Misogyny Rears Its Head: PURGATORIO, Canto VIII, Lines 64 - 84

After Dante shocks Judge Nino and the poet Sordello with the revelation of the pilgrim's own corporeality, Judge Nino launches into a disgusting diatribe about his "unfaithful wife," a pernicious bit of misogyny that threatens to derail COMEDY . . . or at least our appreciation of it.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore this difficult passage in PURGATORIO, one that must be addressed but leaves us with no good answers about works of art from the past.

Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:

[01:53] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto VIII, lines 64 - 84. If you'd like to read along or drop a comment about this passage to continue this difficult conversation with me, please go to my website: markscarbrough.com.

[03:52] Dante's increasingly original language in COMEDY.

[07:06] Giovanna and Beatrice, Judge Nino's earthly family: the center of his rage and a node of disgusting misogyny in COMEDY.

[14:09] Judge Nino and the imagined death of his allegedly "unfaithful" wife.

[15:37] Judge Nino's moderating anger and the emotional landscape of PURGATORIO, Canto VIII.

[17:49] The problem with misogyny in a great poem.

[24:03] Rereading PURGATORIO, Canto VIII, lines 64 - 84.