In The Inferno, Dante tries to combine the 2 worlds of classical and christianity in his work. Although Dante was a proud catholic, He incorporates classical elements by mostly using medieval christianity. He also used a lot of symbolism for the representation of abstract ideas. Such as, grace, innocence, purity, and hope. To begin, The Inferno is not a renaissance piece. It was written sometime in the 1300’s during the medieval period and also used mostly medieval themes such as the idea of sin and punishment. Other themes such as hierarchy , the afterlife, redemption and romance were used in The Inferno as well. It gives the readers a very cut and dry understanding of christianity and shows how important the religious values of christianity was during that time. In Particular, Hierarchy is portrayed in the inferno as this was a common medieval theme. They believed that society should be well regulated using a system of hierarchy. God being at the very top of the tower and various other angelic beings were placed in the correct areas due to their heavenly …show more content…
Courtly romance was specifically habitual in medieval themes, a noblewoman was to be saved by a knight. This idea was depicted heavily with other ideas like chivalry and determination. At first, Dante finds himself in a dark forest which symbolizes confusion with his spiritual self. However he doesn't let himself be overcome by fear and commences in a long hellish journey to the underworld to save his first love, Beatrice. Dante depicts a unique message by destabilizing the traditional ideas of courtly romance where love is often idealized. Instead, he emphasizes the need for honesty and righteousness. Consider the example of Beatrice as Dante’s love interest, his love for her wasn't fueled by her physical properties nor an infatuation, it is fueled by a spiritual love that was beyond the