Comparing Inferno And Pride And Prejudice

Dante Alighieri’s epic poem “Inferno” and Jane Austin’s novel “Pride and Prejudice” are two very different pieces of literature, one being a piece of Italian religious allegory discussing the afterlife, the other being a formative romantic piece set in the Regency era of England, however, these two pieces have an interesting connection, that being the similar way they approach personal right and wrong as well as standard moral authority. “Inferno” depicts the rules of hell being definitive, but Dante repeatedly is shown questioning this morality, though the poem never outright questions what authority defines these rules and if they are a valid authority. Similarly, “Pride and Prejudice” depicts the societal rules and regulations as an unchangeable

In both of these very different pieces of literature, there is a shared approach to authority and morality, one that, even if the protagonists disagree with the status quo, is still depicted as correct. In “Inferno”, Dante walks through hell and meets the denizens of that cursed country, based on the function of hell one would presume that all people living there are bad people unworthy of sympathy or compassion. Dante, however, has sympathy for many of these people, disagreeing with the powers that decided this would be their fate, showing a disconnect between Dante’s feelings and the presumed morality of God. The first example of this disconnect between Dante’s feelings and God’s will can be seen in the first ring, Limbo, which houses “Virtuous Heathens and Unbaptized Babes”, people that were good in life, and lived well, but were not baptized Christians, therefore they cannot ascend to Heaven. Limbo is the nicest part of hell, but it is still hell, away from God’s love, and these people are

In “Inferno” Dante’s travels through hell have him encounter various individuals who are doomed to never go to heaven, however, unlike one might assume, Dante connects with some of these doomed souls, and seems to see them as people, ones worthy of respect, despite their circumstances. In “Pride and Prejudice” Elizabeth is trapped in a patriarchal system that requires marriage as the only security for women, Elizabeth sees this system as suffocating and attempts to find a marriage of love. However, while both of the protagonists of their respective tales question the circumstances the system has enforced, neither of them ever directly call for change or work to fight against the status quo, and in some cases, accidentally give their approval to the very system that causes the pain they view and experience in the piece. The fact that the both protagonists see the status quo as negative unfortunately does not prompt either to attempt to fight against it, this can be seen in that Dante, while feeling bad for the doomed souls, does not question God’s power or decrees, the closest he gets is possibly bringing Pier’s memory back into the world, and while he pities the souls damned to hell, he does not make any attempt to fix the situation these