The Divine Comedy - Interactive Data Visualization

Disclaimer: This project is a work in progress and is not yet complete. For contributions, please see the CONTRIBUTING.md file.

An interactive data visualization of Dante's Divine Comedy (Longfellow translation) that reveals hidden patterns, themes, and structures in the text through multiple visual lenses.

Features

• Spiral Journey - A spiral visualization mapping all 100 cantos with color-coded realms, sized by word count, with sentiment glow effects

• 3D World - Immersive Three.js 3D scene with orbit controls, bloom post-processing, realm backdrops (inverted cone, mountain, celestial spheres), particle atmospheres, and raycasted hover/click interactions

• Emotional Arc - Sentiment analysis chart showing the emotional progression from the darkness of Inferno through the light of Paradiso

• Character Network - Force-directed graph of character co-occurrences and relationships across all three realms

• Thematic Radial Chart - Radial visualization showing the distribution of 16 key themes, filterable by realm

• Canto Explorer - Detailed explorer with search, per-canto statistics, sentiment breakdowns, character lists, word frequencies, and notable passages

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8+ (for text extraction and analysis)
• Node.js 16+ (for the visualization app)

Setup

1. Python Environment (Data Extraction)

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv venv

# Activate (Windows)
venv\Scripts\activate

# Activate (macOS/Linux)
source venv/bin/activate

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

2. Run Text Extraction & Analysis

python extract_and_analyze.py

This processes the PDF and generates four JSON datasets in src/data/:

• divine-comedy-data.json - Main structured dataset (cantos, characters, themes, sentiment)
• network-data.json - Character co-occurrence network
• journey-data.json - Spatial journey coordinates for spiral visualization
• symbols-data.json - Rivers, creatures, celestial bodies, references

3. Visualization App

# Install Node.js dependencies
npm install

# Start development server
npm run dev

# Build for production
npm run build

The app will be available at http://localhost:5173.

Project Structure

divine-comedy-viz/
  extract_and_analyze.py     # Python: PDF extraction + NLP analysis
  divine-comedy.pdf          # Source text (Longfellow translation)
  analysis-report.md         # Summary of analysis findings
  requirements.txt           # Python dependencies
  package.json               # Node.js dependencies
  index.html                 # Entry point
  vite.config.js             # Vite configuration
  src/
    App.svelte               # Main application layout
    app.css                  # Global styles
    main.js                  # Svelte mount point
    components/
      SpiralJourney.svelte   # Spiral descent/ascent visualization
      Journey3D.svelte       # Three.js 3D immersive journey
      SentimentFlow.svelte   # Emotional arc line/area chart
      NetworkGraph.svelte    # Force-directed character network
      ThemeRadial.svelte     # Radial theme distribution chart
      CantoExplorer.svelte   # Detailed canto browser
    data/
      divine-comedy-data.json
      network-data.json
      journey-data.json
      symbols-data.json
    utils/
      dataProcessing.js      # Data loading and color utilities
      d3Helpers.js            # D3.js helper functions
      threeHelpers.js         # Three.js scene building utilities

Data Pipeline

1. PDF Extraction (pdfplumber): Parses the decorative-header PDF format, splitting text into 100 cantos across 3 realms
2. Text Cleaning: Removes page headers, page numbers, and formatting artifacts
3. Sentiment Analysis (NLTK VADER): Computes compound, positive, negative, and neutral scores per canto
4. Frequency Analysis: Word frequencies, character mentions, theme keyword counting
5. Network Building: Character co-occurrence matrix from shared canto appearances
6. Spatial Mapping: Journey coordinates for spiral visualization

Design

• Color Palette: Inferno (deep reds), Purgatorio (earth tones), Paradiso (blues, golds)
• Typography: EB Garamond and Crimson Text (elegant serif fonts)
• Dark Theme: Deep dark background reflecting the cosmic journey
• Responsive: Works on desktop and mobile

Credits

• Text: The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• PDF Source: Penn State Electronic Classics Series
• Built with: Svelte 5, D3.js v7, Three.js r182, NLTK, pdfplumber

Contributing

Please read our CONTRIBUTING.md for details on how to contribute to this project. Thank you in advance!