pt. 1. The making of a poet. Encounters on the road to Montaperti : Florentine history to 1260
Heraldry, prophecy, and the individual self
Dante's family and the history of Florence in the later thirteenth century
The meeting with Beatrice
The faithful followers of love
The genealogy of Beatrice
Convergent worlds : the scientific and symbolic modes of thought available to Dante and his contemporaries
La Vita Nuova and the poetry of praise
pt. 2. Power, exile, and the works of Dante's middle years. The taste of power and the salt of exile
The poet of righteousness : later lyrics and De vulgari eloquentia
Invitation to the banquet of knowledge : Il Convivio
The descent of Henry of Luxemburg and the writing of De monarchia
The last years : Lucca, Verona, and Ravenna
pt. 3. The making of the Commedia. The journey
Weight, number, and measure in the Commedia
The six guides and the four levels of meaning
Change and being : the images of the Commedia
The transformation of man
