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Allegory And Symbolism In Dante's Inferno

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Our choices are the building blocks of our existence, shaping who we are and what we become. But when the consequences of our decisions come crashing down upon us, we are forced to confront the reality of our choices and the paths we have chosen. In the allegory Dante’s Inferno, the author Virgil uses vivid imagery and a sequence of real life actions in our lives to point us down the inevitable dark road that inevitably will end in hell. In Dante’s Inferno, Virgil uses Dante as a symbol of the human soul, highlighting that if humans were to see what Dante saw in hell, we would think about our actions more and consider the consequences that they may have in our own lives. In the bible, Judas betrays Jesus by kissing him on the cheek and directly …show more content…

This is symbolic in the way that Dante felt pity on the people in hell who committed the same sins as him, because as humans we don't always see the direct consequences for our actions. As Virgil guides Dante through hell, they arrive at the ninth circle of hell, which houses the betrayers. When they arrived Dante was so scared that he hid behind Virgil. While they were in the worst level of hell they saw Dis who is the devil who also has three faces ”How great a marvel it was for me to see three faces on his head in front there was a red one; joined to this, each over the midpoint of a shoulder, he had two others- all three joining at the crown”(Virgil 34:40-45). It is worth noting this quote since it tells us about how evil and scary looking the devil is ,while giving us a taste of how Dante would have felt being there. While they were in the circle of the betrayers, Dante saw Judas, the man that betrayed God’s only son.
At the time they saw Judas there, they saw him getting his back ripped off the same way Jesus got his back whipped which was caused by Judas. Judas’s punishment for betraying Jesus is fitting because just as he stabbed Jesus in the back, he also has to suffer his back being destroyed “That soul,"

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(84) Dante’s statements clarify that he has mixed feelings based on punishments in Inferno, and grows throughout the book. Dante, forgiving to a point and yet unsympathetic at times, would be in the middle of deciding if the punishment is

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Dante is introducing the concepts that the graver the sin, the more we are separated from God and the harsher our suffering is after our death. Dante also uses contrapasso to show that sin itself is its own punishment. The sinners in Hell are not just eternally suffering from the horrible physical pains inflicted on them but also feel the guilt and weight of their sins. An

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Dante the Pilgrim and Virgil are in the Ninth Pouch of the Eighth Circle, where the sinners in life promoted scandals and schism. Their punishment is a perpetual cycle of being sliced in half, then healing, then immediately sliced again by a demon with a sword. Dante the Pilgrim is distraught by the sight of such gore, and says, “No barrel, even though it’s lost a hoop/or end-piece, ever gapes as one whom I/ saw ripped right from his chin to where we fart:/ his bowels hung between his legs, one saw/ his vitals and the miserable sack” (Alighieri XXVIII.22-26). Alighieri uses visual imagery to illustrate how demons feel no remorse for sinners.

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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.

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Now on Earth, Satan prowls around on his prey, attempting to lead anyone to fall into their temptations. Satan wanted to have control and say over God before he fell down, but now as a punishment in Hell, he will be silenced in a frozen lake where his wings keep the water that surrounds him frozen. Dante’s use of adding Satan shows the ultimate punishment found in Hell. When the day of judgment comes, Satan will have to confront his sins and recognize that he will never overcome God’s kingdom. Although he tries to use evil for his benefit, a day will come when he has to bow down to God’s dominion.

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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.

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Unfortunately, Dante’s journey transitions from the wood into the depths of Hell where he and readers discover the Christian view of sin, repentance, and the need for a savior. The author introduces his readers to Jesus Christ during Virgil and Dante’s conversation about the lost souls in Limbo. In the First Circle of Hell, known as Limbo, the lost souls that did not have an opportunity to meet Jesus Christ dwell in this place. Although they did not sin, they did not have a proper relationship with God through Jesus Christ. However, Virgil testifies about Jesus’ decision into Hell when he says, “ I saw a mighty lord descend to us…

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Dante and Virgil enters the Hell where they are confronted with cries and torments from everywhere. These cries are from souls who did not commit to either good or evil but lived their lives without making any conscious moral choices. Throughout the passage Dante shows how deeply the souls are affected in the Hell. These souls are taunted here as Dante opens the passage saying how they are unfortunate because they never did anything good or bad but they are still part of the Hell.

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Divine Retribution In the beginning of Dante’s Inferno, Dante is met by the spirit Virgil, who proposes to guide him through the nine circles of hell. The theme of divine retribution is seen all throughout The Inferno. Dante describes divine retribution as “the punishment fitting the crime.” Each circle of hell represents a different kind of sin.

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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.

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Dante’s portrayal of Satan is paradoxically empty and monstrous; it captures Satan in his true form and speaks of who he truly is. One of Dante’s portrayals of Satan is his monstrousness throughout the Inferno with him blowing over the cocytus. Dante’ first impression of Satan is “I saw his head towering above me! for it had three faces” (266). The image of the three heads is a symbolic mocking of the most holy Trinity.

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In his travels, Dante is lead by the symbol of human reason, Virgil, who takes Dante to talk to sinners of each circle in Alighieri’s depiction of Hell. His bias is extremely evident towards three specific sinners in Hell.

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Dante ensures this happens by using the concept of contrapasso, which describes the relationship between sin and the resulting justification in Hell. The literal definition of contrapasso is the 'counter-strike' or the 'counter-suffering which translates literally as "counter-penalty." And in Dante’s Hell, sinners are punished according to the nature of their sin, so that their punishment fits their crime. And as we see throughout the story, some sinners literally become the personification of their sins while others become victims in Hell of the crimes they committed while on

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For Dante, the punishment was fitting for both sinners because the sullen spent their lives moping and pitying themselves, when they had a promising life while the wrathful were reenacting their rage that they expressed throughout their time. There is a balance between the sin committed in Earth and the punishment received in hell. At the beginning of the poem and through the circles, Dante was a little sympathetic but after traveling to the fifth circle and encountered Philippo Argenti his feelings change. Argenti a former member of the Black Guelf was rival of Dante who was a member of the White Guelfs. When Dante was force to exile Florence, Argenti’s brother took all his property.

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The poem begins with Dante lost in the woods and attacked by a lion, a leopard, and a she-wolf symbolizing pride, envy, and avarice. He is essentially forced off his path towards heaven which is represented by a mountain. The entire journey recorded in the Divine Comedy is a depiction of mankind’s fall into sin before achieving redemption and eventual salvation. In my opinion, Dante’s life on earth had become his own personal hell. Therefore, the first installment of the Divine Comedy is his way of sharing that, all the while exposing the corruption of society to the world.

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