This is a tough question, because there are admittedly many themes at work in Dante's Divine Comedy. However, if you had to pinpoint a main theme, the most accurate answer would be that the main theme of the Divine Comedy is the individual search for salvation.
In a nutshell, the whole poem is one epic chronicle of Dante's search for spiritual atonement. He first passes through the terrors of Hell, moves on to the...
This is a tough question, because there are admittedly many themes at work in Dante's Divine Comedy. However, if you had to pinpoint a main theme, the most accurate answer would be that the main theme of the Divine Comedy is the individual search for salvation.
In a nutshell, the whole poem is one epic chronicle of Dante's search for spiritual atonement. He first passes through the terrors of Hell, moves on to the trials of Purgatory, and then finally ascends into the bliss of Heaven. It is significant that this poetic journey parallels Dante's own journey in real life. At the time of the poem's composition, Dante was in exile, forced by political turmoil to leave his native Florence. Like his poetic avatar, Dante was actually lost in a "dark wood," cast adrift in the wilderness and unsure of who he was or where he was going. As such, it is conceivable to assume that Dante was writing his poem to record, in poetic, metaphorical form, his own personal journey for meaning, salvation, and home.
It's also worth noting that the individual aspect of this journey is significant. Though Dante was obviously a devout Christian, he was highly critical of much of the established Church, as is evident from his decision to place several high ranking church officials in the bowels of his poetic version of Hell. As such, the fact that Dante must make an independent journey (helped along, of course, by Virgil and Beatrice), rather than one that is facilitated by the Church, is a sign of his rejection of the corrupt, established Church in favor of a more authentic, independent spiritual quest.
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