Over the Garden Wall was a Cartoon Network original miniseries that contained ten episodes that aired in November of 2014. The story follows two brothers, Wirt and Greg, as they travel through The Unknown in order to find a way back home. The Divine Comedy was a poem written by Dante Alighieri from 1308 to 1320 that follows a personification of Dante travelling through Purgatory, Hell and Paradise, or Heaven. Although the two seem unrelated at face value, the miniseries and poem share many similar themes, arcs and characters.
The Pilgrim and His Guide
Wirt and Dante immediately share similarities in their personalities. Wirt, like Dante, considers himself to be a poet, regularly reciting prose in order to express his emotions. Wirt is also …show more content…
After rescuing her, she decides to aid them in their quest to return home, saying that the only way to get there is by speaking to a witch named Adelaide. In The Divine Comedy, a woman named Beatrice attempts to physically guide Dante towards salvation. However, Beatrice from Over the Garden Wall is sort of an inverted version of Beatrice from The Divine Comedy. While Dante’s Beatrice genuinely tried to guide him towards the ‘right path,’ Wirt and Greg’s Beatrice was guiding them towards their demise under the guise of generosity. It is revealed in Chapter Five: Mad Love that Beatrice used to be human and herself and her entire family were cursed by a bluebird after she had thrown a rock at it. She made a deal with Adelaide that she would find two wanderers in exchange for a pair of golden stork-shaped scissors that allegedly would lift the …show more content…
After encountering Adelaide and discovering Beatrice’s initial intentions, Wirt takes Greg and decides to abandon Beatrice. Travelling further through The Unknown, a blizzard occurs, leaving the boys to sleep in the cold. Wirt tries to rest and scolds Greg whenever he spoke to him, tree branches slowly covering him. Greg in his sleep comes up into Cloud City and is greeted by angels. He was granted one wish by The Queen of The Clouds. He wished to go back home, but he could not go home with Wirt, because ‘The Beast has already claimed him.’ Greg then asks to replace Wirt and instead be claimed by The Beast. This parallels when Dante travels through Hell and finds those who have attempted or committed suicide have turned into thorn-like trees. When he accidentally breaks off one of their branches, the trees would cry and ‘run dark with blood.’ Wirt gives up going home at all and had increasingly considered staying in The Unknown throughout the series, essentially giving up his will to live, which is why branches started to engulf him. Cloud City is also similar to the perception of Heaven, as Greg stayed on the ‘good path’ by never succumbing to sorrow or
The Pilgrim and His Guide
Wirt and Dante immediately share similarities in their personalities. Wirt, like Dante, considers himself to be a poet, regularly reciting prose in order to express his emotions. Wirt is also …show more content…
After rescuing her, she decides to aid them in their quest to return home, saying that the only way to get there is by speaking to a witch named Adelaide. In The Divine Comedy, a woman named Beatrice attempts to physically guide Dante towards salvation. However, Beatrice from Over the Garden Wall is sort of an inverted version of Beatrice from The Divine Comedy. While Dante’s Beatrice genuinely tried to guide him towards the ‘right path,’ Wirt and Greg’s Beatrice was guiding them towards their demise under the guise of generosity. It is revealed in Chapter Five: Mad Love that Beatrice used to be human and herself and her entire family were cursed by a bluebird after she had thrown a rock at it. She made a deal with Adelaide that she would find two wanderers in exchange for a pair of golden stork-shaped scissors that allegedly would lift the …show more content…
After encountering Adelaide and discovering Beatrice’s initial intentions, Wirt takes Greg and decides to abandon Beatrice. Travelling further through The Unknown, a blizzard occurs, leaving the boys to sleep in the cold. Wirt tries to rest and scolds Greg whenever he spoke to him, tree branches slowly covering him. Greg in his sleep comes up into Cloud City and is greeted by angels. He was granted one wish by The Queen of The Clouds. He wished to go back home, but he could not go home with Wirt, because ‘The Beast has already claimed him.’ Greg then asks to replace Wirt and instead be claimed by The Beast. This parallels when Dante travels through Hell and finds those who have attempted or committed suicide have turned into thorn-like trees. When he accidentally breaks off one of their branches, the trees would cry and ‘run dark with blood.’ Wirt gives up going home at all and had increasingly considered staying in The Unknown throughout the series, essentially giving up his will to live, which is why branches started to engulf him. Cloud City is also similar to the perception of Heaven, as Greg stayed on the ‘good path’ by never succumbing to sorrow or