The Descent Of Mount Ventoux Analysis

The beginning of the Renaissance brought many changes to the world. It became known as the “Age of Exploration” and it brought in a new perspective on art. This perspective on art is shown through anything from visual arts to literary art. This time period also introduced the rise of humanism. It brought into the picture a very optimistic view of humanity. This was shown especially in the work The Ascent of Mont Ventoux by Francesco Petrarch. This work refers back to Book X of Confessions by Saint Augustine when Petrarch reaches the top of the mountain. Although they are both dealing with the same passage, Petrarch and Augustine seem to interpret it in very different ways.

Burchardt’s ideas fall into the lap of Petrarch. (Doc. 4) Petrarch believed that there was a new era; he said this by stating that presently people believed again in salvation in the afterlife. Many writers, Petrarch and Erasmus, show evidence of a new era which support my hypothesis stated in my thesis.

Dante Alighieri wrote the Divine Comedy from 1308-1320. The story narrates Dante’s pilgrimage through hell, purgatory, and heaven while guided by Virgil and Beatrice. Throughout this journey Dante conforms himself to virtue, properly orders his passions, and conforms his conscience, “Dante 's psychopoiesis operates through the mimetic deformation, reformation, and transformation of conscience” (Macready, 2). This essay will examine what a true conscience is according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and explore the nature of the conscience in Dante’s Divina Commedia. Additionally, this essay will examine the errors of Dante’s conscience regarding divine justice, love, and courage; and who contributes to this formation.

For example many of the apostles were themselves writers, and these writings are the foundation for the Christian faith. Petrarch gives the example of the apostle Paul having his head turned by study. By following the example given by the apostles of their study of literature, Petrarch believes, would but us on a higher path of devoutness. Ignorance of literature leads to sloth and is a lower road even with a strong

Throughout each of these documents, the seeking of truth, the pursuit of knowledge, and the formation of eloquence are paramount. In his letter to Thomas Caloria, Petrarch condemns a critic for being “less interested in victory than in a fight”, claiming that such men never produce any form of substantial work. He maintains that deep discussion is useful, but the end goal is to attain truth rather than simply argue. “'In the excess of debate the truth is lost'”. Scholarly writing, he suggests, is a more open battleground, and better suited to the discovery of truth, which is the central focus of seeking knowledge.

The Count of Monte Cristo, the most famous book written by Alexandre Dumas, tells a story which is a painful life in the jail that the protagonist Edmond suffered by receiving an unjust judgment and the perfect process of revenge after he escaped the prison. This book focus on the changes of Edmond’s personalities and his perspective of the world because of the dramatic impact that the living circumstance could do to a person in their inner world. In this novel, Alexandre Dumas uses third person omniscient narration not only to reveal the influence of environment on Edmond by showing how other characters respond to his changing nature, but also to push the plot further through the description of all the characters’

In “The Ascent of Mount Ventoux”, Petrarch mentioned that the main reason behind his ascent was only to see the view from the highest peak. This exhibited the leaning away from Christian reasoning by showing that Petrarch did not do everything to deepen his Christian faith, but for his own self exploration. In “Primavera”, Botticelli displayed figures from Roman mythology, such as Venus and the Three Graces. This showed that incorporating not only Christian figures into art, but ones from the Greco-Roman culture actually helped people advance in society, like Botticelli did. In “The Prince”, Machiavelli said that the proper prince’s actions should not be restricted by moral considerations.

Dante's `Divine Comedy', the account of his journey through hell, purgatory and heaven is one of the worlds great poems, and a prime example of a most splendidly realized integration of life with art. More than being merely great poetry, or a chronicle of contemporary events, which it also is, the `Comedy' is a study of human nature by a man quite experienced with it. The main argument I will make in this essay is that Dante's `Comedy' is chiefly a work of historical significance because in it lies the essence of human life across all boundaries of time and place. I feel that such a reading is justified, nay invited, by Dante himself when he says;

Dante had his fair share of the real human experience, whilst traveling through hell in Dante Alighieri’s “The Divine Comedy”. Characters in literature have been popularized since this masterpiece to favor sins as a type of personality trope. The lazy bum, the angry husband, or the prideful peacocks; the list goes on and on. The cause and effect of these traits have served well to teach generations of readers, the ideas and meanings of our actions as humans. Although it is rare, some works leave open ended plots for us to contemplate the meaning of said sin. In conjunction to some of the deadly sins, the main characters from “The Cask of Amontillado”, “The Veldt”, and “Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister”, all display a truth about human nature.

The works of two philosophers Machiavelli’s The Prince and Descartes’s Meditations on First Philosophy were revolutionary in terms of setting knowledge on new foundations. In the literary work The Prince Machiavelli details the guidelines that leaders should adhere to in order to maintain stability in their controlled lands by accurately summarizing the nature of humans as being ungrateful, vain, and selfish individuals. While Descartes in his work Meditations on First Philosophy ventures on a journey to decipher the relationship between his body and mind and what in actuality exists. Both philosophers embark on a journey to comprehend and uncover the truth.

The theme of equilibrium between reason and faith is one of the core messages of Inferno and it is essential in conveying the main idea of the Divine Comedy and of the pilgrim’s journey that the exploitation of intellect and the misuse of will is the cause of sin, and that through faith, those who are morally lost find their salvation in God. In Inferno Dante makes it clear that he greatly values knowledge and reason in a way that is more characteristic to the Renaissance rather than of his own Medieval time. However, throughout this first book, the author reminds the audience of the Christian nature of his poem as he uses the stories of the sinners he encounters to stress the idea that without faith, the intellect is not sufficient to achieve divine salvation and that the misuse of reason can often lead to terrible sins.

In the Early Modern Period, readers of this literature get to see a dramatic shift and transition from medieval thinking to Renaissance thinking. Towards the beginning of this time period, human nature was very concerned with the consequences of straying from religion. This is evident through the work of Dante in Inferno, and Petrarch in Canzoniere. In Inferno, Dante gives his readers a glimpse into the afterlife and where each person goes after death. Each layer of the afterlife symbolizes the crime/sins that were committed in a lifetime, the deeper it gets the worse it gets. In Canzoniere by Petrarch, it represents a man who has strayed from the path of God and, instead, spent his life searching for individual passions. By giving the reader

In Descartes’ Meditations, he is making a systematic attempt to find a necessary truth; that is, a truth that cannot be false. The purpose in finding this necessary truth is not only for self-affirmation, but to create something certain and undeniable in the sciences. He aims to acquire this truth through the extensive examination of the distinction of the human soul, the body, and the existence of God.

Pico della Mirandola in his work, “Oration on the Dignity of Man”, re-evaluates humanism and humans in general. His work talks about the dignity of man in particular and how man differs from other creatures as man is a creation with a unique and important trait, free will. He uses several arguments to support his claim that humans can choose their destiny and in doing so can achieve perfection. He presents a piece of work that challenges the medieval view of human nature.

Descartes and Augustine, in their respective examinations of the mind and God, come to the conclusion that the true understanding of all things derives from the withdrawal of the self from foreign influence and the necessity to look inward. Although each thinker’s journey or course of understanding was different, and at times rather contrasting, their ultimate realizations about knowledge are very coherent.