Broken Vows in Dante’s Commedia

romance, Valentine, sexuality, love

Two of the most interesting encounters in Dante’s Commedia lead to broken vows. Here’s a breakdown of the two encounters.

In the first instance, Dante meets Francesca and Paolo, two illicit lovers in Canto V. One day, Francesca decided to read the story of Lancelot and Guinevere with Paolo, her husband’s brother. Seduced by the story of infidelity, the two fell into lust.  An angry husband killed them both in the act and sent them to hell.

Next, in Canto III of heaven, Dante talks with Piccarda and Constance who are among the inconstant who are on the moon, the lowest sphere of heaven. As Anthony Esolen notes, Piccarda is the sister of Dante’s friend and fellow poet Forese Donati who appears in purgatory. Piccarda was compelled to leave the convent by her brother Corso. In fact, her brother kidnapped and forced her to marry for political reasons. She became sick and died shortly after (page 406 (P.2 L. 50)). Constance lived before Dante and married Henry VI, the King of Germany from 1169 to 1194. For political reasons, Dante chooses to accept a rumor that Constance had been forced from a convent into this marriage (page 407 (P.31, L.118.)).

Taken together, the two instances both in hell and heaven show not only the importance of vows but also the importance of the will, and they also make us think about the true nature of friendship.

What Does a Broken Vow Mean?

Ecclesiastes 5:5 tells us “It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it.” To break a vow is irreversible. What does a broken vow mean and how bad can it really be?

In Canto IV, Dante tells Beatrice “I’d like to know if a man can recompense/the failing in his vow with works well done” (IV.136-137). A complicated discussion follows in Canto V. For Beatrice, the breaking of a vow involves damage to freedom: “The greatest gift God made for any creature” namely “the will at liberty” (V.19-22). Beatrice continues to explain that breaking a vow permanently damages this freedom. “For when both God and man have sealed the pact/ they slay this treasure in a sacrifice,/ and do so, as I say by a free act./ What could restore the loss, what could suffice?” (V. 28-31). Hence,  though Constance and Piccarda were forced, they end up in a lower and less perfect sphere of heaven.  A broken vow means everlasting damage.

It is worth noticing that the very landscapes these characters inhabit depict the loss of freedom and self-control. Notice that Constance and Piccarda meet Dante on the Moon, a planet known for its inconstant shape. For Francesca and Paolo who violated the vows of matrimony, the landscape also symbolizes inconstancy. With other souls in the realm of the lustful, Francesca and Paolo exist in a vortex of wind, blown about without direction or power to stop. For all eternity they will be reminded of their inconstancy and their lack of willpower to resist lust.

What is Complicity?

Francesca portrays herself and Paolo as victims of love, “Love led us to one death” (Inferno Canto V.106). Paradoxically, her presence in hell indicates that her will is turned against God’s for eternity. Not a passive victim, Francesca is an active rebel. In contrast, Piccarda finds happiness and healing in heaven by uniting her will more completely with God. Even knowing of her low state in heaven, she says ”In His will is our peace” (III.85). For all of us, heaven will be a reconciliation of our will to God. For these two characters, this happens in a particular way.

Nonetheless, none of these characters prove true victims, not even the kidnapped Piccarda. Beatrice explains, “Unto the evil,/Absolute will refuses its consent,/but when contingent will yields to the fear of falling to worse harm should it withstand, Will does consent.” (IV.109-112) Beatrice implies that Piccarda and Constance might have done more to resist the breaking of their vows. Their absolute wills resisted but finally submitted to the contingent will and its more transient concerns. It may seem complicated and harsh to demand martyrdom, if that is what Dante wants.  Yet, the end result remains that they have lost some of their original freedom to choose.  In some much smaller way than Francesca, Piccarda and Constance are reminded that they are entirely victims of force.

To understand the ultimate relationship between a vow and personal freedom, the Catechism’s description of marriage as a gift of self proves helpful.

“By its very nature conjugal love requires the inviolable fidelity of the spouses. This is the consequence of the gift of themselves which they make to each other. Love seeks to be definitive; it cannot be an arrangement ‘until further notice’” (V.1646).

Once damaged by this breaking of vows, the free gift of self in marriage is somehow less free and a divorcee is somehow less free to give of self.

Can You Keep a Vow Without the Right Friends?

Thought of as a union or simply a connection between two people, friendship becomes important to these instances of vow breaking. Francesca and Paolo, first in-laws, fell into sin by not helping each other to avoid it. They fell by simply not helping each other to have better judgment about how to pass the time. Francesca says, “One day we two were reading for delight/ about how love had mastered Lancelot;/ we were alone and innocent and felt/ No cause to fear” V. 127-130). They could have noticed two obvious red flags–reading a book about infidelity and being alone together.

In the case of the blessed souls, politics and force proved deadly. Piccarda was beguiled by her brother or, as Dante says, “men more given to evil than to good” (III. 107-108).  Likewise, Constance was also forced out of a vow by political schemers. Thus, bad company led to a breaking of vows for both the damned and the saved. In contrast, Dante’s friendship with Virgil and Beatrice (good company) ultimately leads him out of a dark night.
The Catechism tells us that society is essential to our ultimate salvation because it is essential to our vocation.

“Society is essential to the fulfillment of the human vocation. To attain this aim, respect must be accorded to the just hierarchy of values, which ‘subordinates physical and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones’” (II.1886).

Through these cantos, Dante warns the reader willpower alone may not keep vows safe. Those who have professed their vows need the support of the community.

Conclusion

Two instances in the Commedia particularly explore the issues of vows, willpower, and friendship. We might be tempted at first to say that Dante is pretty merciless on those who break their vows. However, when we see that keeping a vow has much to do with preserving our freedom, we start to see why he values vows so highly and has real consequences for those that break them. To me, these cantos are fascinating because they make me ask just how far we can play the victim card. For Dante, saying my society makes me do something may not suffice as an answer before God. These thoughts are terrifying but fascinating. I hope to explore them more in the future.

Translations:
Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy Vol. #3: Paradise. Translated by Anthony M. Esolen, Modern Library, 2004.
Alighieri, Dante. Inferno. Translated by Anthony M. Esolen, Modern Library, 2005.

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