The author draws his conclusions from a comparison and compilation of Dante's Divina Commedia and Vita Nuova. He finds that the Oedipus conflict is the basis of Dante's Divina Commedia. After experiencing the tortures of the 'Inferno' and 'Purgatorio' through identification with the condemned and suffering souls—an experience which has for Dante the significance of castration—he attains the heavenly Paradise where his mother symbol, Beatrice, resides. Virgil, who accompanies Dante through the horrible experiences, is recognizable