Recommended: Dante’s function in the Inferno
Dante’s Inferno is an epic poem by Durante “Dante” degli Alighieri, written in the 1300s. He wrote a trilogy, known as the Divine Comedy, consisting of Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise. Dante was inspired by many events and issues happening at that time, such as the war between Guelphs and Ghibellines, the Battle of Montaperti, and Christian religious beliefs. In this paper, I will explore the first book, Inferno, on the topic of Hell and how the sinners had a significant impact on Dante’s journey through Hell. In Circle 5: Styx, Canto VIII, Filippo Argenti, a sinner of Wrathful, helped Dante to symbolize to readers his anger towards Black Guelphs, political enemies of the White Guelphs.
“I am one who has no tale to tell: I made myself a gibbet of my own lintel” (Page 124, lines 151-152). In the poem The Inferno, by Dante Alighieri, in Canto XIII Dante uses imagery and allusion to reveal what the seventh circle of Hell looks like and portray his views on “The Violent Against Themselves”. In the second round of the seventh circle, Dante is and cannot seem to understand the concept of the souls’ reason for their presence in Hell. First, Dante uses allusion to hint the his purpose of this section of the canto - to show how his feelings and thoughts relate to an important time in history. When the poet's first arrive in the beginning of the Second Circle, they are in The Wood of the Suicides and Dante is immediately confused.
In Dante’s Inferno, Dante Alighieri's depiction of Satan at the bottom of hell reveals the theme that in Hell the punishment is always befitting of the due to the fact that the lower you go, the farther that person is from god. The picture of Satan satisfies the reader because he shows that he is the opposite of god and that he is full of evil. Lucifer is the demon in the circles of hell which he has three faces, and bat like wings in which he creates the cold wind where the sinners suffer. “The face in the middle was red, the color of anger. The face on the right was white blended with yellow, the color of impotence.
Within Dante's Inferno Francesca and Paolo appear in Canto V. This canto stands out amongst other verses as an example of Dante's writing, characterization and also for demonstrating the deep allegory surrounding the work and the nature of sin. Francesca Da Rimini was the daughter of Guido Vecchio da Polenta, lord of Ravenna, and Paolo Malatesta, the third son of Malatesta da Verrucchio, lord of Rimini. Around 1275 the aristocratic Francesca was married due to political reasons to Gianciotto ("Crippled John"), the physically deformed second son of Malatesta da Verrucchio. In time a love affair developed between Francesca and Gianciotto's younger brother, Paolo.
In Inferno, Dante is the main character who is fighting between good and evil, which translates to be the theme of the story. Dante explores deeply the Christian hell and heaven, which includes the immediate Purgatory. This experience makes him cast his allegiance to good and God. The differences between these two stories are depicted when comparing the epic conventions, epic characteristics, and when comparing the various religious backgrounds of the times in which these two stories were written.
The story will continue to entertain generations of people and allow them to give their take on the illustrations that have helped give representation to Hell. Without the story of Dante’s journey we may not even picture Hell underground, and without the artists illustrations we wouldn’t be able to picture Hell in as detailed a way as we do. Even with the different styles each artist brings, many timeless pieces of art have been inspired through Dante’s work which is still considered to be one of the greatest pieces of literature ever
Conclusion Overall, The Inferno describes Dante’s vision of Hell. The Inferno is a graphic piece of writing and requires a lot of patience and knowledge when reading it. He wrote The Inferno in Italian, while the common form of writing during that time was Latin. Setting a wider form of audience, and creating an impact on the world of literature.
Our choices are the building blocks of our existence, shaping who we are and what we become. But when the consequences of our decisions come crashing down upon us, we are forced to confront the reality of our choices and the paths we have chosen. In the allegory Dante’s Inferno, the author Virgil uses vivid imagery and a sequence of real life actions in our lives to point us down the inevitable dark road that inevitably will end in hell. In Dante’s Inferno, Virgil uses Dante as a symbol of the human soul, highlighting that if humans were to see what Dante saw in hell, we would think about our actions more and consider the consequences that they may have in our own lives. In the bible, Judas betrays Jesus by kissing him on the cheek and directly
The story revolves around metaphors where everything has a double meaning behind what is said. Here what Dante is trying to tell us is that he wakes up in hell because he has strayed from the righteous path that the church and God has set for him. This medieval writing continues throughout the layers of hell sinners are damned to hell and live in a world devoid of any sanitation everything around them is full of suffering and death. Above the gate is a message that tells the beginning of the journey into hell and the suffering that will be caused, “I AM THE WAY INTO THE DOLEFUL CITY, I AM THE WAY INTO ETERNAL GRIEF… ABANDON EVERY HOPE, ALL YOU WHO ENTER” (399, 1). The church brings out these punishments seeing as the medieval era he lived in was during the time that the church dominated a person’s way of living.
But, as the poem continues to progress, it becomes quite clear the there is a perfect balance within God’s justice as the degree of each sinner’s punishment perfectly reflects upon the gravity of the sin. Furthermore, the inscription on the gates of Hell explicitly states that Hell exists as a result of divine justice; “ll. “ Justice moved my great maker; God eternal / Wrought me: the power and the unsearchably / High wisdom, and the primal love supernal (III.4-6).” Prior to delving into the structure of Hell and how it displays God’s divine justice, one must first familiarize themselves with both the historical context of Dante’s life, along with the beliefs of the medieval church.
In the Inferno, Dante describes the different levels of hell and the punishment which corresponds to the sin. Dante categorize hell into three major sins consisting of incontinence, violence, and fraudulent. Fraudulent is portrayed as the worse sin in the Inferno while incontinence is seen as a less serious sin. Each category has sinners which have all been punished for their wrong doings in life. The three major sins consist of circles where Dante separates the different sinners.
In Dante’s Inferno, he writes about his journey through hell for the purpose of recognizing his sins. He goes through this journey with Virgil, a voice of reason for Dante. Dante meets people through his journey of the many circles in the Inferno that lead him down into the center of hell, where Satan is. Satan is seen as being monster-like with three heads, representing a mocking of the Trinity and blowing his wings around the cocytus river. The final thing seen here is the fact that Dante’s description of Satan is a bit disappointing compared to the other descriptions he has written about the inferno.
I thoroughly believe that in a culture so reliant on religion, sin and sinners are represented reasonably well due to the detailed accounts of various sinners in Hell. In my opinion however in modern times, this is not a brilliant representation of sin as Dante allows his feelings about personal experiences to cloud the judgement of fictional characters in the poem. Before going into more specific details of Dante and his thoughts about sinners, it is important to note the overall handling of the sins and how they are fully represented. Sin is described as a corruption from one’s self and their true desires, however Tonia Triggiano writes it best when she states that the poem “describes sin as a distortion of one’s will; man’s nature wrenched itself from the nature it shared with God” .
Inferno begins by following Dante as he falls from his path of moral truth. Sin has obstructed his path to God. We never know what type of sin Dante has committed, this is not important, he has simply strayed from the straight path. Because the hero of the Inferno is also the writer, we have to look at both aspects of him, Dante the author and Dante the character. Dante the character, well to be blunt, he is a bit of a weenie.
Inferno explores the descent of mankind into sin. The work’s vast usage of imagery and symbols, a powerful allegory, and well known allusions highlight political issues whilst dealing with the nature of sin and the road to salvation. In Inferno, Dante is forced to take a journey through hell. With the help of Virgil, his personal tour guide, Dante sees the different kinds of sins, as well as their contrapasso, or
