Paradiso, xvi. The suicide of Florence (and justice)
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Abstract
The essay presents some reflections on canto xvi of Paradiso, with particular attention to formal and metric structures. The analysis of the content identifies the characterizing feature in the intrusion of historical time into the paradisiacal dimension, and in the continuous transition between the past and the present, the ancient and the modern. The core is the decadence of Florence, its move away from good and justice, in a true historical, civil and moral suicide, in dramatic consonance with Inferno, xiii.
Keywords
- Paradiso
- canto xvi. Dante and Cacciaguida. Medieval Florence. Justice and civil struggles
