1969 Theses Master's

The Marriage of Man and God: Solomon's Song of Songs and Resurrection in the Divine Comedy

Marx, Janet

By the time Dante wrote The Divine Comedy, the Old Testament book known as The Song of Songs or Canticles had been read by Christians as an allegory of the “marriage” of God and the Resurrected Church. For this reason Dante chose King Solomon, the assumed author of the book, as spokesman for the doctrine of resurrection in Canto ten of the Paradiso. This thesis explores Dante's poetic response to the Song of Song’s erotic marriage imagery and his uniquely experiential vision of resurrection of the body, reunited for all eternity with the soul and God through love.