Dante's Inferno

Dante’s Inferno is a divine comedy, which describes his and Virgil’s journey from hell to heaven. In this poem Dante describes the journey by himself; from him being lost in the darks woods to the hell. Dante describes the hell and the sinners using an allegorical approach. As the dynamic duo travel along the circles of hell, Dante describes his emotions, ranging from grief, sympathy to pleasure, directly to the reader.

Before commencing the journey with Virgil, Dante is confused about why he was chosen, and asks Virgil about it. As he is aware of the fact that only two people, St. Paul and Aeneas have made it back to the life after hell, Dante questions Virgil about his own worthiness. Dante, who considered himself a great poet after Virgil,

Being a great poet, Virgil is also an excellent orator. He does his job of guiding Dante brilliantly; admonishing him when needed, praising him and always protecting him from the sinners’ traps. Not only Dante, but Virgil also sympathizes and admonishes the sinners from time to time. Virgil is really persuasive in what he speaks; many times he saved Dante using his language skills. It was his persuasive words that convinced distraught Dante to come to hell. Upon looking at Virgil’s action, it looked like he was the ruler of hell; almost everybody obeyed him. By using the God’s name, Virgil got nobody to argue with him. However, there is a point where Virgil’s persuasion fails; angry sinner of the Dis deny opening the gate to Dante. Throughout the journey he advices Dante to ask questions when needed, corrects his speech, and shuts him up when needed. It is through this nature of Virgil, that Dante as has somebody to fall back on, even though he doubted him before the

For example, the three beasts-lion, leopard and she-wolf, represented something. Upon reading this, one will think that they represented obstacles he will encounter. However, these animals turned out to be symbols of sins: lust, pride and greed. Dante offers mix feelings towards the sinners he meets. He doesn’t always sympathize with them, as he does with Francesca. He feels happy to see people in hell who he hated, like Filippo Argenti. Instead of sympathizing, Dante wishes Filippo to receive further punishment. Even Virgil praises Dante for his wish, which is soon fulfilled by tearing Argenti pieces. This scene from the Inferno changes the ‘harmless and moral’ image of Dante and Virgil. Apart from being angry and fearsome, Dante is also happy for a while. He is extremely flattered when offered invitation by the great philosophers living in the Limbo. Limbo is the best place to live in hell. Yes, there is a best place in hell too! Limbo is where all the good people, people who didn’t sin. Yes, they didn’t sin, but their sin was not being baptized or being