The Figure of Beatrice: A Study in Dante
by Charles Williams
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Dante is unequalled among poets in conveying an extraordinary intensity of thought and experience, but this very power may make his work seem formidable to approach. Charles Williams's Figure of Beatriceis outstanding amongst Dante scholarship and criticism for the sympathetic enthusiasm and clarity with which he eases that approach without simplifying the achievement in a highly personal introduction to Dante's work. The first half of the book traces the way in which the central image of show more Beatrice, representing transcendent beauty in feminine form, animates Dante's earlier works. The second half richly expounds The Divine Comedy, meditating on its significance in Dantesque terms. Williams foreshadows the valuable modern emphasis on Dante as philosopher-poet; he also touches on many later concerns in Dante criticism, including ambiguities of language, the inherent self-contradiction of all powerful discourse, and the place of the feminine. The Figure of Beatrice is also a moving and poetic work in its own rightCHARLES WILLIAMS(1886-1945) is known to many as a prolific and unusual playwright, novelist and critic; his poetic works include `Taliessin through Logres' and `The Region of the Summer Stars'. show lessTags
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If you have to choose only one Williams to read out of his nonfiction / non-poetry books, this would be the one to choose.
Equally illuminating as regards Dante and Williams himself, informed by a fine poetic sensibility and a sound theological understanding, this presents a Dante who is not exactly like that of any other interpreter, but is consistent with the majority view. It is coloured by Williams' own view of the romantic and of the relation between human and divine love, and it provides an introduction to all of Dante's work, including relatively ignored works like the De Monarchia.
Equally illuminating as regards Dante and Williams himself, informed by a fine poetic sensibility and a sound theological understanding, this presents a Dante who is not exactly like that of any other interpreter, but is consistent with the majority view. It is coloured by Williams' own view of the romantic and of the relation between human and divine love, and it provides an introduction to all of Dante's work, including relatively ignored works like the De Monarchia.
This book changed my life in 1976.
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Author Information
74+ Works 6,938 Members
Charles Williams (1886-1945) joined, in 1908, the staff of the Oxford University Press, the publishing house in which he worked for the rest of his life. Throughout these years, poetry, novels, plays, biographies, history, literary criticism, and theology poured from his pen. At the beginning of the Second World War the publishing house was show more evacuated to Oxford where, in addition to his own writing and his editorial work for the Press, he taught in the University. show less
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1943
- People/Characters
- Beatrice Portinari; Dante Alighieri
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Literature Studies and Criticism, Fiction and Literature
- DDC/MDS
- 851.1 — Literature & rhetoric Italian, Romanian & related literatures Italian poetry Early Italian; Age of Dante –1375
- LCC
- PQ4410 .B3 .W5 — Language and Literature French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese literatures Italian literature Individual authors and works to 1400
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 190
- Popularity
- 171,448
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.29)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 11
