Class dates: Wednesday, March 25, April 15, 22, 29, May 6 (5 weeks)

Class time: 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm

Location: Assumption, Kennedy 119

Dante’s Purgatorio is situated in the middle of his Commedia . As such, it explores an in-between realm, much like the realm we experience on our journey between birth and death. Compared to conventional descriptions of Purgatory, Dante’s realm is richly imagined, marked by a profound hope. The basis for this hope is Dante’s faith in a grace that refines us, not a fire that punishes us. This grace forms our human nature to its fullest degree so that we are prepared for our transformation in Paradise. The poem’s 33 cantos can be divided into five units that provide good foci for a five-class course.

There are many English translations of Purgatorio , but I recommend Allen Mandelbaum’s. It is an excellent verse translation freed from any attempt to make English measure up to Italian’s capacity for rhymes. It also contains just enough endnotes to provide the reader with essential background information without overwhelming the poem itself.

Required reading: Dante’s Purgatorio , translated by Allen Mandelbaum; Bantam Classics ISBN 978-0553213447

Instructor: James Kee was a member of the English Department at Holy Cross from 1981 to 2016. He regularly taught courses on medieval literature as well as ones on tragedy, literary theory, the Bible and literature, and poetry and philosophy. Among his published essays are ones on Dante, Langland, Milton, Wordsworth, Keats, and the relationship between religion and intellectual life.