beatrice is the vita nuova Essay -- essays research papers fc

A very poignant moment in any persons life is when they meet someone who they regard so highly that they place on a pedestal in their mind. If ever there was a dubiety of love at first sight, Dante Alighieri disproves the disbelief with his first sighting of Beatrice in his Vita Nuova. When Dante recounts his second encounter with Beatrice he says that she greeted him but does not state how exactly she acknowledge him. The ineffable courtesy that she greeted him with implies that the encounter was not spoken. Through complete silent encounters, the love Dante harbors for Beatrice still continues to flourish. In one of Dantes sonnets he says the following thence I abide impoverished, in such a way that I fear to speak. Thus wishing to do as those who out of shame overwhelm their want,outwardly I show joy,and inwardly at the heart I waste away and weep. Despite Dante being filled with overwhelming joy by the thought of Beatrice, he never publicly expresses his love for her. The whol e essence of Dantes being was accounted for through Beatrices greetings to him. Although the definition of her greetings is undefined in his accounts, Dantes mood is dependent on his interactions with Beatrice. Through the words in his sonnets, Dante m...