In Canto Five, Dante encounters the souls of the lustful--in particular, Francesca and Paolo. The fully story of the real Francesca and Paolo states that Francesca was married to Paolo's lame brother and Paolo was married as well and they had an affair and Francesca's husband killed them off. However, literature published since the original account portrays the story quite differently. Francesca was tricked into marrying Paolo's lame brother by being led to believe she was marrying Paolo. Somehow she didn't realize until the morning after the wedding that she had been tricked into marrying the wrong man...I'm not sure how that happens...Anyway, after their deaths, Francesca and Paolo were ultimately remembered for their romantic love and people sort of blurred over the adultery that had them killed. They were sort of the Romeo and Juliet of their time, and I think Dante had something to do with that.
Dante, upon first seeing them, said to Virgil "'I greatly long / to speak to those two shades who fly as one / and seem so lightly carried on the wind'" (72-74). Then as they came towards Dante he said they were "Turtledoves who heed the loving call-- / with firm and lifted wings they shear the air / and fly to the sweet dovecote, swift of will." They came as turtledoves. Turtledoves are known for their faithfulness and devotion. They mate for life. This is a strange comparison for lovers in the second circle of Hell. They are surrounded by shades like Dido in particular, and yet here they are together as one and it does not mention that they are suffering like the others are.
This is strange. Unless you take into account that Dante could have either known the lovers and regardless of if he knew them personally, he had to have known OF them. They lived around the same time in the same place. So, here's my thought. Just like Dante uses the Inferno to call out his enemies/the wicked, what if he uses the Inferno to invoke sympathy for Francesca and Paolo? I mean, after all, we know he was a big fan of forbidden love--just look at him and Beatrice...
I commented on Wendy and Darby's posts.
Nice thoughts on the attitude of Dante towards these two. Seeing as how he just about condemns everyone else he sees for the rest of Inferno, it is interesting that he has sympathy for them.
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