Abstract:In this article, I suggest that the character of Beatrice in Dante's Commedia should be understood as a theologian, even though her claim to such status relies not on an established historical authority-on written treatises, sermons, works, or reputation-but rather on the nature of the particular person which Dante constructed over his poetic career. The article accordingly reads Beatrice through two major theologians: Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), and Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). As case studies, the two p… Show more
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