Infanzia e adolescenza nell’opera di Dante

Abstract

The essay considers the representation of childhood and adolescence in the work of Dante. While in Convivio the poet discusses the ages of human life but does not address infanzia or puerizia, in his poem the representations of this earlier phase of life are many and varied, presented above all through similes. These representations illustrate the particular attention Dante paid to the mother/child relationship, which allows the reader to form hypotheses about his family environment and relationship with the woman with whom he shared his life in Florence: not Beatrice, but Gemma Donati.