Beatrice was the fiancee of Dante Alighieri. Although described by all as a "pure" soul worthy of Heaven, after losing a bargain with Lucifer, she was forced to accompany him to Hell to become his bride. Her capture was the catalyst for Dante's journey through the Inferno and the redemption of his soul.
Appearance[]
In life, Beatrice appeared as a beautiful, fair woman, with golden blond hair and dark eyes. In Dante's memories, she was seen wearing a scarlet dress, though later in Florence she is seen wearing a simple, golden-yellow dress. Upon death, Beatrice's soul matched her body's appearance, although she was depicted nude with her lower extremities obscured into mist.
Once in Hell, Beatrice's spirit took on several changes. On the church altar in Florence and in a flashback when she was asking Virgil to guide Dante, though still nude her skin appeared to be more radiant and translucent. She shone with a slight bluish glow, with venous lines all over her body that generated from the center of her chest. Her hair had a subtle light to it, and her eyes had a widened appearance.
In the second Circle of Hell, when Beatrice is encountered again, her appearance was heavily altered. Although she no longer possessed a ghostly visage and looked more like her living self, Beatrice wore a monstrous, form-fitting gown that was made of what appeared to be demonic flesh, with spikes protruding around the open front and a high jagged collar. The dress was open to just beneath her navel, exposing her cleavage, flaring out into a mermaid skirt. The mutton sleeves were capped with paw-like shoulder pauldrons. Beatrice's hair was twisted up to resemble ornate, hornlike structures and was adorned with a single diamond-shaped gem. A matching gem of a different color was at her throat.
After deliberately consuming the pomegranate seeds that are offered to her by Lucifer, Beatrice was transformed fully into a demonic consort for the Devil. Her hair became an array of true, twisted black horns wreathed with flames. Her forehead was adorned with a chain of pearl-like gems, forming a diadem above her glowing red eyes. In the instances where the gleam of her eyes are dimmed, they appeared to be filmed over with a reddish-pink sclera. Her skin became extremely pale, with a few burned areas, while spikes protruded from her shoulders above the darkened armbands. Her lower arms and hands became blackened, fiery, cracked and claw-like. Her gown also underwent changes: the high collar came to resemble a large and burned neck ruff that extended down in ruffles between her breasts to the hips, where it spread out in an inflamed peplum decorated with sharp spikes and a demonic skull ornament. The nipples of her exposed bust were concealed by proportional flames, which extended into a flaming, corset-like structure. Her tapered skirt was made up of a writhing storm of damned souls. Finally, as Queen of Hell, Beatrice was far larger in height than Dante, towering several feet over him when the bottom of her skirt was at floor level.
Upon her absolution after seeing Dante's determination to save her soul, Beatrice reverted back to her radiant, ethereal state. Near the end of the game, she was seen once more in her human form from the beginning, nude once again with mist obscuring her lower half.
History[]
The Third Crusade[]
Beatrice was introduced in the game as Dante's betrothed, who was waiting for him to return home from his services during the Crusades. Before Dante was summoned to join the Third Crusade, the two made love for the first time. Beatrice believed completely in Dante's faithfulness to their love, in spite of not being married yet. As a token of this devotion, Beatrice gave him her cross to take with him on the Crusades. Dante swore on it to forsake "all of the pleasures of the flesh" until he returned to Beatrice. She also asked him to protect her brother, Francesco, who joined Dante during the Crusades.
At an unspecified time, while Dante was away at Acre, Beatrice made a bargain with Lucifer. According to the deal, if Dante kept his promise to remain true to her during the Crusades, Lucifer would ensure that he would return home safely. However, if Dante broke his vow and slept with another woman, Beatrice would have to give her soul to Lucifer and become the Devil's bride.
Unfortunately for Beatrice, while assigned to guard the prisoners at Acre, Dante slept with a Slave Girl, who offered him "comfort" in exchange for her and her "brother's" freedom, though Dante expressed some remorse for betraying Beatrice. Nevertheless, this infidelity caused her to lose her bet with Lucifer. After committing several unspeakable acts, in the misguided belief that the Crusaders are automatically absolved of all of their sins, Dante was killed at Acre by the Slave Girl's "brother," who was in truth her husband. This man, the Avenger, headed to Dante's home in Florence to take his wrath out on Dante's family. Unaware about his own death or the Avenger's intention, Dante's soul also began journeying to Florence to be reunited with his beloved, having no memory of his horrific crimes or his betrayal of Beatrice.
Death[]
Meanwhile, Dante's father, Alighiero, whom Beatrice was staying with while Dante was away, came upon her crying over the fact that she had not heard from Dante in three years. Alighiero tried to persuade Beatrice into giving up hope of Dante returning alive, in an attempt to seduce her. Realizing his intent, Beatrice recoiled from him, but at that moment, the Avenger broke into the villa. Dante's father and the man engaged in a sword fight, but Alighiero was overpowered by the Avenger and killed when his cross was stabbed through his eye socket. Beatrice tried to escape, but she was killed when the Avenger threw Alighiero's sword at her, impaling her through the chest. Following her outside, he withdrew the sword and delivered the killing blow, stabbing Beatrice in the abdomen.
Dante's Inferno[]
Abduction[]
Beatrice died only minutes before Dante arrived home; he was devastated to see her lifeless body. Upon touching her, Beatrice's soul emerged from her corpse, smiling at Dante and insisting that she knew that he would come for her. However, within seconds, Lucifer arrived as a being of darkness, and Beatrice was forced to go away with him in accordance with her bargain. Beatrice was taken to a church located on a hill overlooking Dante's villa. Outside was a statue of her, allowing Dante to save his progress. Entering the church, Dante found her soul writhing naked on the altar. She asked Dante why he broke his promise, much to his confusion, as he did not remember what he did. She disappeared again, leaving a crucifix-shaped patch of holy energy for Dante's Cross to absorb. This cross allowed him to battle the creatures that are found in Hell, as well as to absolve the damned souls. The church crumbled, revealing a gateway to Hell beneath it, which Dante descended into after Beatrice.
The Nine Circles of Hell[]
When Beatrice arrived in Hell, she asked the soul of the virtuous Roman poet Virgil to help Dante save her. In return for his service, Beatrice offered to praise Virgil before God once she was free from Hell. At the Gates of Hell, Virgil related this information to Dante in explanation for why the poet would be his guide in the Woeful Realm. More Beatrice Statues like the one outside the church are found around Hell, as well as Beatrice Stones which empower Dante's Cross and allow him to automatically absolve souls.
Dante entered the Gates of Hell, coming to the Shores of Acheron to begin the journey to find his fiancee. When confronted by Dante, the ferryman Charon mentioned that Beatrice "made a very foolish wager". In response, Dante offered his life and soul to reach her, though the ferryman mocked him for this declaration, aware that Dante did not realize the irony of his words.
Within the second circle, Lust, when Dante entered the second floor of the Carnal Tower, Beatrice is seen perched silently on a bed in the center of the chamber. She is then lifted up to the top of the Tower by means of its wind-powered elevator, before Dante could reach her. While battling against the Queen of Lust, Cleopatra, Dante found Beatrice once again, in the company of Lucifer. The fallen angel told Beatrice that Dante was unfaithful to her during the Crusades. Shocked by Lucifer's words, Beatrice turned to Dante and commanded him to look into her eyes, through which she saw the memory of Dante's affair with the Slave Girl. Upset by this revelation, she was pulled down onto the bed by Lucifer and disappeared with him.
In the Hall of the Gluttons, Lucifer came to taunt Dante about his failure to stay true to Beatrice. Dante tried to defend his actions by saying that his fiancee had no idea of what he was going through. Lucifer countered this argument by telling Dante that he actually showed Beatrice all of what Dante experienced during his time away. He proceeded to show the former Crusader the murders of Alighiero and Beatrice through the mirrors of the Hall, and the identity of their killer. In horror, Dante realized that he was responsible for Beatrice's death and subsequent damnation. As Dante attempts to navigate the confusing corridors of the icy hall, Beatrice's sorrowful face is seen in the smoky surfaces of some of the portals that he used to escape into the next circle.
She is seen again in the Circle of Anger with Lucifer during Dante's battle with Phlegyas. Levitating above the swamps, Beatrice tearfully asked herself why Dante broke his promise, as Lucifer began caressing her breasts. Having given up all faith in her lover, when Dante finally reaches her, Beatrice furiously exclaimed that when he had his "way with that girl, [Dante] gave [Beatrice] to Lucifer!" Lucifer thanked Dante for doing so, and as Dante watched, the Devil gave Beatrice a pomegranate, which turned into three seeds. Though Dante begged her not to eat them, Beatrice turned her back on him, swallowing the seeds in one gulp. She immediately doubled over in pain as her body caught fire, Lucifer gloating over her final renunciation of Dante. Beatrice was transformed completely into a fiery and demonic entity: Lucifer's new consort and the Queen of Hell. Lucifer and Beatrice proceeded to kiss passionately as Lucifer looked pointedly at Dante. The pair left the warrior behind to continue his struggle.
As Dante entered the eighth circle, the malevolent Beatrice reappears alone, sitting on a litter of bones carried by four demons. She expressed more of her rage toward Dante by calling him a fraud, saying that he should be in the eighth circle, too. Beatrice summoned the demon Malacoda to kill him, refusing to listen to Dante's pleas. Upon the defeat of her underling, Beatrice forced Dante to traverse the ten ditches of Fraud. As the minions of Hell are unleashed all at once upon Dante, she watched his progress with contempt, describing the sinners of each bolgia and remarking how Dante belonged with some of them. Despite the odds, Dante successfully made it through the Malebolge and exited the circle.
Salvation[]
At the entrance to the Ninth Circle, Beatrice again appeared before Dante, berating him for what he did to her and Francesco, calling him the biggest fraud of all. Feeling defeated and understanding that he was to blame for what Beatrice became, Dante agreed with her, telling her that he belonged in Hell and he would no longer attempt to redeem her. He laid Beatrice's Cross down in resignation. Despite her corruption, she recognized the cross that she gave him. Lucifer's hold on her was weakened enough for the power of the cross to fully absolve Beatrice, to Dante's surprise. Purified, her soul returned to its humane, radiant form as she collapsed. At that moment, a blinding light pierced Hell, and the archangel Gabriel descended. He took Beatrice's unconscious form up, confirming that her soul was saved by Dante's act. Gabriel promised Dante that he would see her again soon, though he must complete his journey, which was far more important than the warrior knew.
Dante moved on to Cocytus to battle Lucifer, who stated directly that Beatrice was never his intended target. He made the bargain with her merely to use her as "bait" to lure Dante into Hell. Having tried and failed in the past to use other warriors to break the Chains of Judecca, Lucifer saw the potential in Dante and felt that he would be the perfect pawn to aid in his escape. His theory was proven correct, as Dante succeeded in freeing Lucifer from bondage in Hell, breaking each chain in his journey to reach Beatrice and redeem himself.
Beatrice was last seen at the end of Inferno in a vision, no longer under Lucifer's control. Immediately after Dante resealed Lucifer back into his icy prison, Dante and Beatrice appeared in a smoky, barren region. Smiling at one another, they grasped hands and a bright light flashed around them. Beatrice vanished, while Dante was left to begin his next journey up Mount Purgatory.
Trivia[]
- The actual Beatrice Portinari met Dante Alighieri in 1274 at the age of nine. The young Dante was immediately smitten with her, and remained so even after she married in 1287 and eventually died in 1290 at the age of 25. Believing her to be the incarnation of Beatific Love, Dante wrote many poems about her, including La Vita Nuova. Even after he was married, Dante continued to be inspired by Beatrice, eventually casting her as his guide in the final third of The Divine Comedy, "Paradiso," written over 10 years after her death. Though Dante never gave a clear reason why he was so in love with her, considering their minimal contact throughout her life, the evidence within his writings showed that he believed her to be the perfect example of purity and virtue, and he often referred to her as his "salvation."
- It is unknown who approached who, in regards to Beatrice's deal with Lucifer. It was possible that, as Lucifer needed someone to free him and saw the potential in Dante, he may have initiated the transaction, especially since he informed Dante that Beatrice's intended role was a ruse to bring Dante to Hell.
- Beatrice's consumption of the pomegranate seeds was a reference to the Greek myth of Persephone. Persephone was the daughter of Demeter, the goddess of agriculture. Although she was hidden away by her mother to prevent her from being married off or raped while she was still young, Persephone's uncle Hades, the god of the Underworld, fell in love with her. With her father Zeus's permission, Hades ambushed Persephone and dragged her off to his kingdom to marry him. Nine days of searching led Demeter to the titan Helios, who finally told her what happened to her daughter. In retaliation against Zeus and Hades, Demeter cursed the Earth with famine, demanding Persephone back in order to lift the famine. Zeus relented and commanded Hades to return the girl to the surface. Unfortunately, when she was about to leave, Hades either forced, tricked or convinced Persephone to eat pomegranate seeds (usually three to six seeds). Eating the food of the dead bound Persephone to the underworld permanently. She became Hades's wife and queen, forced to spend a month of the year there for every seed she ate. However, Persephone is still allowed to return to her mother on Earth for the rest of the year.
- The pomegranate that Lucifer gave to Beatrice could possibly be the "Fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil," from the Biblical story of Adam and Eve. Some scholars believed that the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden was a pomegranate, and not an apple as was commonly assumed/believed, as apples are not native to that part of the world. Therefore, Beatrice and Lucifer would have been reenacting the Fall of Man when she accepted the seeds to eat.
- After eating the pomegrante that was given to Beatrice, Lucifer quote's during her transformation as a demon. The following quote is said "The faithful has lost her faith, the incorruptible has become corrupted, the true innocent has given way to the sins of man... like all the rest before her! Who now can deny me my rights?"
- Under Church law of the time, by sleeping with Beatrice in addition to being engaged to her, Dante would have legally been considered her husband (Church law considered even a simple promise to marry as a "precontract." Normally, if this engagement was only a verbal promise to marry, there could be grounds to formally break it, but if the two people involved had slept together consensually, this made the agreement more binding, and potentially negated the legality of any future marriages).
- There are multiple differences in Beatrice between the film and the game:
- In the game, Beatrice was already dead by the time Dante arrives back from the Crusades, but in the film, she was at her dying moments, barely alive, before taking her last breath in Dante's arms.
- In the film, Beatrice was pregnant with Dante's child while he was fighting in the Crusades, but the child was stillborn. This child became one of the Unbaptized Babies. It was never seen in the game.
- Unlike the game, she does not easily succumb to Lucifer's corruption and even tries to fight back, albeit in vain.
- In the game, she begins to be corrupted in Lust until her final conversion in Anger, but in the film, she is fully corrupted by the time Dante reaches them in Fraud.
- Beatrice only sends minions in Fraud to attack Dante in the game, but in the film, she directly attacks him with her demonic powers.
- Both in the game and film, Beatrice recognizes her cross, but the results differ. After recognizing her cross in the game, she is freed from Lucifer's influence and falls unconscious before Gabriel takes her. However, in the film, she does not collapse but instead heals Dante and forgives him. She is only afterwards taken by Gabriel to heaven.
- At the end of the game, she is seen carrying Dante to Purgatory, but in the film, she is seen awaiting his arrival at the summit of Mount Purgatory.
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