This book is a psychological reading, emphasizing Dante’s universality.  The Jungian concept of the “night journey,” the descent into the darkest areas of the self and of human nature, which is the precondition for spiritual growth, informs Dante’s journey through the three realms of the afterlife.  Personal testimony about despair and recovery stands side by side with detailed close readings of much-discussed passages.

This book is a psychological reading, emphasizing Dante’s universality.  The Jungian concept of the “night journey,” the descent into the darkest areas of the self and of human nature, which is the precondition for spiritual growth, informs Dante’s journey through the three realms of the afterlife.  Personal testimony about despair and recovery stands side by side with detailed close readings of much-discussed passages.