Dante's Purgatorio, Cantos 1 - V, Summary

Canto I:

Having climbed out of hell and landed on the island that is the purgatorial mountain, the region where “the soul of man is cleansed,” Dante begins the second cantica with invocations to the muses.  As he looks about, the contrast to hell couldn’t be greater.  There is a peaceful sunrise, the color of sapphire.  The planet Venus lights up in the east, as well as the constellation of Pieces.  Four stars never seen by anyone other than human since Adam and Eve also shine.  An old man with a white beard, who is unnamed but we can deduce that he is ancient Roman Cato of Utica, stops the pilgrims.  He is the guardian of Purgatory, and in contrast to the guardians in hell, he politely questions them, wondering if the laws of Purgatory have changed to allow a living person to enter.  Virgil explains Dante’s pilgrimage of freedom, and upon the simple foundation that a lady in heaven directs this, Cato grants their request, but with the sole appeal that Dante wash off the grime of hell and fasten up his clothing, which had come undone, to be more respectable for the holy place they are entering.  And they do so.

Canto II:

Still morning, Dante sees a light over the sea moving toward the island.  When Virgil recognizes the white wings of the moving object he implores Dante to get down on his knees.  With the white light coming closer, it becomes apparent it is an angel pulling a boat of newly departed souls to the island.  The souls on board are singing psalm 114, the psalm of the Israelite’s freedom out of Egypt.  The angel blesses the souls with the sign of the cross as they disembark and departs.  The souls are left uncertain how they should proceed and ask Virgil, who tells them he too is a pilgrim and unsure.  The souls marvel at the living body of Dante, and one soul steps forward.  It is Dante’s friend, Casella, who had passed away three months prior, and upon recognizing him Dante attempts to give him a hug.  In a comic moment, Dante’s arms tree ties pass right through the bodiless form of Casella.  Dante asks Casella to sing him a song and Casella acknowledges by beautifully singing from one of Dante’s poems.  Cato suddenly reappears and implores the souls to stop procrastinating and move on to their journey of purgation.

Canto III:

And so the souls scattering about to climb the mountain go in various directions.  Virgil and Dante too go along and reach a particular steep slope, when Dante in a panic cannot see Virgil’s shadow as he sees his own and thinks Virgil has abandoned him.  But there is Virgil right behind him, no shadow because only bodies can cast shadows and Virgil is only spirit.  While Virgil tries to figure out the way through the rocks, Dante sees a group of souls moving very slowly.  They decide to approach them for guidance but they wince in apprehension because they can see Dante’s shadow, a full bodied person.  The leader of the group, Manfred, son of an emperor, a handsome man but with a cleft across his face from a blow, came forward and explained the group was of those who had been excommunicated and were required to linger longer on the ante-purgatorial section.  Manfred explains, that though a horrible sinner and excommunicated, he died in battle from the wounds that were visible, but having received mortal wounds turned to Christ who “freely pardons.”  His only request is that Dante return to tell his daughter he is not damned and is in need of prayers, which help along the souls in purgatory. 

Canto IV:

Virgil and Dante continue their climb, and Dante struggles with the steepness and difficulty.  Virgil implores him to not regress and points to a ledge from which they can rest and look about to the shore below.  Virgil explains that this mountain is directly opposite on the southern hemisphere from Jerusalem, which resides on the northern.  He also tells Dante that the bottom is the most difficult to climb and that it gets easier as one reaches the upper levels.  And so Purgatory is the complete opposite of hell, which corkscrewing down is more difficult as one goes deeper.  Purgatory spiraling upward gets less strenuous as one ascends.  Intruding into their conversation is a nearby soul, Belacqua, a contemporary Florentine of Dante’s.  He explains to them he is in no hurry to move on because he is fixed to spend a fair amount of time since he is a late repentant, that is who repented late in life by choice.  There seems to be a relationship between how much time one has to send in purgatory based on how late or early in life one repented.  Virgil realizes they must move on now since it is noon.

Canto V:

Having moved on from the late repentant, the two find another similar group, those who died from violence but having repented at the very moment of death.  These souls too marvel at Dante’s living, physical body.  As they move along they are chanting the Miserere, Psalm 50.  Virgil and Dante meet Jacopo del Cassera, a Guelph leader who was assassinated and implores they go back to tell his fellow countryman that they pray for his soul.  They meet Buonconte de Montefeltro, the son of Guido de Montefeltro, who we met in Canto XXVII of the Inferno.  The father and son make a nice contrast between one in hell and one in purgatory.  At the point of Buonconte’s death, he whispered the name of the Blessed Virgin, and was saved, even though a demon had come for his soul.  Finally we meet a woman named Pia, who was murdered by her husband, who simply asks for their prayers.