It is divided into three sections, named the Inferno (Hell), the Purgatorio (Purgatory), and the Paradiso (Paradise). In each of these three realms, the poet meets different people. Each character is symbolic of a particular fault or virtue. Dante is guided through hell and purgatory by Virgil, who is, the symbol of reason. The woman Dante loved, Beatrice, is his guide through paradise.
She is the symbol of divine will. Dante wrote the poem for his colleagues and therefore wrote it in vernacular which was Italian. He named the poem La commedia (The Comedy) because it ends happily, in heaven. His journey's climax is a vision of God. .
His poem is most complemented for his symbolic meanings behind each of the cantos. Dante's imaginary voyage can be understood as the purification of one's soul and of the achievement of inner peace through the guidance of love and reason.
In the opening of the poem, Dante finds himself lost in dark woods, which symbolizes his new life of exile. While attempting to find out where he was, Dante sees a hill, which he calls the "Mount of Joy". He begins to climb the hill, but beasts such as the she-wolf of setting free and the lion of ambition, block his way. Discouraged, Dante meets his guide Virgil, who explains that to regain his way, Dante must travel with him through hell and purgatory. Then after Dante traveled with him, Dante would meet up with another guide who would take him to paradise. .
At the end of his journey, Dante's guide Beatrice leaves him in the hands of Saint Benard. Beatrice's promise to Dante in the previous canto is proven when he sees the two hosts of heaven. First, he sees the second soldier. This host appears to Dante in the form of a white rose. He then sees the other soldier who appears to Dante as a swarm of bees traveling back and forth between God and the white rose. St. Benard's love for the Virgin Mary inspires Dante and at the end of the canto, Dante is granted a vision of Her.
