Paradiso
(Dante)

Here are a few major themes you can expect as you read through Dante’s Paradiso.

Beauty

As we saw above, beauty is a major part of the higher spheres of Heaven. Beatrice is described as very beautiful from the start, but Dante sees her becoming even more radiant as they ascend to higher and higher Spheres. In fact, there are times when Dante only realizes that they’re ascending when he sees her beauty increase.

In fact the lights and beauty of Heaven is all too much for Dante at the beginning. His mortal eyes must go through a special process in order to be able to see the brighter sights of the highest spheres, and his mortal ears have to adjust to the beautiful songs the blessed souls sing.

Love

On each sphere Dante and Beatrice visit, a lot of attention is given to the love that God has for them. The souls of each sphere reflect God’s love, and that is truer the higher they get.

In the universe according to Dante, Love from God is what gives the universe its order. Also, Love was what caused God to create the universe in the first place.

Order

Everything in Heaven is held to a very specific order. Certain souls are put on certain spheres, and no one complains, wanting to be some place higher. Everyone accepts the order God has put on Heaven, and they accept their place in God’s Will.

Dante even gets to see a representation of the order of the angels, see as a bright point of light surrounded by nine spinning rings. Beatrice explains why the angels have this order, but the rest of the physical universe has a different structure.

Corruption

We saw a lot of corruption in Inferno, as we saw corrupt clergy and rulers being punished down there. Then we saw some corruption in Purgatory, as some souls that were minor sinners were being put through different kinds of discipline in order to make it to Heaven.

Now, in Heaven, we still see the effects of corruption. Several times the corruption of different cities, rulers, or clergy comes up in conversation in Paradiso. The climax of the discussion on corruption is probably when St Peter turns red, and then the whole sky turns red, too, representing the bloodguilt of the corrupt Popes of Dante’s time.

Trust

Again and again, emphasis is put in trust in God. Several times Dante wonders about something, perhaps why certain souls are in certain spheres of Heaven, why certain souls are even allowed in heaven (like the two “pagan” kings in the eye of the great eagle), or how certain souls can be ranked in a certain way (like the children in the Rose). Each time the answer is the same: we can’t understand the thoughts of God. We must trust him and work in harmony with His will.