xsbGJiYllZWVhYWFdXV1JSUjc3NzY2Ni8v LyUlJR8fHxYWFg8PDwcHBwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACwAAAAAJQATAEAG+cCRaUgsFkvGpNJE EiU60KgUQIAqAIoDYNIhBAbXanQTNTE2n7R6zWZTIO106BMSmZ5QsnTP7+/1d35QVFADARMOAAxd AAkTAQJ+JgoWF5aXmJmam5kYgR16UBIEBAABpBeCqh2ffoQWilCljFAMABR9rat9s32hJhjBeRvE esXHx6DFwxvBGBcQCdLT1NXW19UHDiQFUqG7q2TEJgd9o6ToqeCgUoHfU2IdDgQFXB0SEhMEBxqS eO+DqmAA0K0DJEYYOiQAkJCPO1dVLjSCIiAAwg5X1ImD8glgB0IdNBQwpUAWFgAC1DksNyaPoFC9 VJUIsaSmzZpBAAA7 ------=_NextPart_000_003F_01C4314D.98E5B410 Content-Type: application/octet-stream Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://127.0.0.1:1027/js.cgi?paw&r=30106 var blockedReferrer =3D 'blockedReferrer'; NS_ActualWrite=3Ddocument.write; // Popup Blocker --> RanPostamble=3D0; NS_ActualOpen=3Dwindow.open; orig_setTimeout =3D window.setTimeout; function NS_NullWindow(){this.window;} function nullDoc() { this.open =3D NS_NullWindow; this.write =3D NS_NullWindow; this.close =3D NS_NullWindow; } function NS_NewOpen(url,nam,atr){ if((nam!=3D'' && nam=3D=3Dwindow.name) || nam=3D=3D'_top'){ return(NS_ActualOpen(url,nam,atr));} obj=3Dnew NS_NullWindow(); obj.focus =3D NS_NullWindow; obj.blur =3D NS_NullWindow; obj.opener =3D this.window; obj.document =3D new nullDoc(); return(obj); } function NS_NullWindow2(){this.window;} function NS_NewOpen2(url,nam,atr){ if((nam!=3D'' && nam=3D=3Dwindow.name) || nam=3D=3D'_top'){ return(NS_ActualOpen(url,nam,atr));} return(new NS_NullWindow2()); } function op_stop() { NS_ActualOpen2=3Dwindow.open; = window.open=3DNS_NewOpen2; } function op_start() { window.open=3DNS_ActualOpen2; } function noopen_ST(one,two) { = return(orig_setTimeout("op_stop();"+one+";;op_start();",two)); } function noopen_load() {=20 op_stop(); if(orig_onload) orig_onload(); op_start(); } function noopen_unload() { op_stop(); if(orig_onunload) orig_onunload(); = op_start(); } function postamble() {=0A= =0A= if(!RanPostamble) { RanPostamble=3D1; orig_onload =3D window.onload; orig_onunload =3D window.onunload; window.onunload =3D noopen_unload; window.onload =3D noopen_load; window.open=3DNS_ActualOpen; } } window.setTimeout =3D noopen_ST; window.open=3DNS_NewOpen; ------=_NextPart_000_003F_01C4314D.98E5B410--

Copyright =A9 1997 by New Literary = History, The=20 University of Virginia. All rights reserved.

Dante and the Modern Subject: = Overcoming=20 Anger in the Purgatorio

Jeremy=20 Tambling

Notes

Dante and the Modern Subject: =
Overcoming=20 Anger in the Purgatorio