Exception and Rule in Dante's Purgatorio

Abstract

Early in the Purgatorio, Cato asks the Pilgrim and his guide if the laws of the abyss have been broken, indicating that there are rules to which its occupants are subject. Later, they are told that one cannot proceed toward Purgatory in darkness, and once having attained it, one must not look back. “Exception and Rule in Dante's Purgatorio” examines which rules the Pilgrim in his climb is subject to, which he is exempted from, and which are left ambiguous. He begins by being primarily exempted from rules, and as through purgation he comes closer to divine likeness, he comes to be subject to the same rules as other purged occupants. Critical to the evolution are “seven P's” which are imposed on and removed and associated with capital sins. It is argued that some of the ambiguities in the work may be the result of Dante's having like Homer “nodded.”