Dante’s Paradise splits heaven into nine rings before entering the Empyrean, or the highest ring where God dwells. In canto three, Dante introduces the first ring, the moon, which houses the souls of those who have neglected their vows while on earth, and few of the souls mention that they were taken and married against their wills. However, they did not attempt to stop their situation; they willingly went along with the marriages. As a contrast, in canto five, Agamemnon and Jephthah are mentioned as having great faith because they kept their vows and sacrificed their daughters. In placing the neglectful souls in the furthest ring from the Empyrean, Dante illustrates the value of maintaining a consistent faith because breaking a vow to God shows a lack of trust that He will bring one out of frightful situations.
When Dante first enters the moon, Dante listens to the stories of nuns, Picarda in specific, who was taken against her will and married; she says,”Then men more given to evil than to good / from the sweet cloistered garden ravished me / God knows what, after that, my life became” (31. 106-108). Even though she was taken against her will, she still made a holy vow to God to remain chaste and faithful for the duration of her life, and she broke that sacred vow. Upon hearing her story, Dante puzzles over why Picarda has been placed in the lowest of the heavenly levels, and Beatrice says,”For when the will’s unwilling, it’s not spent, / but acts as nature in a leaping flame” (39.76-77); if Picarada’s heart had truly wanted to maintain her monastic vow, she would have found a way to escape even though her husband would most likely have followed her. In this case, taking her own life would have been an acceptable act because still she would have kept her vow, but instead, she did not attempt to flee or end her current situation.
The will and intention of each person involved is the main focus; if one truly does not want to give up their vow and have no intention of giving it up, a way will be found to avoid it. Picarda says, “Because we were neglectful in our vows / and left them empty then in some respect, / this place which seems so low is given us” (27.55-57). She knows what they have done is wrong, and they should have fled from the evil of marriage when they had the chance. Dante asks Beatrice ‘“If my good intent endures, / how can another’s violence diminish / the measure of my merited reward?’” (35.19-21). Even though what the men did was wrong, and the nuns kept their vows in their hearts, their inaction says it all. They did not make an active attempt to flee the wicked husband and return to the monastic life. The keeping of a vow must not only be inward, but outward as well because the inability to display the love and devotion one has given to Christ does not fulfill the momentous and important promise made to God.
In canto five, Dante mentions Jephthah and Agamemnon , two men who sacrificed their daughters because of their vows to God and the goddess Artemis. Dante says, “Be faithful, and not addled in the eye, / as Jephthah was in offering his first sight” (49.64-65) and “the same’s the case / with the Greek chief and his stupidity, / whence Iphigenia wept for her fair face” (49.68-70). Even though the act of murdering a child is not an acceptable one, the two kings made a vow to the one they believed in, and they kept their vows even though it caused them pain. Unlike the nuns who neglected their vows because it would have been too hard to escape; they were not ready or willing to give in to something uncomfortable for the sake of God. Their vow was not as important as their own comfort. If a pagan, though fictitious, can sacrifice his beloved daughter because the goddess tells him to, then the nuns should have been able to keep their monastic view even if it caused deep discomfort.
The inaction of the nuns does not demonstrate great faith, or faith at all. Dante says,”If violence means that he who suffers lends / no contribution to the violent, / then these souls can lay claim to no excuse” (39. 73-75). Because the nuns did not try to run away, they were, either indirectly or directly, contributing to the violence, they cannot give the excuse of being forced from the nunnery. In the same way, Jephthah and Agamemnon did not make excuses as to why they could not take the lives of their daughters; they accepted the fact because of their unwavering vow. Instead of focusing on the act itself, Dante focuses on the greatness of faith both men exuded. Even though they would have been better off neglecting their vows in favor of saving their children, they kept their vows because of their faith while the nuns valued their own well-being over spiritual promises.
Dante places the neglectful nuns in the lowest heavenly level because of their failure to willfully keep and maintain their monastic vows, while Jephthah has been placed in the level above because of his great faith even though he valued honor too much. Through Dante’s placements, one can understand the importance of true faith and keeping one’s vows. Even though the consequences of keeping the vow may be uncomfortable, violent, and unpleasant, the eternal reward is much greater than the temporary, earthly one. In putting one’s faith in an incorporeal God instead of corporeal beings, like evil men, the overall outcome will be richer than the greatest reward earth can buy because earthly things will fade while spiritual things, like vows, are forever. One cannot simply neglect and let go of something as sacred and important as a vow without repercussions. Even though the nuns are still in Paradise, they are in the lowest level, and perhaps, if they stayed faithful and true to God, they would have been placed in a level closer to the Empyrean.
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