11 - Purgatory V, VI, IX, X
This lecture covers Purgatorio 5, 6, 9 and 10. The purgatorial theme of freedom introduced in the previous lecture is revisted in the context of canto 5, where Buonconte da Montefeltro’s appearance among the last minute penitents is read as a critique of the genealogical bonds of natural necessity. The poet passes from natural to civic ancestry in Purgatorio 6, where the mutual affection of Virgil and Sordello, a former citizen of the classical poet’s native Mantua, sparks an invective against the mutual enmity that enslaves contemporary Italy. The transition from ante-Purgatory to Purgatory proper in canto 9 leads to an elaboration on the moral and poetic structure of Purgatorio, exemplified on the terrace of pride in canto 10.