Dante The New Life (La Vita Nuova) (1901) - Plot & Excerpts
Being an ardent fan of Dante's time in Hell I felt I had to read Vita Nuova if only to round off my appreciation of the great man... I wish I hadn't. This is the book about his love for Beatrice. Dante describes how he met her, yearned for her and then how, when she died, raised his love onto a higher plane. I was genuinely surprised to find that it is a combination of prose and poetry. Dante describes certain events and then tells of the poems that these events inspired and then gives us the poems. These bits I enjoyed but then, in a very monotonous format, the poems are "analysed" so that we can appreciate them more fully. I have to say that this really got boring after a bit:"This sonnet has three parts. In the first part I tell how I encountered Love and how he looked;" (I know! I've just read your description of how you came about to write it and then read the poem!) "in the second I relate what he told me..." and so on! The Great Dante reveals himself as a pedantic teacher who has to totally spoil our appreciation of the experience by going over his repetitive breakdowns of each poem in the most painful and most obvious way again and again and again. Another painful example will sum it all up:"At the end of this fifth part I say, 'dear ladies', to make it understood that it is to ladies that I speak." I think even Homer Simpson would have got THAT one! Love, virtue and death: Wonderful medieval variation of platonic love with negativity stepped up to almost religious distance. Love for a lady, who is exemplar of virtue and incites to virtue - just because of greeting. And when she refuses the greeting, just because of the praise poet can give her. But paradoxically such love can be perfect only when Death takes her away - and he has nothing left except for admiration and totally unselfish desire to serve her.
What do You think about Dante The New Life (La Vita Nuova) (1901)?
this is SO riveting; it is my kitchen book, while I am cooking, and I keep overboiling things...
—loliiil
I read it in translation. Interesting approach to poetry given the context of the times.
—MorganTrev
Pretty much the original unrequited love story. Essential background reading.
—Vaibhav
