Dante In Love Poem Analysis

According to English writer, A. N. Wilson, in his article, ‘Dante in Love’, argues that Dante Alighieri is both a poet and a madman. Through scenes of violence and malice that occur within the poem, Dante’s structure of the text through the use of language with regards to metaphors to describe the scenes of violence contributes to the recognition of the possible influences Dante had when writing Inferno. In addition, the occurrence of violence and malicious intent as well as the extent to which the role of inconsistencies appear within the poem, suggests that Dante Alighieri is more than just a thirteenth century poet.

According to (Wilson 280), Dante Alighieri, the author of the Divine Comedy, is a man whom possessed characteristics of both

Sayers in her introduction of Inferno states that Inferno is a poem written in the form of a Christian inspired allegory, where an allegory, “is the interpretation of experience by means of images”, a poem written in the style of an extended metaphor. Sayers too asserts that Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’ is based solely on the, “drama of the soul’s choice” (Sayers, Introduction

117) being the first sinner that Dante starts to understand the nature of the sin committed, “accursed spirit, do thou remain and rot! I know thee, filthy as thou art – I know” (lines 38-39). Both of the sinners relating to the theme of historical figures that Dante the poet uses for the purpose of the allegorical poem to be a success. With regards to the inconsistency of the role of the sinners: Virgil initially took the role as Dante’s guide from the dark wood to the gates of purgatory where in one incident he was denied access to the City of Dis in the eight canto (Sayers, Dante The Divine Comedy 1: Hell 116). The scene itself overlaps with ideas relating to biblical texts where ‘Dis’ is the pagan word for the king of Hell, being Satan (p. 121). The ‘Furies’ attempt to kill Dante (with the help of Medusa) for trespassing where such a violent death, being turned into stone, was previously attempted but failed upon Theseus whom arrived at the gates of the ‘City of Dis’ in the form of a mortal (p.