Dante's Drama of the Mind A Modern Reading of the Purgatorio [Hardcover]

The individual insights employed in this reading of thePurgatorioare those of a twentieth-century mind, as are the author's references: T. S. Eliot, Henry James, I.A. Richards, Jacques Maritain, and many others. Purposely avoiding the pitfalls of Dantean scholarship, Mr. Fergusson reveals the drama of the order of Dantes vision, the developed form of the poetry, and the meaning of the canticle for modern man. ThePurgatorio, he says, has light to shed upon history and its making; upon psychology, ethics, and education; upon politics and the transmission of our tradition. There are many reasons for learning to read it; it is a central clue. This brilliantly written book by the author ofThe Idea of a Theateris itself a central clue to the meaning of thePurgatorio.

Originally published in 1953.

ThePrinceton Legacy Libraryuses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.