Dante Club,TheBy: Matthew Pearl
Category: HISTORICAL FICTION
Guide Created By: Joan Pearson
Discussion Leader(s): Jo Scully, Joan Pearson
Click here to visit the discussion
Guide DescriptionFast-paced historical fiction set in Post Civil War Boston. Well known poets attempt to solve murders which seem to be based on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's first American translation of Dante's Inferno
Plot Synopsis
In 1865, a group of poets, calling themselves "The Dante Club", Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes and James Russell Lowell are finishing up the first translation of The Divine Comedy in America, when a series of murders break out in Boston and Cambridge. The poets recognize the killings as based on the description of Hell's punishments from Dante's Inferno and resolve to solve the case themselves. Right on their heels is the outcast mulatto, Nicholas Rey, the first black member of the Boston PD. Solving this case is important to him, too. (This is 1865, remember!)
While you can fully enjoy The Dante Club without any knowledge of Dante, you may find yourself drawn to reading the Inferno before you are finished. You are certain to enjoy this novel as a mystery, as well as a lively piece of historical fiction.
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Collateral Materials Interview/ comments of the author to SN Books
Matthew Pearl Discusses The Dante Club
Other Background Information Character biographies/information
LOWELL - by horselover
BURNDY & CAMP - by Jo
LONGFELLOW & HOLMES - by Marvelle
MANNING - by Jo
TEAL/GALVIN - by JoanP
Questions
For Your Consideration
Chapters I, II
1. Did you find yourself drawn right into the murder scene, into post-Civil War Boston, without being aware of the amount of detail that brought you so quickly to this place? Will you share some of the details that caught your attention and helped set the scene for you? How difficult must it be to write historical fiction, compared to writing poetry, as Lowell described it?
2. Which details of Judge Healey's death might be important in solving the mystery? Shall we start a list? How does his death connect with C. Lewis Watkins' preface?
3. How does the Harvard Corporation in the person of its treasurer, Augustus Manning
threaten the publication of the Inferno? How does its publisher, J. T. Fields react to Manning's
threat? Isn't he afraid of the consequences to the publishing house?
4. Why does Manning believe Holmes will be an ally in undermining the publication of the Inferno translation? Why is Holmes really less than enthusiatic about publishing the translation? Why is he involved with this project at all?
5. What do you think of the poets as 'personalities'? Did Lowell's description of the 'proof of poetry' suggest a possible explanation for their popularity at the time? Can you think of any poets today who enjoy such celebrity status?
6. How did the Harvard Corporation view Dante's work? How could it possibly affect the school?
Is his concept of crime and its punishment relevant today? Is the Dante contrapasso concept that you are going to receive a punishment appropriate for the offense and the punishment will arise from the crime itself, not from the amount of damage it has caused to someone else, contrary to our legal system?
7. Does Ednah Healey suspect that her husband's death was a form of punishment for mistakes that he made as a judge? Do you know what those mistakes were? Why does Nicholas Rey's personal story of Judge Healey's actions on his behalf offer some solace to her?
8. Do the Boston Brahmins consider themselves to be superior, above the law? How has the influx of freed slaves, Jews and immigrants affected them? Do you detect racial bias and stereotyping? How are women viewed?
9. Longfellow is "inwardly bleeding to death." How does his suffering compare to Judge Healey's? Have you ever turned to literature, when life's problems seem overwhelming? What does Longfellow find in Dante that consumes his interest?
10. Would it be helpful to look at some of Longfellow's poems to understand him better? Will you share some favorite lines? He never did write such poetry again after his wife died.
For Your Consideration
Chapters III, IV, V, VI
1. What details of the scene in Longfellow's library create the Dante Club atmosphere? Do you sense similarities between our Book Club Online and the Dante Club's interactions?
2. Though low-keyed and frequently nodding off, do you see George Washington Greene playing a role of any signicance? Can you cite any stiking observations he has contributed?
3. How do Holmes and Lowell differ concerning the judicial career of Judge Healey? (Judge Healey's perceived "sin" and punishment are graphically described in the ante-hell description in Canto III of the Infereno.)
4. How does Lowell show his commitment to the project? Does Lowell, the teacher help us to better understand Dante's theme in the Inferno?
5. How does Holmes introduce the idea of slowing the publication? Does Fields agree with him? What "lie of omission" does he use when debating their differing attitudes towards the publication?
6. How would you describe the relationshp between Lowell and Holmes' young son? Between Holmes and Wendy? Do you think the tension created between the two might have any effect on the outcome of the story?
7. What does Holmes hope to achieve in his meeting with the retired William Tichnor? Do the professor's observations add to your understanding of the attitudes of this time and place? Do any of his remarks spark echoes in your own life observations?
8. How does Holmes react to Reverend Talbot's murder and autopsy? What do we learn of the reverend's public debate against the Catholic Church? Where have we heard these suspicions before?
9. Do you see parallels in the experiences of Longfellow and Dante? What are they each searching for in the poem? Does the presence of the Dante Club members provide meaningful assistance to Longfellow's personal search or in his understanding of Dante's? How does Longfellow view the role of translator?
10. Matthew Pearl makes frequent use of simile as does Dante and Virgil. Are you noticing them and how they relate to the poem?
For Your Consideration
Chapters VII, VIII, IX
1. Do all of the poets agree that someone has used Dante to murder two of their "own set"? What words of Tennyson inspire the poets to stop the murderer themselves? What finally convinced them not to call the police? Did they do the right thing? What effect do the murders have on the Dante Club's committment to complete the translation?
2. "Who in America today knows the words of Dante enought to turn the details of Dante's punishments in the Inferno into models of murder", asks Longfellow. Are you asking yourself this same question?
3. Is the killer trying to make it look like one of the poets is the murderer? Have you ruled out the poets on your short list? Isn't it easier to rule out suspects than to name them?
4. Were Europeans more familiar with Dante at this time? Where could the leaper have learned the Italian words from over the gates of Hell? Were you taken aback at Holmes' translation of the Italian from Rey's note paper?
5. What was your reaction to the image of Holmes, upside down, kicking his feet in the air in the hole where the Rev. Talbot was found? (rotted meat and fried onions?) How does Longfellow know there is loot buried in the hole?
6. What of the bit of paper with the letters "a" and "h" which are ground underfoot into the dirt in the underground vault? Is this clue lost forever? Does it bring to mind some lines from the Inferno?
7. What does Peaslee mean when he says "the war has lined the whole place with money"? How would he know that Rey was present at both murder scenes? Do the poets know that yet?
8. Will you describe your reaction to the scene where Holmes guides Longfellow into the "soul-confusing Babylon of Boston's streets?" What effect did this have on Longfellow?
9. Have you underlined any similes, metaphors, and other examples of Matthew P's expressive writing style? Do you notice how they relate to the Inferno?
For Your Consideration
Chapters X, XI, XII
1. Is Rey's concept of the murders as punishment, influencing Chief
Kurtz? The chief asks Rey a good question - to whom is the murderer trying to communicate? What do you think?
2. How does Rey persuade Chief Kurtz to go with him to the scene of Talbot's
murder? What do they discover? Do you foresee a problem on the horizon for Longfellow with his decision?
3. What is the merchant prince, Phineas Jennison trying to tell Lowell? "Do not trust what they tell you." What does he know? (Does this sound like Minos warning Dante about not trusting the denizens of Hell?)
4. How does Lowell reassure his student, Sheldon, about the temporarty suspension of the Dante seminar? Do we have reason to include Sheldon on the list of suspects? Who else?
5. Why is Professor Agassiz's explanation of the cochliomylia hominivorax
important to Holmes and Lowell? Why does Holmes suspect that his conclusion that these insects have died out might be wrong? Why
are they ready to rule out Bachi as the murderer? Have you?
6. "Sons beat out fathers." Do you think there's a reason why the anecdote about Dante's son, Pietro's feelings about his father has been included here? How many father/son relationships have been introduced? Do you suspect any of these sons?
7. How does Lowell react when Bachi compares Lonza to Longfellow?
At this point in the story, does the theme of exile seem to unite
disparate characters?
8. What do you know of Ralph Waldo Emerson?
What does he think of Dante? Does he sound like his old teacher, Professor Ticknor on this subject? Is his sphinx-like response to Holmes' question on the translation project, complimentary to Longfellow?
9. Do you understand Nicholas Rey's intentions in discussing the activities
of the poets with President Hill and Augustus Manning? What was his motive when he came in? What caused him to change his mind and ask a 'literary' question instead?
10. In what ways are the changes in Boston's social climate between 1843 and
1865 important to the story? Do you think these changes have any
relationship to the crimes?
For Your Consideration
Chapters XIII, XIV
1. Is Holmes' reaction to the third murder justified? Do you sympathize with his viewpoint and his determination to let the police take over? What effect does his denunciation of their efforts have on the Dante Club?
2. What details of this murder correspond to the details of Canto 28? Why would Jennison be chosen for this contrapasso? Which Schism in actually in progress now?
3. What does Longfellow suddenly realize when he hears the details of Jennison's murder that makes him hurry to Riverside Press with
Lowell and Fields? What does his new insight add to our understanding of
the murderer?
4. What do we learn of Dante's Lucifer in these chapters? Were you surprised at this? How does Milton's "wild hell" differ from Dante's? Have you ever read Paradise Lost?
5. How does Voltaire's description of Dante, "a madman, avenging his life as an exile...by making himself into God," fit in here? Do you think the theme of exile will eventually lead us to the killer?
6.
Why is Mabel Lowell going to so much trouble to inform Rey of her father'
s work? What is she afraid of? What does she resent in his reaction?
7.What is striking about Ticknor's reaction to Longfellow's revelation about
the murderer's source of information? Does he want to help their
investigation? What does he understand about this murderer? What does he
believe about Dante's future reputation in America? Has his attitude
changed since Holmes visited him?
8. Did the author's imagery strike you during Lowell's "ghost" episode or
during his confrontation with Manning? What do you make of Manning's
bringing his fingers together to form a steeple, a gesture repeated several times in the story.
9. Do Lowell's words to Manning increase you appreciation or understanding
of Dante? How does this episode seem to clear Lowell's mind and focus his
energies? Is Manning Lucifer?
10. Do you believe what Manning says about Houghton? What do you think of
his decision to hire Simon Camp?
11. How does Holmes' Calvinistic upbringing conflict with his present views on Hell and the sinner?
To what do you attribute his' return to the group? Lowell's visit? Dante's words?
12. What are the two times Lowell says each man enters the dark wood? In which group will we find the killer?
Who is on your short list of suspects now? (No fair answering this one if you have read ahead!)
For Your Consideration
Chapters XV - XX
~ What is the deeper reason for Teal running away from a punishment he'd carefully devised; running to meet his own end through Manning?
~ Did Burndy actually die for the murders, with the poets and Rey remaining silent about Teal?
~ What happens to Burndy? To Camp? Did Camp want to pin the crimes on the Dante group, to somehow discredit their work as Manning would have wished before they pulled him out of the ice and before he shot Teal?
~When the poets go to Teal/Galvin's home and Holmes removes the saber from the wall, first one tiny gnat and then a multitude swarm around the sword, alerting them all to the "deep-set blood on the blade." Are they the the maggots, kept alive as Holmes thought they would be, and metamorphozed into flies, or are they just garden-variety gnats, drawn to the blood and acting as minidetectives?
~ Anyone want to compare Teal and books to Rey's post-War lack of literary interest because books were 'ideas.' Are the reactions of Teal and Rey to literature the same or very different?
~ How often were we on the right track with all of our our sleuthing? How many times did we connect the war with the crimes? War with Hell?
~ What are the two times Lowell says each man enters the "dark wood"? In which group had you thought we would find the killer? Were you right?
~ Do you think there was a message in the letters found by Talbot's body? Why was Dan Teal chewing on those letters? At what point did you understand that Dan Teal was going to be implicated?
~ Does Dan Teal have a Beatrice?
~ Did you have a favorite culprit who turned out to be a red herring at the end?
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Interesting Information
The Dante Club's Official Web Site
SN Interview with Matthew Pearl on Historical Fiction
Longfellow's Poems
Fugitive Slave Act
Longfellow's Study in Craigie House
Atlantic Monthly ~ 1865, 1866, 1867, 1868
Dante & the Death Penalty - Matthew Pearl
Electronic text - Longfellow's translation
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