Diana.—In Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well, daughter of the widow of Florence with whom Helena lodged on her way to the shrine of St. Jacques le Grand. Count Bertram wantonly loved Diana, but she brought about a reconciliation between Bertram and his wife Helena.
Diggon (dig´on), Davie.—A shepherd in the Shepherd’s Calendar, by Spenser. He drove his sheep into foreign lands, hoping to find better pasture; but was amazed at the luxury and profligacy of the shepherds whom he saw there.
Diggory (dig´ō-ri).—In Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer, a barn laborer, employed on state occasions for butler and footman by Mr. and Mrs. Hardcastle. He is both awkward and familiar, laughs at his master’s jokes and talks to his master’s guests while serving.
Dimmesdale (dimz´dāl), Arthur.—In Hawthorne’s romance, The Scarlet Letter, a Puritan minister of great eloquence, whose conscience compels him to make a public confession of sin.
Dinah.—(1) St. Ronan’s Well, Scott, Daughter of Sandie Lawson, landlord of the Spa hotel. (2) A character in Mrs. Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Dinah, Aunt.—In Sterne’s Tristram Shandy. She leaves Mr. Walter Shandy one thousand pounds, which he fancies will enable him to carry out all the schemes that enter into his head.
Dinah Friendly.—The Bashful Man, Moncrieff. Daughter of Sir Thomas Friendly.
Dingley Hall.—Pickwick Papers, Dickens. The home of Mr. Wardle and his family.
Divina Commedia (dē-vē´nä kom-mā´dē-ä), (or, Divine Comedy).—The first poem of note ever written in the Italian language. It is an epic by Danté Alighieri, and is divided into three parts: Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. Danté called it a comedy, because the ending is happy; and his countrymen added the word divine from admiration of the poem. The poet depicts a vision, in which he is conducted, first by Vergil (human reason) through hell and purgatory; and then by Beatrice (revelation), and finally by St. Bernard through the several heavens, where he beholds the Triune God.
“Hell” is represented as a funnel-shaped hollow, formed of gradually contracting circles, the lowest and smallest of which is the earth’s center. “Purgatory” is a mountain rising solitary from the ocean on that side of the earth which is opposite to us. It is divided into terraces, and its top is the terrestrial paradise. From this “top” the poet ascends through the seven planetary heavens, the fixed stars, and the “primum mobile.”