Foscolo's "Parallel between Dante and Petrarch": A Perfect Harmony of Contrasts

As Foscolo had stated in his Orazione inaugurale (1809), literature does represent the highest cultural manifestation of human ethical values; in the Middle Ages, Petrarch was the pioneer of a different kind of moral and poetical sensibility: with his three Essays on Petrarch (1823), Foscolo gave a detailed explanation of the Tuscan poet’s attitudes and feelings, which proved that he was far ahead of his time. In the following Parallel between Dante and Petrarch, instead, as it has been said, the poet of Laura seems to be somewhat diminished in his cultural and moral stature. In our opinion, Foscolo did not want to create hierarchical levels of importance. Therefore, through an accurate reading of the Parallel and an examination of its intertextual relations, our aim here is to demonstrate Foscolo’s original way of articulating his comparative discourse. Actually, he wanted to brightly enlighten the most relevant aspects of the two strong personalities and their profound impact on their epoch.