Beatrice Portinari

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Beatrice is the figure who at several points in the poem presents herself as Dante's guide. Already in the Inferno (II 70) she entrusts Virgil with the task of accompanying the poet. In the Purgatorio it is Beatrice herself who speaks with Dante: she declares herself present, is questioned by the blessed of the Earthly Paradise and, after the immersion in the Lethe, directly takes up the guidance of the pilgrim again. In the Paradiso she leads him through the heavens, dialogues with him on theological themes, speaks, laughs, admonishes, and finally appears beside Dante in the prayer to the Virgin and in the final vision. The text indicates her as she who is «opra di fede» (Purg. XVIII 48), for whom Dante sighs even before seeing her, who descends to the world and rises back from it, who speaks with a voice full of solemnity and at times smiles. The verses still attest her continuous presence from Dante's Limbo to the Empyrean, always beside the poet as guide, interlocutor, and inspirer.