hBjcDQfnMguRXVnjTNgM Mark Scarbrough's WALKING WITH DANTE: When You Don't Get The Redemption You Want In PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, Lines 100 - 126 - Walking With Dante

Episode 234

When You Don't Get The Redemption You Want: PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, Lines 100 - 126

Published on: 18th January, 2026

Beatrice is now fully in charge . . . so much so that she can even tell the angels in the chariot with her what they can't understand.

She launches into her first indictment of the pilgrim, Dante. Here, she claims that he hasn't fulfilled his talent.

He hasn't? With so much of COMEDY behind us?

And what if then the point of this journey? Is it poetic craft or personal redemption?

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we comb through the first of Beatrice's condemnations of Dante's many failings that have led him to the top of Mount Purgatory.

If you'd like to help support this podcast with a one-time donation or a small monthly stipend, please consider donating what you can through this PayPal link right here.

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

[01:41] My English translation of PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, Lines 100 - 126. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please find its entry on my website, markscarbrough.com.

[04:23] What can the angels in the chariot not know?

[08:13] What germinates from heaven, far above the seeds that blow out of the Garden of Eden?

[11:15] What was Dante supposed to have done?

[15:19] What good was this journey across the known universe?

[18:40] How do you stay open to the grace you get but perhaps don't expect?

[20:02] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XXX, lines 100 - 126.

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode
Show artwork for Walking With Dante

About the Podcast

Walking With Dante
A passage-by-passage stroll through Dante’s DIVINE COMEDY with Mark Scarbrough
Ever wanted to read Dante's Divine Comedy? Come along with us! We're not lost in the scholarly weeds. (Mostly.) We're strolling through the greatest work (to date) of Western literature. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I take on this masterpiece passage by passage. I'll give you my rough English translation, show you some of the interpretive knots in the lines, let you in on the 700 years of commentary, and connect Dante's work to our modern world. The pilgrim comes awake in a dark wood, then walks across the known universe. New episodes every Sunday and Wednesday.
Support This Show

About your host

Profile picture for Mark Scarbrough

Mark Scarbrough

Former lit professor, current cookbook writer, creator of two podcasts, writer of thirty-five (and counting) cookbooks, author of one memoir (coming soon!), married to a chef (my cookbook co-writer, Bruce Weinstein), and with him, the owner of two collies, all in a very rural spot in New England. My life's full and I'm up for more challenges!