Commentary Purg XVIII 70-75

Virgil's lengthy discourse concludes with his final insistence on the pivotal role of free will in individual moral responsibility and looks forward (as Benvenuto was perhaps the first to realize (DDP Benvenuto.Purg.XVIII.67-75) to Beatrice's remarks on the subject in [Par V 19-24], asseverating that the freedom of the will is the greatest of God's gifts to humankind.  Many of the early commentators find this a convenient place for them to reassert the 'allegorical' valence of Beatrice, here interpreted as 'Theology.'  In the past 150 years most commentators are content to leave the allegorical equation in abeyance, merely referring to Beatrice as herself.