Lofty Endeavors

Canto II explains how Virgil has come to guide the Pilgrim through the underworld. Three women, to counter the 3 sins (embodied by the lion, she-wolf, and leopard), have passed along a message to Virgil to help Dante. The Virgin Mary makes a request to Lucia who asks Beatrice to help the Pilgrim, Beatrice in turn goes to Virgil who recounts the chain of events to Dante. In her explanation to Virgil, Beatrice says, "I am Beatrice, who urges you to go; I come from the place I am longing to return to; love moved me, as it moves me now to speak" (Canto II, lines 70-27). These lines are a testament to Dante's philosophy on love. The introduction made a point of mentioning that throughout all of Dante's studies and changing understandings his perception of love remained constant. Dante considered love "the most important force behind noble actions and lofty endeavors." (28) Beatrice's journey to find Virgil led her away from where she was "longing to return to" expressing a great devotion Dante. Her love for him overrode selfish desires to stay in Heaven for love itself moved her. Dante, as the Poet, has characterized Beatrice as such. The introduction mentions that Beatrice "was offended by the attention Dante paid other women" (19) but never asserts that she loved him as he loved her. Dante idealized Beatrice and believed she would lead him to "inner perfection" (20). Dante is known for "the lover's glorification of his own feelings, and his glorification of the beloved" (25). In Canto II less is said about Beatrice's love for Dante and their relationship than about Dante's understanding of love and the virtue Beatrice represented. Dante's belief that love is the primary motivational force behind "lofty endeavors" is explored in lines 70-72 in terms of love as a whole rather than in Beatrice and Dante's relationship specifically.