# Dante Alighieri — Essays character guide

> Dante Alighieri in Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

**Role:** minor

**First appearance:** 0001-self-reliance

## Who they are

Italian poet, author of 'The Divine Comedy'.

## In the story

### [Compensation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/emerson_essays_se/chapters/compensation)

Mentioned as one of the great individuals (like Phidias and Shakespeare) whose 'interfering volitions' are the organs through which man works, momentarily complicating but not negating historical tendencies.

### [The Poet](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/emerson_essays_se/chapters/the-poet)

Listed with Plato and Swedenborg as an explorer of the multiple meanings within reality.

### [Character](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/emerson_essays_se/chapters/character)

Mentioned alongside other literary giants as a book to which individuals of character feel a devoted, personal connection.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters/dante
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/emerson_essays_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/emerson_essays_se/characters