The most prominent theme in
troubadour lyric is courtly love. The authors of troubadour lyric focus on
submitting to their loved one and praising their beloved by putting them on a
pedestal. Dante’s writing has characteristics of courtly love in his writing
but differs from troubadour lyric in that he personifies love as a divine
figure instead of God.
Bernart de
Ventadorn writes in his poem,
“I’ll not
renounce my love,
For
troubles or love’s pains.
When God
who reigns above
Gave much,
I took my gains;
Now when
his gifts abate,
I’ll suffer
that as much,
Seeing the
times are such
Those far
apart must wait
To overcome
their fate” (Kehew 85).
Ventadorn acknowledges God as the
divine power that has given him his lover. He is grateful to God for allowing
him to love his lord’s wife. Ventadorn admires his lover from afar and can’t
stop thinking about her until they can be reunited again. Now, he addresses God
again saying that since He gave him joy, Ventadorn must dwell in the sorrows
that result from his affair. Ventadorn must wait out time until he can be
reunited with his loved one again.
Throughout Dante’s narrative, Vita Nuova he admires his lover Beatrice
from a far and presents her as a goddess that is perfect and above everyone
else. However, while his writing has traits of courtly love similar to the
troubadors’, Dante moves beyond the troubadors by personifying love as a divine
figure instead of God. Dante refers to love as having the ability to physically
affect him and control him. Dante writes in his sonnet,
“Joyous Love looked to me while he was
holding
my heart within his heads”
[…]
“He woke her then and trembling and
obedient
she ate that burning heart out of
his hands” (Musa 7).
Dante personifies Love as a figure
that has the ability to control him and others. Love ripped Dante’s heart out
of his body and proceeded to force his lover Beatrice to eat the heart out of
Love’s hands. God is no longer the divine being but rather Love is. Love is a
separate entity and as his narrative goes along, is seen as a mentor by Dante.
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