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Welcome back to The Invisible College, my series of literature courses for paid subscribers. The introduction to and schedule for the 2026 season is here. The 2024 and 2025 archives are here. This episode, of which the first 15 minutes are free, is about Dante’s Paradiso. We consider the arrangement of Dante’s heaven, his political views, and his treatment of theological controversies over damnation and salvation. We further explore the poet’s conception of the poem as an epic quest and its bearing on issues of gender and spirituality. Finally, we consider major modern critics on Dante: T. S. Eliot, Erich Auerbach, Jorge Luis Borges, and Harold Bloom. Please also like, share, comment, and subscribe! The slideshow corresponding to the episode can be downloaded behind the paywall: