Pride and Humility in Dante's Purgatorio: A Close Reading

Introduction: Pride as the Gravest Sin

For Dante, pride is simply not acceptable. It is considered the worst of all sins, and the theme of humility is therefore present throughout the text. Since pride is given such a prominent place in the Divine Comedy, it is also important to note how Dante believed it could be removed. He refers to pride in Purgatorio to illustrate that purging oneself of pride is necessary to gain salvation. Dante himself wants to undergo this process of purging, since he was not the most modest person — he considered himself far above many poets and artists of his time — and therefore sought cleansing.

The Cornice of the Proud and the Nature of Pride

As Dante enters the cornice of the proud, he can hear those who had been too proud in life wishing for humility. Here one learns that pride is very closely related to the belief that a person does not need help and can accomplish everything on his own. It is one thing to be strong and to believe in oneself, but it is another to forgo even a higher power in one's excessive reliance on human strength alone. We must understand that asking for help is a sign of humility — it is a way of admitting one's inability to do everything independently. One line from the prayer Dante hears goes: "so teach all men to offer up their own" (XI.12), which is itself a confession of humanity's limited powers.

The Prayer of the Prideful: Humility, Childhood, and Human Limits

The prayer heard in the land of the prideful is significant because it presents several important themes. First, the prayer contains the word reed, which is used as a symbol throughout this section: "Our strength is as a reed bent to the ground" (XI.19). This is Dante's way of saying that humanity must be humble enough to recognize the severe limits of its strength, and that the proud neck must bow before the higher power just as a reed bows close to the ground.

Second, the prayer used in this part of the Purgatorio is one of the more well-known prayers used in the church — one simple enough for even children to recite — and this connects a person's inner self to that of a child. In other words, Dante establishes a link between humility and childhood. He suggests that most people have grown proud because they have lost their connection to the time in their lives when they were most powerless. A child knows his limits and looks for help when he cannot do something on his own. An adult, however, may no longer feel that same instinctive need for help, because he has come to associate asking for help with weakness and powerlessness. This is a trait common to the proud, and one they must shed in order to gain salvation.