Courtney Langdon

In Relation to Boyd

• Emphasis on twisted nature of all the branches and twigs
• Poison-thorns appear to exist in place of fruit
• Reference to “wild beasts, that hate the tilled estates that lie between the Cécina and Conrneto” —specification of beasts in comparison to animals
• “Harpies” instead of “Furies”
• It is posed that the voices coming from the trees may be hiding from Dante and Virgil; Virgil’s suggestion for Dante to break a branch is to prove these thoughts false
• Virgil referred to as “The Teacher”
• The soul inside the tree cries out before beginning to bleed
• Soul proclaims that “thy hand ought surely to have had more pity, even if the souls of serpents we had been”
• Virgil explicitly expresses regret for leading Dante to pluck a branch
• Emphasis on the lack of designated placement for souls who have committed suicide
• Specified two souls running to the left of Dante and Virgil
• Running souls appear to be the ones breaking the branches, there is less passivity or action on the trees’ behalf
• “The wood behind these two was full of swarthy bitches, ravenous and fleet as greyhounds are, when from their chains unleashed”

In Relation to Wilstach

• “Each on the thorn-tree of its hostile shade” —Slight implication that the body resents the soul for its decision to depart

In Relation to Arndt

• “I lost bot sleep and strength” —The word strength is used as a substitute for life