Effective Affection
Dante Looks Longingly at Beatrice (in center) Along the Arno River
(The scene opens on the banks of the Arno River in Florence. The late afternoon sun casts a golden glow upon the waters of the Ponte Vecchio. SOPHIA stands beside a young DANTE, whose entire being is focused on a young woman, BEATRICE, walking with her companions on the opposite side of the street. A man with kind, observant eyes, PAULO, stands nearby, watching the scene unfold.)
Sophia: Tell me, poet, what do you see? Your gaze is so fixed, I fear you might turn to stone, like a figure from the old myths.
Dante: (Without breaking his stare, his voice a low, reverent whisper) I see salvation. I see the harmony that stills the chaos of the world. Every virtue, every grace, walks with her. My very soul has left my body to reside in her shadow.
Sophia: So your soul is with her? It has crossed the street, and indeed, crossed a chasm you feel you can never traverse yourself. Does this bring you pain?
Dante: An exquisite pain. A torment that gives my life its only meaning. To feel so completely that everything I am, everything I value, is located entirely in another is a curse and a blessing. I am impoverished without her, yet richer than a king for having seen her.
(Paulo steps closer, his gaze gentle, first on Dante, then on Sophia.)
Paulo: Forgive me for intruding. I have traveled far, and I see a story in this young man's eyes that is as old as the human heart itself. He speaks of his soul residing elsewhere. I have learned that this is not a curse, but a map.
Dante: (Finally turning his head slightly) A map? It feels like a cage. My heart is there, with her. What good is a map if I cannot reach the destination?
Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.
— Paulo Coelho (Brazilian Lyricist)
Paulo: Ah, but you mistake the nature of the quest. The world tells you the prize is the thing you desire—the gold, the mountain top, the woman. But the true prize is unearthed by the journey you undertake simply because your soul has already committed to that destination. The richness you seek is not in possessing her, but in what you will become by following the pull she exerts on you.
(At that moment, as if feeling the weight of their words, Beatrice pauses. She turns her head, not looking directly at Dante, but glancing at the reflection of the setting sun on the flowing water of the Arno. A faint, serene smile touches her lips.)
Beatrice: (To her companion, but loud enough to drift across the space) How lovely. One cannot hold the light on the water. You can only admire where it leads your eyes. It points to the sun.
(She turns and continues on her way, disappearing around a corner. Dante watches her go, a look of profound loss on his face.)
Dante: She is gone. And my soul with her. I am empty.
Sophia: (Placing a gentle hand on his shoulder) No, Dante. You are not empty. You are finally full of purpose. Do you not feel it? Your heart is now a fixed point, a star by which you must navigate. Because it resides with her, with the divine ideal you see in her, you will not be content with this world. You will be compelled to build another. You will journey through Hell and Purgatory just to glimpse the Heaven where you believe she resides.
Paulo: The young lady spoke the truth. Her beauty is not the end; it is the signpost. It points you toward the sun.
Sophia: The great work of your life, Dante, the comedy that will become divine, the verses that will echo for centuries—that is the hoard you will discover. Not by winning her hand, but by dedicating your entire life's pilgrimage to the spot where your heart already lives. Follow it. That is where your truest, most magnificent fortune lies.
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