HELL - Canto V - Paolo and Francesca - The rethinking of courtly love - The Divine Comedy

In the circle of the lustful Dante meets Paolo and Francesca.
Their story becomes a negative exemplum because all human beings can let themselves be overwhelmed by love. Through Francesca's words, the poet thinks back to his own youthful life and his adherence to courtly love, to fin'amor, and realizes that he no longer shares those ideals.
Dante goes beyond courtly love: in the personal "iter ad Deum" he understands that the only salvation comes from God, the Summum Bonum, and that his youthful love for him was only the phase of a broader and deeper journey.