For centuries humans have been drawing parallels to help explain or understand different concepts. These parallels, or allegories, tell a simple story and their purpose is to use another point of view to help guide individuals into the correct line of thought. “The only stable element in a literary work is its words, which if one knows the language in which it is written, have a meaning. The significance of that meaning is what may be called allegory.”(Bloomfield) As Bloomfield stated, it is only how we interpret the words in an allegory that matters, each person can interpreted it in a slightly different way and allegories are most often personalized by a reader. Dante’s Inferno allegory is present throughout the entire poem. From the dark wood to the depths of Dante’s hell he presents the different crimes committed in life as they could be punished in death.
One of the first punishments we observe comes from the fifth circle of Dante’s hell, the wrathful and the sullen, as the author expresses his thoughts of the fitting consequence with each sin. This portion of the text begins in the seventh canto and in it the punishment of those who lived in wrath are discussed, when Dante and Virgil first enter the circle they see a marsh containing people who endlessly beat upon each other the idea being that because they lived their lives in wrath they will live out their eternity with pure hatred for any soul they may encounter. Also addressed in this circle is the punishment for those who lived their life in a sullen manner, ignoring the goodness that the world around them contained. “‘Sullen were we in the air made sweet by the sun; in the glory or his shinning our hearts poured a bitter smoke. Sullen we begun; sullen we lie forever i...
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...l be like, or even if there will be such a place after this life, but if there is, it is very possible that the threat of eternal punishment can be great encouragement to do what is right and what is morally proper.
Works Cited
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Benjamin, Walter. The Origin of German Tragic Drama. Trans. John Osborne. London: n.p., 1998. Print. fourth
Bloomfield, Morton W. New Literary History. Winter ed. N.p.: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1972. Print. Vol. 2 of Allegory as Interpretation. 3 vols. First.
Disraeli, Benjamin. Vivian Grey. New York: n.p., 1906. Print. Fifth
The Editors of The Encyclopædia Britannica, ed. "Allegory." The Encyclopædia Britannica. N.p., 2013. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. . third
What is the you thoroughly understand the term “allegory” and that you can discuss “Babylon Revisited” as an allegory?—This question is garbled and does not make sense.
“In the simplest terms, allegory says one thing and means another” (Fletcher 2). Allegory is a literary tool that authors employ to convey a certain message or idea through characters acting in a story. Angus Fletcher correctly assesses the nature of allegory, demonstrating that although an author may write a story about a man completing a literal journey, he very well could be implying a much grander idea about journeying through life. Anne Page shares a similar understanding of allegory, writing that, “Allegory, whether engaged in as reading or writing, is about making meaning- a meaning which is ideological, ethical, or theological” (Page 82). Jesus himself used allegory in his parables, to make grand heavenly concepts accessible to the everyman. This is a common use of allegory, bringing the grand scheme down to an understandable level. “The creative allegory uses a highly generalized form to cover a width of historical content which is felt to burst the bounds of any more naturalistic method” (Lindsay 177). Two examples of allegory are John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress and Dante’s The Inferno. Both tell the story of a man taking a journey, Christian on his way to heaven and Dante through hell. The use of allegory in each of these works is vast; one of the most obvious is that of names. Dante and Bunyan use naming as one of their most noticeable ways to communicate grand concepts; however, the ways in which they employ this type of allegory differ immensely.
The Divine Comedy written by Dante is one of the greatest poems ever written based on the fact that it is an autobiography as well as an allegory. It is considered an autobiography of Dante because he uses his personal experiences as motivation and inspiration. The beginning of first poem in The Divine Comedy, The Inferno, is related to the emotions Dante experienced after being exiled from Florence. He is wandering in the woods when he comes up to the bottom of a hill and starts to climb it before he is stopped by three creatures. This scene relates to how lost and confused Dante felt, along with feeling like he was attacked. By using his personal experiences and emotions, Dante actually wrote what is known as an allegory. Gay Johnson
Dante's Inferno - A Religious and Morally Challenging Experience Dante Alighieri, one of the greatest poets of the Middle Ages, was born in Florence, Italy on June 5, 1265. He was born to a middle-class Florentine family. At an early age he began to write poetry and became fascinated with lyrics. During his adolescence, Dante fell inlove with a beautiful girl named Beatrice Portinari. He saw her only twice but she provided much inspiration for his literary masterpieces.
The Inferno is one of a three part series known as The Divine Comedy, an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri in 1320, a year before his death in 1321. The Inferno tells of the character Dante, and his journey through the nine circles of Hell, with the assistance of the Roman poet Virgil. Each circle of Hell houses different sinners, each being placed according to the severity of their sin. Each punishment in the different pouches of this circle is symbolic in its own way, for instance, fortune tellers walk aimlessly for eternity with their heads twisted around, since they tried to see the future in an unholy manner, they must look back, symbolically into the past not being able to see what’s ahead, for all eternity. Along with normal souls,
There are many different kinds of sins being punished in Dante’s version of Hell. In the seventh level, three different kinds of sins are being punished each in their own separate ring. The usurers, the sodomites, and the focus of Canto XIV, the blasphemers. These sinners committed the act of blasphemy, also known as violence against God. Actions that qualify as blasphemy include burning religious texts, vandalizing churches, worshipping Satan, and other similar transgressions. Sinners who have carried out blasphemous acts were trapped on an unbearably hot, sandy beach. The souls were not only being burned from the bottom where they laid on the beach, but also being burned from “distended flakes of fire [drifting] aloft” in the air, so from
that is; that what we do as human beings will determine what happens to us in the event of death based on God's judgment. In writing his poem Dante uses symbolism, allegorism and imagery among other literary effects to place his poem analogically to life as it was during his day and age. Dante structures The Inferno around thirty four cantos. Each of these cantos marks a steady progression from the mildest to the worst of sins. The cantos depict sinners under various forms of punishment which are commensurate to the nature of their sins.
Dante descriptions of crime and punishment in each circle of Hell are explained, but some meanings are clearer than others. But, the organization for each circle is clear and concise. When each sinner die that arraigned to one of the circles of Hell fitting for the punishment of the different kinds of sins that committed on Earth. The
George MacDonald once stated, "If you will not determine to be pure, you will grow more and more impure." Every aspect of this quote is true. There are two types of people in the world: those who live and those who learn. Whether it's something as simple as lying or as heinous as murder, each choice plays a role in our final destination. Many may prefer to live in sin. Others do their best to avoid it. The Inferno tells the story of how one's actions could lead them to the cruel depths of Hell. Though some don't believe they are doing anything wrong, they are actually digging a hole for themselves that they would later regret.
While reading Dante’s Inferno I couldn’t help but draw parallels between the journey of the protagonist and the belief system of the Buddhist religion. Dante believed we must understand sin before we can reject it, and Buddha believed that before we can reject sin, we must suffer also. Examining these two tenets side by side makes the similarities undeniably apparent; they both seem to be purporting the message that there cannot be pain without pleasure, truth without dishonesty or enlightenment with suffering.
Allegory is utilized in the story to show how the old and beaten down angel is inherently good. Angels are typically depicted as grand saviors, and their personalities are assumed to coincide with that.
The poems Inferno, by Dante Alighieri and Paradise Lost by John Milton are focused on the relation of man and sin and how the absence or absence of sin affects the stability and well-being of the human being. In Dante’s text, Sin is presented the same way as constitutionally defined offences are defined and treated. In a legal context, different laws are categorized under different labels (civil, criminal, etc.), and each has specific penalties imposed once one is convicted by a court of law. Dante similarly creates imagery that depicts different sins being punished in unique ways under divine law. For example, those found to be gluttonous (a sin under divine law) are made to consume excrement and those who perpetuate anger are forced to attack each other (Dante 17). The idea here perpetuates the idea of an offence begets legal punishment as well as a sin begets divine justice which is explained in the poem that Hell (equivalent to federal prisons) is a creation that God made necessitated by the presence of sin. An almost scientific matching of sin and punishment is presented in the poem, which echoes some familiar proclamations of sin in the Bible where sins and punishment are directly proportional. A serious sin, therefore, begets a serious punishment while a lesser sin begets a lesser
The Inferno was written by Dante Alighieri around 1314 and depicts the poet’s imaginary journey through Hell. Dante spent his life traveling from court to court both lecturing and writing down his experiences. His Divine Comedy – the three-part epic poem consisting of Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso (Hell, Purgatory and Heaven)– is generally regarded as one of the greatest poetic feats ever accomplished. All three parts are incredible literary feats with symbolism so complex and beautiful that scholars are still unraveling all the details today. However, this essay will focus on the first part of Dante’s work, Inferno, which consists of 34 cantos. Dante’s Inferno is a masterpiece of allegorical imagery where Virgil represents human reason, Beatrice love and hope, and Dante mankind on the journey of the human soul through life to reach salvation.
Dante’s Inferno presents the reader with many questions and thought provoking dialogue to interpret. These crossroads provide points of contemplation and thought. Dante’s graphic depiction of hell and its eternal punishment is filled with imagery and allegorical meanings. Examining one of these cruxes of why there is a rift in the pits of hell, can lead the reader to interpret why Dante used the language he did to relate the Idea of a Just and perfect punishment by God.
Inferno, the first part of Divina Commedia, or the Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri, is the story of a man's journey through Hell and the observance of punishments incurred as a result of the committance of sin. In all cases the severity of the punishment, and the punishment itself, has a direct correlation to the sin committed. The punishments are fitting in that they are symbolic of the actual sin; in other words, "They got what they wanted." (Literature of the Western World, p.1409) According to Dante, Hell has two divisions: Upper Hell, devoted to those who perpetrated sins of incontinence, and Lower Hell, devoted to those who perpetrated sins of malice. The divisions of Hell are likewise split into levels corresponding to sin. Each of the levels and the divisions within levels 7,8, and 9 have an analogous historical or mythological figure used to illustrate and exemplify the sin.