Dante
Dante is both the protagonist and author of the Commedia. Importantly, many commentators distinguish between his position as an author (often called Dante the poet) and his position as protagonist (often called Dante the pilgrim). While Dante the poet writes from a point of view after his transformation, the Commedia sees Dante as he goes on a spiritual (and literal) journey. The Purgatorio, in particular, follows Dante as he leaves Hell, ascends the mountain of Purgatory, and finally is able to reunite with Beatrice, but not before he visits each terrace on which penitents are punished, and absolves himself of sin.
Virgil
Virgil is a Latin poet most renowned for the Aeneid, which tells the story of the Trojan Aeneas as he becomes the mythical founder of Rome. Dante’s Commedia brings him to life (or to the afterlife) in a vivid fictional portrayal, where he serves as Dante’s guide through the Inferno and the Purgatorio. In the Purgatorio, he continues to offer Dante moral, philosophical, and poetic advice while also literally guiding him through the unfamiliar terrain of the afterlife. Importantly, Virgil himself was not a Christian and is relegated to Limbo in the underworld; his disappointment with being in Hell, and perhaps even his frustration at other pagans who were saved, appears in Dante’s subtle and careful portrait. At the end of the Purgatorio, he appears to return to Limbo, having completed the work of guiding Dante to Beatrice.
Cato
Cato of Utica is a figure of classical antiquity who lived from 95-46 BCE. Known as a strict moralist, he appears in the Purgatorio as the one who oversees ante-Purgatory, at the base of the mountain and before the entrance. He seems to direct newly arrived spirits, and his encounters with Dante and Virgil show his moral and seemingly proto-Christian disposition, perhaps revealing why he, as a pagan, was saved.
Casella
Casella is a friend of Dante’s who appears in the second canto. He arrives with newly deceased souls and recognizes Dante; when Dante recognizes him, he asks Casella to sing, revealing his beautiful voice. The nearby souls are spellbound, but Cato chastises them and Casella for their idleness.
Belacqua
Belacqua is a lazy friend of Dante’s whom Dante meets in ante-Purgatory. The two casually jab at one another, and Belacqua’s laziness seems a subtle criticism of Dante’s own occasional sluggishness. Indeed, Belacqua’s laziness and his fetal posture have become someone iconic, especially due to the work of 20th-century writer Samuel Beckett, in which Belacqua is frequently referenced.
Beatrice
Beatrice is Dante’s beloved and a central figure of the Commedia. Although she will guide Dante in the Paradiso, she only appears in the final cantos of the Purgatorio. Although she is not present in body, her presence is almost never forgotten; Dante and Virgil frequently refer to her, and Virgil consistently uses her memory to strengthen Dante’s will. When Dante does meet her in the Garden of Eden, she is overwhelmingly beautiful, even more so than she was on Earth. She eviscerates Dante for his sinful behavior and forces him to confess. Rather than be a silent object of desire, she displays a verbal alacrity and moral purpose that literally puts Dante to shame.
Mary
Although Mary does appear as a speaking character in the Purgatorio, she is a constant presence in the poem. On each terrace, she appears as the first example of the virtue opposite to the sin being punished. She comes to stand as a figure of extreme virtue, returning again and again to demonstrate Christian moral behavior.
Casella
In the terrace of the wrathful, Marco serves as a mouthpiece for Dante's ideas regarding the relationship between Celestial influences and human responsibility, the balance between Church and State.
Statius
Statius converted to Christianity because of Virgil's Aeneid, which shows how God can speak to anyone through any mouthpiece, even overtly pagan ones. Due to the political climate, he kept his fate secret for the duration of his life, causing him to spent 500 years in the terrace of Sloth. He accompanies Virgil and Dante to the Garden of Eden but then returns to his own pilgrimage.
Matelda
Matelda is a mysterious woman who appears in the final cantos of the Purgatorio. Commentators have had trouble discovering if she is indeed based on a real person; regardless, she seems to represent a sort of second Eve, a perfectly virtuous woman in the Garden of Eden. First seen singing a sweet song in the Garden, she guides Dante around the river Lethe to Beatrice and even drags him climatically through the Lethe as he is symbolically cleansed of his sins.
