Dante Alighieri
Italian · 13th–14th century
Author of The Divine Comedy, Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso. The foundational text of hell, purgatory, and heaven as realms a living person navigates.
Connection to Taylor Swift
Invoked for the tradition of love at first sight. Uncle Jerry and Angela place Dante and Beatrice among the great first-glance romances behind Enchanted, noting that Dante built an entire sonnet sequence around a woman he barely knew, the same sustained devotion to a fleeting encounter the song captures.
Notable Works
- The Divine Comedy (Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso)
Appears in the Archive
Context within the Archive
The Divine Comedy
“I didn't choose this town, I dream of getting out”
Uncle Jerry connects Taylor's use of 'I dream of getting out' to the tradition of dream narratives in literature, citing Dante's Divine Comedy as a canonical example: Dante falls into a slumber and has a dreamlike journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven. He wonders whether Taylor's use of 'dream' connects to this literary tradition and how often she uses the dream motif across her catalogue.
Dante and Beatrice
Angela & Uncle Jerry include Dante and Beatrice in the love-at-first-sight list. Uncle Jerry notes that Dante writes a whole sonnet sequence to Beatrice, a girl he sees in a garden whom he takes as an ideal lover.