Observations placeholder
Dante - Purgatorio - Canto 17
Identifier
014654
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Resentment and jealousy
The Oxford English dictionary defines resentment as ‘bitterness; indignation’ but it does not say at what. Resentment is directed and it is directed at others. We resent others their success, or their life style or their possessions. Which is why it is similar and has much the same effect as jealousy. Jealousy is defined in the dictionary as being ‘ envious of someone else’s achievements or advantages’ or ‘resentful of someone regarded as a sexual rival’ .
In general the only person this activity hurts is you/us, the person who is jealous. Jealousy can nag and needle away at a person until they make themselves ill. But it can also harm others if that jealousy starts to cause the person to act against those he is jealous of.
Dante added it into the stage he called purgatory.
A description of the experience
Dante – The Divine Comedy – Purgatorio XVII
Here is the man who, through the suppression of his neighbour,
Hopes to excel, and for that reason only
Desires to see him cast down from his greatness