Dante's Inferno Essay

1. Title of Book

The title of the book I selected is “The Inferno.”

2. Significance of the Title

“The Inferno” is set around the journey of Dante and the Roman poet, Virgil, through the 9 circles of hell. Alighieri focuses on the suffrage of the condemned and greedy politicians who exiled him from Florence.

3. Genre

This book is considered an epic poem and a religious allegory.

4. Date of Original Publication

This book was written in the early 14th century in Italy. Originally written in medieval Italian, it was published in 1314.

5. Author

Dante Alighieri is the writer of “The Inferno.” Dante Alighieri is the authors’ birth name.

6. Statement on Author’s Purpose

I believe that Alighieri wrote “The Inferno” because he was angry at the politicians

Alighieri witnessed this first hand as he was stripped of his wealth and he was exiled from Florence.

9. Plot

10. Plot Word Count

11. Characters

 Dante, the author of the poem puts him in the action as if these events actually happened. The Dante in the poem seems to feel pity for those who are trapped in hell while the poet Dante put those people there.

 Virgil, a 1st century poet, the spirit of him is trapped in hell because he lived in a period before Christ and could not redeem his soul. Virgil is ordered to guide Dante through the 9 circles of Hell.

 Beatrice, Dante’s lost love, is said to have sent an angel to aid Virgil in guiding Dante through Hell.

12. Symbols

 Lucifer, I think, has the strongest meaning. He has the 3 faces of history’s biggest backstabbers. Alighieri strongly supported the idea to separate the state and the church. Lucifer represents this by having the face of Judas, the man who betrayed Christ, and both faces of Cassius and Brutus, the betrayers of Emperor Julius Caesar.

13.

State governments were ruled by corrupt kings and greedy religious leaders. He was fueled by the loss of his status to write this book. Although the book doesn’t have a big twist, as it is part of a trilogy, I was able to connect the events of the book to our present day United States. In Canto VII the theme of materialism is presented. It is mentioned that this materialism raises a nation to greatness, and then plunges them into poverty. In our country today we have the few and the many. The few are the rich making the many the poor. I believe that when the rich are exempt from paying taxes or have the power to influence a decision made by our government, we are being plunged into poverty. Every year we pay a little more taxes. Right now the gas prices have dropped, but how much will they increase once the oil boom is once again over? I wouldn’t go as far as sending our so called leaders into the eternal torture of hell but Alighieri did. The world is a huge cycle and during Alighieri time, it was almost time for a change. Not a century later Martin Luther challenged the Catholic Church and weakened it. New religions rose to power and empires collapsed with the church. I’m not an expert in economics or religion but with these extremist groups such as ISIS and men who don’t want to let our government spy on us, such as Edward Snowden, will mark the start of the downfall of our