Dante's Inferno Research Paper

While it might not seem so, without Virgil, the Comedy would be completely different. If Virgil wasn’t there or Dante would have chosen someone else, he would have died within the first few Cantos of Inferno. But that is just one facet of Virgil’s importance. In the later stages, Virgil becomes less of a guide and more of a friend. Dante and Virgil share some moments in Purgatory that show how far their relationship has come since meeting in Canto I in inferno. Finally, his arch turns from friend to memory, as he gives his final advice to Dante before heading back to Limbo and Dante will never see him again. Virgil is a very interesting choice to be a guide, but Dante strives learn from Virgil. Many of his perks include a very knowledgeable

The figure leading Dante through the deepest parts of Hell, to the heights of Earthly Paradise is in Hell. He does not have the grace of God, yet he helps to create a Christian depiction of what the afterlife looks like, especially in Purgatory. This is beyond strange, but then Dante makes it stranger and includes yet another poet, Statius, who was born just about sixty years after Virgil died, gets to ascend to Paradise, just because he was born in a time of Christ. While Statius gets to ascend, Virgil doesn’t get to see Dante’s final steps in Purgatory and must return to Limbo, a place without hope of ever reaching how far Statius and Dante will ever go again. If this seems harsh towards Virgil, that is because it

First of which is that Virgil and Dante cannot be equal poets. It is Dante’s destiny at this point to overshadow the accomplishments of Virgil and become a better poet. Dante’s “Sweet New Style’ signifies this overshadowing. Throughout the second canticle, Dante strategically places some of his past works, mainly move sonnets/poems, to solidify his place as the better poet. There is a general theme in Purgatorio that to be truly remembered, you must have done something incredibly signiant. Virgil lasted a thousand years with his Aeneid, but now it is time for Dante to become the most famous poet from Italy. One could even look at Virgil’s final words and draw that conclusion. “(Dante) have reached a place where I, by myself, can see no further.”. This is so on the nose that it can’t be ignored. While it might be upsetting to think about the dynamic between now friends, it is something that Virgil acknowledges must happen, for the future of Italian poetry. At the end of the day, Virgil and Dante are both poets