What is the role of love in the Commedia?
Love is a strong word and sometimes love must be sought out through the stages of hell which is exactly what Dante went through, literally. Dante was in search of his lover, Beatrice and in hopes of finding her, he had to go through each stage of hell in which he believed she would be in. Being that he had gone through each stage of hell, one worse than the last, he did not give up and kept striving and going. Along with that, Beatrice remained loving Dante praying for his well-being and hoping for him to get to her in one piece. Love clearly plays an important factor being that it shows the true strength of love that kept Dante motivated as he went through each stage of hell literally to find who he believes to be his one true love.
Nice observation! I think you can definitely see through Beatrice’s role in the Divine Comedy how strongly Dante felt for her. Even when you consider him only meeting her twice. I definitely agree, Dante portrays love very powerfully in the Divine Comedy.