This book offers a reading of one of world literature’s most famous female characters. Beatrice is female, uneducated, and lacks all other trappings of theological authority. Yet she carries profound theological authority in the Commedia, despite appearing alongside other characters who were real theologians. The book opens up the hermeneutical space between historical theologians and their poetic counterparts. Through Beatrice’s presence as lover and beloved, and with her distinctive theological voice, we can understand the core of Dante’s theology. For the pilgrim, the encounter with Beatrice is the hinge around which the entire narrative turns; twentieth-century philosophy can enrich that significant moment by offering a dialogic perspective. This book offers an encounter with the text which takes seriously the lifeworld of Dante and his sources, while remaining vital and responsive to contemporary life and thought.
