How Literature Changed a Nation: Dante Alighieri and The Divine Comedy

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Making change in a time of dark beliefs and harsh criticism is a difficult task to achieve. The poet, Dante Alighieri’s world was one filled with spirituality and stigmas. Unlike many other artists of his time, he completed his most famous and influential work in Europe’s 1300’s. Dante’s piece, The Divine Comedy, demonstrates the journey one takes throughout life, to find one’s self and connect with the world and religion, all through three volumes of poetry. Of his talent, came a business of the arts. In addition, he changed the way the Italian language was perceived. He used his writing to help women be viewed as equals to men, and took a more tolerant position with regard to religion. Due to its effects on language, religion, and societal protocol, The Divine Comedy unquestionably affected Italian culture in the time of its author, and beyond.

Language amongst a nation may seem definite, but in the 14th century, Italy was simply a geographical region in need of leadership and unity. Bardertscher discussed the way Dante helped to unite the country in a single language. “Written in the Tuscan dialect rather than in Latin, "The Divine Comedy" helped strengthen the use of the vernacular as a literary language. It also led to the dominance of Tuscan, which became the basis of modern Italian” (Bardertscher, 2005, p. 1). By writing his work in Tuscan Italian, Dante made two great strides for Italy. First, he established Italian as a language which was versatile and as useful as Latin. In addition, Dante’s use of a particular dialect led to the Italian government adopting this dialect as the standard language. Even today, Dante’s Tuscan dialect is the version of Italian which American students learn and the majority of Italians spea...

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Burge, J. (2011). Dante: Reason and religion. Retrieved December 14, 2011, from http://web.ebscohost.com/src/detail?sid=5cd2709b-b242-4ee4-b1ba-8dc080c53953%40sessionmgr13&vid=1&hid=13&bdata=JnNpdGU9c3JjLWxpdmU%3d#db=ulh&AN=59526105

Chou, P. (1999). Romance: Dante & Beatrice. Retrieved December 9, 2011, from http://www.wisdomportal.com/Romance/Dante-Beatrice.html

Hutchinson’s Biography Database. (2011). Dante Alighieri. Retrieved December 9, 2011, from http://web.ebscohost.com/src/detail?sid=c33e3860-8c08-48cc-b3e1-edf9a2b50b6e%40sessionmgr15&vid=1&hid=13&bdata=JnNpdGU9c3JjLWxpdmU%3d#db=mih&AN=32216798

Knight, K. (2009). Thomism. Retrieved December 9, 2011, from http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14698b.htm

Rubin, H. (2004). Dante in love. New York: Simon & Schuster.

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