ipl-logo

Allegory In Dante's Inferno Essay

762 Words4 Pages

In Medieval, Italy in the year of 1265, a soon to be accomplished author and poet was born. This author, was Dante. Like many other authors who came before him, Dante used his personal life to spark a poem or story. From his first encounter with Beatrice at the tender age of nine, to his “mid-life crisis” after his exile, numerous parts of his life led to his creation of the Divine Comedy. With more than one mission in mind, Dante decided to use both epic and allegorical elements in his Divine Comedy as the best means of revealing his message and wisdom to his readers. Authors commonly use allegories to express two different meanings within one work. Dante, for instance, used his allegories to diversify the thought process of his readers. Within the first stanza of the Inferno, Dante uses the portrait of a dark and arduous wood to symbolize the darkness that clouds his own life. Dante brings this woody scene to life for his readers by claiming “I [Dante] went astray from the straight road and woke to find myself alone in a dark wood.” (Canto I lines 1-3) From that ominous wood, Dante is escorted through the steep and winding levels of hell. In the Inferno, “hell” represents Dante’s own hell in his life, his home city of Florence, Italy. The steep and …show more content…

Each of these animals has a different allegorical meaning. A leopard in this case symbolizes a woman that entices Dante to be unholy. Dante draws forth an image of the spotted leopard by expressing that “I [Dante] faced a spotted leopard, all tremor and flow and gaudy pelt.” (Canto I line 33) The lion, on the other hand, is symbolic of Dante’s anger and wrath towards those who exiled him. Finally, the allegorical meaning behind the She-Wolf is Dante’s desire for power and money. Dante portrays the She-Wolf as “a rack for avarice, gaunt, and craving.” (Canto I line

Show More
Related
977 Words | 4 Pages

In the mosaic, the three fairs are represented by a rampant bear, a lion and a she-wolf, while in the Comedy, they are represented by a lynx, a lion and a she-wolf. The lynx is agile, wriggling, with skin mottled of various colors; the bear is still, fierce, relentless, and menacing. Both of the creatures are frightening, scary, terrifying, for which humanity several times has been tempted to go back. Soon after that, a lion, head-on and with a rabid hunger, presents in front of Dante. The Dantescan lion seems alive, real, as if you could see it.

Read More
1247 Words | 5 Pages

Dante’s Inferno is an epic poem by Durante “Dante” degli Alighieri, written in the 1300s. He wrote a trilogy, known as the Divine Comedy, consisting of Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise. Dante was inspired by many events and issues happening at that time, such as the war between Guelphs and Ghibellines, the Battle of Montaperti, and Christian religious beliefs. In this paper, I will explore the first book, Inferno, on the topic of Hell and how the sinners had a significant impact on Dante’s journey through Hell. In Circle 5: Styx, Canto VIII, Filippo Argenti, a sinner of Wrathful, helped Dante to symbolize to readers his anger towards Black Guelphs, political enemies of the White Guelphs.

Read More
751 Words | 4 Pages

Dante Hero Essay Pieces of writing are often viewed as a product of their origin time period, even in the modern day it is not uncommon to view our time plane as independent to what preceded as if we were somehow separate from every moment that came before. Instead every aspect of a story is ingrained with the message of millenniums before it, so much so the effect that the present has pales in comparison. This is present throughout Dante’s inferno written by Dante Alighieri as it is not merely a representation of the time period it originated from, rather the present represents the top of an iceberg whose very existence and stature are fully dependent on the times that preceded. This phenomenon of the past is fully present in Dante’s epic hero cycle. Dante’s resurrection reveals to be heavily influenced by the history of humankind.

Read More
618 Words | 3 Pages

In Dante’s Inferno, Dante Alighieri's depiction of Satan at the bottom of hell reveals the theme that in Hell the punishment is always befitting of the due to the fact that the lower you go, the farther that person is from god. The picture of Satan satisfies the reader because he shows that he is the opposite of god and that he is full of evil. Lucifer is the demon in the circles of hell which he has three faces, and bat like wings in which he creates the cold wind where the sinners suffer. “The face in the middle was red, the color of anger. The face on the right was white blended with yellow, the color of impotence.

Read More
989 Words | 4 Pages

In The Inferno, Dante is the hero of the story. Dante is the man exiled from his home as a result of his political struggles and beliefs with the choice between evil and good. Dante’s heroism is in the form of humanity as he faces the challenge which all human beings struggle with. Dante’s courage is tested as he journeys through the rings of hell. According to Dante, “therefore look carefully; you’ll see such things/as would deprive my speech of all belief” (Alighieri, Dante. 1854).

Read More
1345 Words | 6 Pages

Fueled by the anger surrounding his banishment from Florence in 1302, Dante Alighieri spitefully wrote the epic poem, the Divine Comedy. The Inferno, the first part of the trilogy of the Divine Comedy, tells the story of Dante the pilgrim and Dante the poet. The two personas deliver Dante’s journey through hell, the Inferno, with added depth. Dante is also guided by Virgil, an ancient Roman poet from 50 B.C. The three personas share different perspectives on the grueling detail of their findings in hell.

Read More
1040 Words | 5 Pages

The idea of Hell itself in most Judeo-Christian denominations begins with the simple premise of being a place for those who have either sinned or turned his or her back on God, damning them to an eternity of punishment and suffering. A major idea presented in Inferno is the idea of the contrapasso. Justin Steinburg in his essay “Dante’s Justice? A Reapprasial of the Contrapasso” summarizes the idea by explaining it as a balance of crime and punishment in Hell. In canto 28 in the Inferno, the Dante first poses the idea in text when Bertran de Born must carry his own head in his arms after separating father from son.

Read More
1633 Words | 7 Pages

“Durante Degli Aligheries Inferno {Part of the Divine comedy} is widely regarded as the greatest poem in modern european language, its allegorical comparisons, metaphors and satirical critisism of italy in the 15th century all contribute to its level of prestige. However, what influenced Dante Aligherie to create such a masterpiece? By looking at Dante Aligheries participation in Florentine Politics and comparing it to the extensive amount of political references used in Dantes Inferno it is clear that Politics played a vital role in creating Dantes depiction of Hell. Furthermore, by examining the importance of religion in medieval Italy and Dantes connection to the church, one can easily see that Dante heavily uses religious references to the pope of the church. Finally, this essay will investigate how Dantes connection to Florentine art influenced the poems content.

Read More
1874 Words | 8 Pages

But, as the poem continues to progress, it becomes quite clear the there is a perfect balance within God’s justice as the degree of each sinner’s punishment perfectly reflects upon the gravity of the sin. Furthermore, the inscription on the gates of Hell explicitly states that Hell exists as a result of divine justice; “ll. “ Justice moved my great maker; God eternal / Wrought me: the power and the unsearchably / High wisdom, and the primal love supernal (III.4-6).” Prior to delving into the structure of Hell and how it displays God’s divine justice, one must first familiarize themselves with both the historical context of Dante’s life, along with the beliefs of the medieval church.

Read More
1087 Words | 5 Pages

In the Inferno, Dante describes the different levels of hell and the punishment which corresponds to the sin. Dante categorize hell into three major sins consisting of incontinence, violence, and fraudulent. Fraudulent is portrayed as the worse sin in the Inferno while incontinence is seen as a less serious sin. Each category has sinners which have all been punished for their wrong doings in life. The three major sins consist of circles where Dante separates the different sinners.

Read More
667 Words | 3 Pages

Dante’s portrayal of Satan shows him to be monstrous and empty as he does not fulfill any satisfaction that is felt if something is missing in one’s life. The thing that is missing in the readers’ lives is God as only God can satisfy our desire. This paradox of Satan by Dante speaks truth as to the fact he is both monstrous and empty. This is an astounding idea to think but it makes sense as he is seen with three heads gnawing on the sinners in the final realm of Hell, Judecca, but is also empty as he is the epitome of sin and, as said earlier, sin is empty and never truly

Read More
371 Words | 2 Pages

One way that the allegory relates to us today is that we always fear things that we do not fully understand. We are hesitant to journey into the dark unknown for the fear that their may be “monsters” hidden in there that we cannot see. We stay in our own little bubble because it tends to be safer to us. We only venture out if we have someone who has done it before to guide us. We see that as a safe way to explore the unknown.

Read More
1207 Words | 5 Pages

"The Inferno" is the first book in the epic poem called the “Divine Comedy” by the Italian politician Dante Alighieri and it is followed by "Purgatorio" and "Paradiso”. The book "Inferno", which is the Italian translation for Hell, tells the journey of its author through what he believes is Hell, which consists of nine circles of pain and suffering. In his journey, he is guided through the nine circles by the Roman poet Virgil. Each circle in the book represents a different type of sin with a different type of punishment, varying according to the degree of the offense they committed in their life. By the end of his journey through all of the circles, Dante realizes and emphasizes the perfection of God's Justice and the significance of each offense towards God’s unconditional love.

Read More
1361 Words | 6 Pages

An allegory is a technique of story layering in which the author projects an idea within a written narrative meant to stand for another. It is fundamentally symbolism, but more metaphoric in nature, and, in this case, less tangible. But in order to fully understand the content, one must go beyond what lies on the surface and delve into the deeper meaning. This is precisely what Gabriel Marcía Márquez does with Chronicle of a Death Foretold, using various literary techniques to refer to religious content within the text and demonstrate how they altogether create what is essentially a modern retelling of the Bible.

Read More
741 Words | 3 Pages

Dante’s Inferno represents a microcosm of society; meaning, laymen, church, politicians, and scholars are all compiled into one place and punished for their sins. Hell, despite being depicted as brutal, ugly, and chaotic, is made realistic because the inhabitants come from every country and every walk of life. While Dante Alighieri did not invent the idea of Hell itself, he did create an important and in depth concept that still receives attention in biblical, classical, and medieval works. The Divine Comedy itself was written sometime between the years 1308 and 1321 and scholars still consider it the “supreme work of Italian literature.” The work itself is an epic poem divided into three separate sections: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso; respectively Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven.

Read More

More about Allegory In Dante's Inferno Essay

Related Topics

Open Document