How Does Purgatorio Influence Dante's Inferno

Dante’s selection of Virgil as the Pilgrim’s guide through Hell and Purgatory is one of the Divine Comedy’s most significant mysteries. Readers interpreting Inferno without the context of Purgatorio would likely suggest that any of the three blessed women of Heaven (Mary, Lucia, and Beatrice) would make a more suitable guide to the Pilgrim than the Pagan Virgil, an inhabitant of the First Circle of Hell. However, it is the revelations of Purgatorio that enlighten the reader to the aptness of Virgil in place of another potential guide. Dante utilizes Purgatorio to clarify the obscurity of his selection of Virgil as the Pilgrim’s guide in Inferno; while Virgil’s guidance in Inferno is simply focused on providing comfort to the Pilgrim and even

When the Pilgrim is frightened at the thought of beginning his journey and in need of reassurance, Virgil provides words of strength and support to fulfill his role as guide. The Pilgrim is so intensely influenced by the speech that he claims, “You, with your words, have so disposed my heart / to longing for this journey” (Inf. 2.136-37), even despite his previous and extreme timidity. In contrast, Virgil is also stern in correcting occasions of the Pilgrim’s excessive sympathy toward the inhabitants of Hell, and he specifically rebukes the Pilgrim’s overt interest in Adam and Sinon’s contention in the Eighth Circle. Virgil’s ensuing lecture causes the Pilgrim to turn “around to him with shame so great / that it still stirs within [his] memory” (Inf. 30.134-35). Despite the contrasting scenarios and Virgil’s differentiating reactions, the Pilgrim is affected by Virgil’s words on both occasions. While the instances of Virgil’s efficacy in Inferno undoubtedly convey that he is a competent and impactful guide, the reason for Virgil being chosen over other possible competent and impactful guides for the Pilgrim still remains