The Case For Francesca: INFERNO, Canto V, Lines 88 - 142
Francesca has long been a subject of fierce debate. By the mid-nineteenth century, she had been turned into an almost Byronic hero.Maybe the truth of the matter is that she's bigger than her sin. Not in a "Romantic heroine" sort of way. Maybe she escapes the poet who gives her a voice.Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I explore Francesca's speech in Canto V of Dante's INFERNO. Maybe Francesca does the ultimate that a literary character can do: She pulls the curtain back to reveal her creator, standing there in all his ambivalence and unfulfilled desire.To support this work with a one-time donation…
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