Belacqua

Belacqua is a minor character in

Belacqua's introduction eases the friction between Virgil and Dante, the former of whom just before firmly dismisses Dante's desire for rest.[2] The encounter with Belacqua also slows down the action in the canto, as Dante pauses his ascent to move horizontally towards his friend.^[2]

In life, Belacqua suffered from the vice of sloth, yet Dante shows notable compassion for him in this poem of morality.^[3] Furthermore, Belacqua's late "sighs of penance" demonstrate his sloth even in his path towards salvation.^[3] However, it is argued that Belacqua surrenders to God's will in his refusal to ascend the mountain since he will not be accepted until he completes his time in Ante-Purgatory. In this respect, he does not indulge in sloth but undergoes a contrapasso for his inattention to God for the majority of his life.^[2] Virgil, however, seems unamused by Belacqua and urges Dante to move on, perhaps implying his disapproval of Belacqua's salvation, particularly since Virgil himself is damned.^[3]

The interpretation of Belacqua's representation in the Divine Comedy has evolved over the years, as earlier commentators interpreted his salvation as a sign of God's generosity, while modern readers more often appreciate his wit and the irony of his presence.^[3]  

The name "Belacqua" was identified by early commentators as the nickname of Duccio di Bonavia, a Florentine musician, a maker of musical instruments, and a friend of Dante who had a reputation for extreme laziness. Records state that he was alive in 1299 and dead in 1302. Since Dante's visit to Purgatory is set in 1300, it is assumed that Duccio must have died by that date.

Beckett's Belacqua

Samuel Beckett, whose favorite reading was Dante, closely identified with Belacqua and his indolence.

Beckett introduced ‘Belacqua Shuah’ as the main character in his first novel Dream of Fair to Middling Women. Unpublishable at the time, Beckett tried again with More Pricks Than Kicks, a collection of ten interrelated short stories on the life and death of Belacqua, and this was published, although a very poor seller. Beckett makes the Dante connection explicit in the first story, ‘Dante and the Lobster’: Belacqua is studying Dante. An eleventh story, ‘Echo's Bones’ was unpublishable at the time. It tells of the indolent afterlife of Belacqua, trying to sit in a fetal position as much as possible and being interrupted by visitors.

In later fiction, Beckett would sometimes refer to Dante's Belacqua. The title character of

• George D. Economon (2011). "Belacqua". In Richard Lansing (ed.). The Dante Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 96.
  ISBN 9781136849725
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• Ralph Hayward Keniston (1912). "The Dante Tradition in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries". Annual Reports of the Dante Society (31): 45.
  JSTOR 40178473
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• Fernando Salsano (1970). "Belacqua". In Bosco, Umberto; Petrocchi, Giorgio (eds.). Enciclopedia Dantesca (in Italian). Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. Retrieved 2014-09-16.
• Charles S. Singleton (1973). The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri. Vol. II part 2. Princeton University Press. pp. 88–91.
  ISBN 9780691019109
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• Paget Toynbee (1898). "Belacqua". A Dictionary of Proper Names and Notable Matters in the Works of Dante. Oxford at the Clarendon Press. p. 74.

Beckett related

• Julie Campbell (2001). ""Echo's Bones" and Beckett's Disembodied Voices". Samuel Beckett Today/Aujourd'hui. 11: 454–60.
  JSTOR 25781397
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• Daniela Caselli (2000). ""The Florentia Edition in the Ignoble Salani Collection": A Textual Comparison". Journal of Beckett Studies. New Series. 9 (2): 1–20.
  doi:10.3366/jobs.2000.9.2.2
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• Daniela Caselli (2006). Beckett's Dantes: Intertextuality in the fiction and criticism. Manchester University Press.
• Daniela Caselli (2013). "Italian Literature". In Anthony Uhlmann (ed.). Samuel Beckett in Context. Cambridge University Press. pp. 241–252.
  ISBN 9781107017030
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• Caroline Mannweiler (2010). "Becketts Belacqua: Lob und Tadel einer Anti-Haltung". In Klaus Ley (ed.). Dante Alighieri und sein Werk in Literatur, Musik und Kunst bis zur Postmoderne. Tübingen: Francke. pp. 151–68.
• Walter A. Strauss (Summer 1959). "Dante's Belacqua and Beckett's Tramps". Comparative Literature. 11 (3): 250–261.
  JSTOR 1768359
  .