What Is An Allegory In Dante's Inferno

English writer, A. N. Wilson, in, ‘Dante in Love’, argues that Dante Alighieri is both a poet and a madman in which scenes of violence and malice within inferno are considered. Dante’s structure of the language of the text in inferno is well-thought-out with regards to the use of metaphors to describe the scenes of violence (act of physical force). However with regards to the notion of malice within the poem, the inconsistent and unpredictable use of language within Inferno is taken into consideration. In addition, the occurrence of violence and malicious intent as well as the extent to which the role of inconsistencies appear within the poem, suggests that Dante Alighieri is more than just a late thirteenth century poet. Finally, the significance

Sayers in her introduction of Inferno states that Inferno is a poem written in the form of a Christian inspired allegory, where an allegory, “is the interpretation of experience by means of images”, a poem written in the style of an extended metaphor. Sayers too asserts that Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’ is based solely on the, “drama of the soul’s choice” (Sayers, Introduction

The ‘contrapasso’ in accordance with Dante’s Inferno is a process, “either resembling or contrasting with the sin itself” (Musa 37-38). The disenabling of the soul to enjoy the good that it had once rejected is evident as a result of the contrapasso for the soul has no room to grow therefore remains stagnant from the consequences of the choices made on earth (Sayers, Dante The Divine Comedy 1: Hell 120). This mere description of a damned soul’s fate already paints a distasteful picture of the nature of Hell