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In the second circle of Hell where the lustful pay for their ardor by being endlessly beaten by the winds, the Pilgrim hears the heart-wrenching story of Paolo and Francesca. Sources agree that the young Francesca da Rimini was married to Gianciotto Malatesta da Rimini for political reasons (although some sources suggest that she was tricked into marrying Gianciotto by first meeting his younger brother Paolo and being told that it was he who she was to marry). Francesca's brother-in-law Paolo was her tutor, and (according to Dante) as circumstances would have it, one day while reading a book about Lancelot and Guinevere they were so swept up by the passion of the book that they started consumated their illicit love. When Gianciotto discovered them he killed them in a fit of rage, and for their sin of adultery their souls were sent to the circle of the lustful. The Pilgrim encounters them together, weeping, and their story fills him so full of pity that he faints. What are we to make of this story? How does Dante want the reader to feel about these lovers who are, on the one hand, exemplars of the beautiful, tragic force of illicit love and are thus transgressive heroes, but on the other hand are sinners who let passion take charge of their greater faculties? Does their love, which lasts after death and survives even in Hell, soften their punishment, and if so, does that mean that the elemental force of love stands outside of God's power? Is art (in this case, the book) a corrupting force? As we shall see in the first part of this paper, a close reading of the text opens up only more ambiguous attitudes towards these and a myriad of other questions. Dante imbues this poignant episode with tremendous richness just so that it would have no specific meaning other than to force the reader to confront the totality of a tragedy so immense that we may only begin to comprehend it by piecing together a mosaic of fragmentary responses and attitudes. The Paolo and Francesca scene has captured the eyes of generation after generation of artists. It is by far the most popular scene from the Divine Comedy to illustrate (Nassar, 1994), most likely because it is so incredibly rich in possible meanings and tragic beauty. In the second part of this paper I will compare and contrast a handful of these images with each other and the source text to show that the dialog between the artist and Dante expressed in the artwork is a fruitful one to study if we wish to enrich our own appreciation of this scene. Each artist makes hundreds of important decisions (e.g. do the lovers look at one another? Are they clothed or naked? Are they alone or among a swarm of other lovers? What does the portrayal of Dante's face tell us about his reaction?) which vastly alter what we take away from each piece of art. Of course no artist has the "right" vision, and each artist comes to this scene with goals and beliefs that are sometimes at odds with Dante. Nonetheless, by saturating ourselves in a wide range of beautiful illustrations I believe that we can better understand the mosaic of multiple meanings that Dante intends that the scene should possess.
The Text of the InfernoDante begins his description of the circle of the lustful in clear terms about the sinfulness of the overly passionate and their eternal damnation, but he then proceeds to chip away at this certainty. Towards the beginning of Canto V, Dante asserts that the torment of the lustful comes about "because they sinned within the flesh, / subjecting reason to the rule of lust" (Inf. V, 38-39). The belief that man was meant to reason and that sin comes about because of an irrational drive to wallow in earthly passions is a common attitude to take, and (apparently) this is the message of Canto V. Sin must be punished, so "there is no hope that ever comforts them -- / no hope for rest and none for lesser pain" (44-45). And yet it is difficult accept that Paolo and Francesca should suffer this hopeless eternity for their true love, which is why the Pilgrim is so seized with pity (71, 93, 140) when he lays eyes upon their "atrocious state." This pity makes the Pilgrim feel "like a man astray" (72), so perhaps the Dante-poet is over-emphasizing the Dante-Pilgrim's pity in order to make an ironic statement about how easy it is to give in to having compassion for sinners, a compassion which may turn us from the righteous path. But it is also possible that we all share a nagging feeling that the punishment of Paolo and Francesca is so unbearably tragic that we cannot condemn them, which undermines the starting assertion that we should laud the reasonable and condemn the overly passionate. Francesca frames her story as the workings of Love, perceived as an external agent, on herself and her innocent lover. The Pilgrim gets the attention of Paolo and Francesca by appealing to "that love which impels them" (78) and like leaves caught in a wind the two lovers come before him because they cannot resist the force of Love. Francesca then explains that
"Love, that can quickly seize the gentle heart, We see that Love is an irresistible third party. It came to Paolo and Francesca when "we were alone / and we suspected nothing" (129) and, facilitated by the book they were reading, "seized the gentle heart" of one and "took hold so strongly" of the other. Thus by her account she was completely helpless to this external force against which she was utterly innocent and wholly unprepared. If we believe Francesca's account and accept the idea of Love as an agent (an idea that appears in Dante's earlier Vita Nuova), then it seems an unjust technicality that the fact of her marriage to a man she had no connection with earns her and her lover eternal punishment for an inevitable course of action. The Pilgrim feels this pathos so acutely that he faints "as if I had met my death" (141). Does this simile imply that his heart is broken? Or does the simile of death mean that the Pilgrim, if faced with the same circumstances as Paolo and Francesca, would also share their fate in the circle of the lustful? And here one must wonder the question that must have plagued Dante his entire life, namely, if he and Beatrice had fallen in passionate love while she was alive, is that not more wonderful and glorious than his rarified, abstract love for Beatrice? If Paolo and Francesca enact Dante's fantasy of the thrill of illicit desire, is he so certain that such fantasies are wrong that he can put them into Hell without a qualm? Apparently not, because the Dante-poet, which represents Dante as the way he wishes he were, is at such ends with the Dante-Pilgrim, who represents the very human aspects of Dante as he is. The Dante-poet structures the Divine Comedy so that it is clear that Paolo and Francesca were wrong to give into their desires. He hints that Francesca was not as innocent as she presents herself when he asks "in what way did Love allow you / to recognize your still uncertain longings?" (119 -- 120). The fact that she had longings at all does not quite agree with her statement that "we suspected nothing" (129). The leads to the notion that she was always in control of herself and had an obligation to restrain herself. It is a telling point that Canto V of the Paradiso is focused on the freedom of will (Par. 5, 22) and the importance of vows. This suggests that it is meant to stand in contrast with Canto V of the Inferno to suggest that the lustful are punished for not acting on their free will and breaking vows such as vows of marriage. Thus we see that Dante is of two minds in his treatment of Francesca and Paolo. He would like to say that people have free will and control over their passions, but at the same time he is acutely aware of the unavoidable force of true love, as well as the sheer beauty in the tragedy of the illicit love. The lovers never say they were wrong to love, but only that their tragedy is a great sorrow (123). What are we to make of the love that persists beyond death? Francesca and Paolo still have each other in the Inferno, which could mean many things. Perhaps they are a punishment for one another because each serves as a reminder of the others' sin. But that does not seem to be the case, as it is simply presented as a fact that because they loved each other so much in life and suffered "one death" (106) they are together in Hell. There is no mention of either Francesca or Paolo weeping because of the other one. But if their love brings them consolation in Hell, does that suggest that love operates outside of divine justice? Here we see the importance of imagining the scene. Dante sets the stage for us by presenting the lovers who are tormented by the winds, but he gives little indication of whether the lovers have dignity (they are called "atrocious" (93) yet speak with precision and passion) or if they bring comfort to each other. Do they feel shame? Since Francesca is the only one to speak, their private interaction is left to us to imagine. If we imagine Paolo and Francesca as weeping, weak shades who are ashamed of one another, then it lessens the tragedy because it is easier to believe that they did something wrong. But if we seem them as comforting, beautiful lovers, then the tragedy is immense and their love stands as heroic defiance of divine justice. Is true love worth Hell? The answer is in how the scene is imagined. Dante leaves the scene open by giving the reader a rich context in which to explore. The more possibilities we explore, the more meanings emerge. As the next section shows, we are meant to simultaneously uphold all the meanings and interpretations to form a whole that has no particular meaning but leaves an everlasting impression. |
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Art Inspired by Paolo and Francesca in Canto V of the Inferno
Early images of Paolo and Francesca (1, 2) tend to show the lovers as naked and flying through the air next to one another, usually side-by-side. Although it is difficult to see, the faces of the lovers in (1) are twisted with grief whereas in (2) they are serene amidst the turmoil surrounding them. These images take their imagery straight from the text with little embellishment. Both artists choose to show the couples without eroticism, yet they do share a closeness that later artists will magnify. In both images the lovers clearly comfort one another. It is fascinating that the simple difference between the facial expressions can so dramatically alter the impression of each piece. The story in (1) is quite clear: the lovers' sad story made Dante swoon. By making the grief so simple and plain, this piece has taken a very strong stance towards the interpretation of the lovers as definite sinners. (2) is more complex because the lovers are beautiful and serene, unlike the other lustful who fly about with misshapen faces and frowns. Does that mean that Love shelters the lovers against the hurricane? Or does it only mean that they are happy as they tell Dante (who, strangely enough, is also smiling) their story as a warning to future lovers?
Anselm Feuerbach, a German classical painter, gives a highly dramatic presentation of Paolo and Francesca in his Dante in the Underworld (3). The lovers are deeply ashamed of themselves; Paolo hides his head, and Francesca has a look of sorrow as she addresses Dante, who only sadly looks down at the turmoil of Hell. Although the lovers are at the focus of the painting, it is clear that in Hell they are nothing particularly important because everyone else around them is also weeping for their sins. There appears to be an identification between Paolo and Francesca and Adam and Eve in the gesture of shame and the couple's barely covered nakedness. This would be an appropriate comparison to make because just as Eve could not restrain herself from eating the forbidden fruit, the lovers could not restrain themselves from their forbidden love. Feuerbach gives the impression that all the sinners in Hell deserve to be there, but the justice that puts them there is terrifying in its scope.
In Doré's piece (4), Dante and Virgil peer over the edge of a void in which thousands of shades are buffeted by the never-ending winds. He gives a real sense of power to the lovers by arching Paolo's back as though he were struggling with some unseen force, and by making Francesca cling to her lover very assertively. One gets the sense that the lovers are caught in an eternal struggle to hold on to one another in the tempest. This work gives real life to Paolo and Francesca by making their love and struggle tangible and powerful. Another Doré engraving, not shown, shows the lovers holding one another and looking gently at each other. And thus from Doré we get a sense that the lovers are dignified and they will continue to comfort one another despite the forces of fate that have put them in Hell.
Perhaps no other great artist has spent as much time with Dante as Auguste Rodin. Commissioned by the French Government in 1880 to create a decorative door that would represent the Divine Comedy, Rodin choose the Gates of Hell as his subject. Although the project was never finished to his satisfaction, it still stands as one of the great pieces of the 19th century. Out of this effort came a myriad of stand-alone pieces, including The Thinker, The Kiss, and Ugolino and His Children (Elsen 1985).
Rodin, like many before him, was fascinated by Paolo and Francesca and the way that they represented the punishment of illicit but compelling desires. Dante gives us no reason to believe that Paolo and Francesca are not still tenderly in love and suffering together, but for Rodin it is unacceptable that beautiful love should exist in Hell. And thus he adapts Dante's story to show the possible futility of physical love as well as its potential beauty by giving us three visions of Paolo and Francesca. Originally Rodin intended to show that there was nothing fundamentally wrong with Paolo and Francesca's love, so he planned to position them in an amorous embrace in the Gate. He soon decided, however, that it would be wrong to show such happiness on the Gates of Hell and removed the piece, which he developed into The Kiss (8). The Kiss depicts the first intimate moment between Paolo and Francesca. (Unseen in this picture of the statue is the offending book that lies forgotten behind Paolo). What is interesting about this statue is that Francesca is the more sexually assertive of the two, with her leg slung over the hesitant Paolo and her back arched into the kiss. These are not innocent children but adults who are mutually in love and withhold nothing from one another. By letting it be known that this piece depicted Paolo and Francesca, Rodin could be making any number of points; the beauty of love is tragic, or true love can still be evil, or possibly that Paolo and Francesca are to be lauded for allowing theselves to love even though others saw it as wrong. In any case, The Kiss shows the power and beauty of physical love. The other two pieces on the Gates of Hell that are inspired by Paolo and Francesca are Paolo and Francesca (10) and Fugit Amor (9). Both these pieces show that physical love is ultimately incomplete. In Paolo and Francesca, the lovers are lying on top of one another, presumably because Paolo fell down. Francesca limply rests while gazing upwards in sorrow, ignoring the body of her lover beneath her. They touch one another but cannot be joyful together, and instead their physical closeness makes them both seem far more isolated. Fugit Amor shows a woman is attempting to flee from a man by jumping off the Gate, but he catches her with one hand on her shoulder, the other on her breast. She flees, he catches, but neither truly sees one another because they are isolated in their desires. Fugit Amor and Paolo and Francesca show two lovers with much more personality and history than the simple Paolo and Francesca characters in Dante. Rodin's figures have drives and desires that are not bound up in one true love, but rather in love gone awry. The Kiss shows that physical love is pure and true within itself, but that in itself is not enough; and for this crime of incomplete love, and not for adultery, Rodin places the lovers in Hell.
Cimbalo, like Rodin, seeks to add a depth of personality to Paolo and Francesca to draw out the meaning of the second circle of Hell. He shows the lovers as much back-to-back as facing one another, simultaneously holding one other and turning away from each other (Nassar, 1994). The couple is alienated and yet they have only each other to hold onto in the swirling void. This suggests that Paolo and Francesca are bound by links of love, but their love is too weak to fully bring them into union. It appears that, as with Rodin's Paolo and Francesca, this couple is damned for is incomplete love and not its wrongful love. It is difficult to draw any coherent conclusions about all these pieces as a whole. Some (1, 5) are simple statements, others (4, 7, 9) are haunting mysteries. It is fair to say that the Romantic pieces (3 - 7) tend to emphasize the tragedy of the true love that was not meant to be, whereas the more modern pieces (9, 10, 11) add psychological depth to the characters to explain that there never was "true love" but rather incomplete love. Some pieces challenge the notion of divine justice (7) and others (1) affirm it. Each piece draws a different grain of meaning from the source text, and only by assembling the pieces together can we being to form an appreciation for the range of meanings we can find in Paolo and Francesca's eternal suffering.
BibliographyElsen, Albert. The Gates of Hell by Auguste Rodin. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, 1985. Nassar, Eugene Paul. Illustrations to Dante's Inferno. Associated University Press. Toronto. 1994. Mondadori, Arnoldo Ed. Trans. Salvadori, Giuseppina and Lewis, Bernice. Dante: His Life, His Times, His Work. American Heritage Press, New York, NY. 1968. Schubring, Paul. Illustrationen zu Dantes Gottlicher Komodie. Amalthea-Verlag, Zurich. 1931.
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