EVERY Character In Dante's Purgatorio Explained

The middle piece in a trilogy is always difficult to pull off. And yet, Dante's Purgatorio manages to be just as captivating as the rest of the Divine Comedy. As he ascends the mountain of purgatory, cleansing himself in preparation for his arrival in the earthly paradise, Dante once again encounters several figures who would have been known to his own contemporaries, but aren't always so obvious to readers who wish to take on the Comedy today. And so, let me be your Virgil once again (and occasionally your Sordello or your Forese Donati), as I help shed some light onto who these characters are, in hopes that, just as the prayers from the living help the souls in purgatory to ascend, so too your journey through it might be eased... Or at least that you may be entertained for the next 40 minutes.

Links to the other videos in this series:
-Inferno:    • EVERY Character In Dante's Inferno Explained  
-Paradiso:    • EVERY Character In Dante's Paradiso Explained  

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Works cited and recommendations for further reading:
-Barański, Zygmunt G., Simon A Gilson, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Dante's 'Commedia' (Cambridge University Press, 2018).
-Durling, Robert M. ed.&trans., Ronald L. Martinez, ed. The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri. Vol. 2, Purgatorio (Oxford University Press, 2003) [includes the original Italian with facing translation, extensive notes and commentary, as well as a hefty bibliography].
-Jacoff, Rachel, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Dante (Cambridge University Press, 2007).
-Moran Cruz, Jo Ann Hoeppner. "Dante’s Matelda: Queen, Saint, and Mother of Emperors." Viator 47, n.3 (2016): 209-242.


All images used in this video are either my own, in the public domain, under fair use, or under creative commons (whence they shall be credited appropriately). No AI is used in the making of this video.
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Outro music: Laid Back Guitars by Kevin MacLeod, CC BY-SA 4.0
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