Dante's Voyage Through Hell

1501 Words4 Pages

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 Alighieri was an Italian philosopher and poet born in 1265. He married Gemma Donati, but was in love with another woman, Beatrice Portinari, who eventually became the backbone and inspiration for his Divine Comedy. Dante was an important political figure holding many posts among which one of the six priors that governed the city of Florence. Some argue that Dante was a power-thirsty politician who banished rivals for political gain, but in 1302, he too fell out of favor and was exiled forever. Dante’s exile had profound implications for the poet. His deep regret and anger at the injustice to which he felt he had been subjected translated into the most creative time of his life, the writing of the three part Divine Comedy. What is noteworthy is that throughout the epic many of Dante’s “rivals” appear as seducers, greedy, lustful, and overall completely immoral people. The most ... ... middle of paper ... ...lvation when helped by love, hope, and of course faith. With Dante representing humanity on the journey of the human soul attempting to reach salvation, Virgil representing human reason, and Beatrice love and hope, the three characters come together allegorically to make Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy the masterpiece of imagery and symbolism that we understand and respect today. Works Cited "Dante's Inferno." HubPages. HubPages, 25 Apr. 2008. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. Fergusson, Francis. Dante. New York: Macmillan, 1966. Print. Hendrickson, Kate. "Parrot Trick Training." UniversalJournal/AYJW. Universal Journal, 13 July 2003. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. "The Inferno Notes on the Human Reason Themes." BookRags. BookRags, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. The Inferno. Trans. John Ciardi. New York: Mentor, 1954. Wilson, A. N. Dante in Love. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Courtly Love In Dante's Paradiso

    1220 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dante, an Italian poet during the late middle ages, successfully parallels courtly love with Platonic love in both the La Vita Nuova and the Divine Comedy. Though following the common characteristics of a courtly love, Dante attempts to promote love by elevating it through the lenses of difference levels. Through his love affair with Beatrice, although Beatrice has died, he remains his love and prompts a state of godly love in Paradiso. Dante, aiming to promote the most ideal type of love, criticizes common lust while praises the godly love by comparing his state of mind before and after Beatrice’s death. PJ Klemp essay “Layers of love in Dante’s Vita Nuova” explains the origins of Dante’s love in Plato and Aristotle themes that designate

    Read More

  • Dante's Divine Comedy - Close Reading of Canto V of the Inferno

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alghieri, Dante. "The Divine Comedy: Inferno." The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces: Expanded Edition In One Volume. Gen. Ed. Maynard Mack. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997. 1032-1036.

    Read More

  • Comparing Divine Comedy And C. S. Lewis The Great Divorce

    3103 Words  | 7 Pages

    The cultural impact of Dante’s Divine Comedy is widely seen through a sundry of literary works, television programs, films and even video games. Yet, one of the most prominent works the Divine Comedy has impacted is C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce. Lewis’s book is greatly indebted to Dante’s work, as both try to teach the reader how to achieve salvation. Furthermore, Lewis and Dante’s protagonists discover the path to salvation through choices, and learning what causes one’s refusal of God. Both authors explore the path to righteousness and enquire about life’s most difficult questions. Therefore, the dialogue between Dante’s Divine Comedy and C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce is witnessed through the conception of the distortion of love, which illustrates the different representations of God’s justice and in turn influences how salvation is achieved in both tales respectively.

    Read More

  • The Role and Function of the Major Monsters in Dante’s Inferno

    1944 Words  | 4 Pages

    Moreover, Dante, the narrator of the Inferno, has succeeded in not only telling the frightening story of the Inferno, but also pointing out the importance of the relationship between human’s sins and God’s retribution, using the monsters as the symbols for each kind of sin and its punishment throughout the progress of the story, which teaches his readers to be well aware of their sins through the literature – a part of humanities; the disciplines that teach a man to be a human.

    Read More

  • Dante’s Inferno - The Evolving Relationship between Dante the Pilgrim and Virgil the Guide

    2166 Words  | 5 Pages

    In Dante’s Inferno, the relationship between Dante the Pilgrim and Virgil the Guide is an ever-evolving one. By analyzing the transformation of this relationship as the two sojourn through the circles of hell, one is able to learn more about the mindset of Dante the Poet.  At the outset, Dante is clearly subservient to Virgil, whom he holds in high esteem for his literary genius. However, as the work progresses, Virgil facilitates Dante’s spiritual enlightenment, so that by the end, Dante has ascended to Virgil’s spiritual level and has in many respects surpassed him. In Dante’s journey with respect to Virgil, one can see man’s spiritual journey towards understanding God. While God loves man regardless of his faults, His greatest desire is to see man attain greater spirituality, in that man, already created in God’s image, may truly become divine, and in doing so, attain eternality.

    Read More

  • The Allegory of the Cave and Dante

    1237 Words  | 3 Pages

    “If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing.” This maxim applies to the poet Dante Alighieri, writer of The Inferno in the 1300s, because it asserts the need to establish oneself as a contributor to society. Indeed, Dante’s work contributes much to Renaissance Italy as his work is the first of its scope and size to be written in the vernacular. Due to its readability and availability, The Inferno is a nationalistic symbol. With this widespread availability also comes a certain social responsibility; even though Dante’s audience would have been familiar with the religious dogma, he assumes the didactic role of illustrating his own version of Christian justice and emphasizes the need for a personal understanding of divine wisdom and contrapasso, the idea of the perfect punishment for the crime. Dante acts as both author and narrator, completing a physical and spiritual journey into the underworld with Virgil as his guide and mentor. The journey from darkness into light is an allegory full of symbolism, much like that of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, which shows a philosopher’s journey towards truth. Therefore, Dante would also agree with the maxim, “Wise men learn by others’ harms; fools scarcely by their own,” because on the road to gaining knowledge and spiritual enlightenment, characters who learn valuable lessons from the misfortunes of others strengthen their own paradigms. Nonetheless, the only true way to gain knowledge is to experience it first hand. Dante’s character finds truth by way of his own personal quest.

    Read More

  • Dante's Happiness: Inferno And The Paradiso

    1391 Words  | 3 Pages

    Despite fear, Virgil reasures Dante with indirect and divine love. Virgil and Dante are anxious and weary about the journey that they are about to take on. However, Virgil reassures Dante that he will not leave him in the underworld. Instead, they both will eventually ascend to paradise. He believed that sometimes it is important to live through other people's happiness in order to seek happiness.

    Read More

  • Divine Grace and Justice in Dante's Inferno

    1539 Words  | 4 Pages

    Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: Inferno. Trans. Allen Mandelbaum. Notes Allen Mandelbaum and Gabriel Marruzzo. New York: Bantam Books, 1980

    Read More

  • Examples Of Hellish Behavior In Dante's Inferno

    1201 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dante’s Inferno offers literal discussion and allegorical account of historical individuals while emphasizing heavily on the political crisis of the 14th century in which he lived. In addition Dante’s poem assesses the problem of modern society cherishing those whose actions only earned themselves a place in the fiery pits of Hell. His cantos serve as a condemnation of some of the most idolized historical and political figures in his time and now. In the late middle ages political and religious stability was crumbling sparking corruption of souls; many claimed to be the Pope, courtly love turning adulterous, majority of people failing to control of bodily desires, etc. Dante’s pilgrimage through the Inferno lets the reader witness many well-known legends who fell to these corruptions scattered throughout the circles of Hell. This work creates contradictions in the morals and values of today’s culture; history remembers figures such as Achilles and Helen of Troy by just their positive attributes however, their

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis: Dante's Inferno

    822 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dante’s work Inferno is a vivid walkthrough of the depths of hell and invokes much imagery, contemplation and feeling. Dante’s work beautifully constructs a full sensory depiction of hell and the souls he encounters along the journey. In many instances within the work, the reader arrives at a crossroads for interpretation and discussion. Canto XI offers one such crux in which Dante asks the question of why there is a separation between the upper levels of hell and the lower levels of hell. By discussing the text, examining its implications and interpretations, conclusions can be drawn about why there is delineation between the upper and lower levels and the rationale behind the separation.

    Read More

  • The Weakness of Human Nature in Dante's Inferno

    2210 Words  | 5 Pages

    Lummus, David. "Dante’s Inferno: Critical Reception and Influence." Dantes Inferno. Engerda: Arun, 2000. 63-79. Print.

    Read More

  • The Structure and Content of Dante's Inferno

    1106 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...eeper perspective, Virgil also has an allegorical representation of human reason—“both in its immense power and in its inferiority to faith in God.” As showing respect to his Master, Dante eulogizes the beauty of human reason, truth, and virtue. Moreover, such belief in human reason signifies Dante's hope towards a bright society and the pursuit of God’s love as the other part of self-reflection.

    Read More

  • Finding Morality and Unity with God in Dante's Inferno

    1404 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dante makes himself everyman, and the journey that God decreed through hell is one man’s personal transcendent journey from deep intellectual moral confusion to a sound and steadfast faith and hope, in which Dante renews his faith. Dante awakens our hope, and warns against moral complacency by peeling away the dangerous illusions of adequacy, leading one upward, toward the eternal heart of reality. Dante compels the reader to share his growing abhorrence of sin and his obligation to uphold God’s will. The poem’s purpose is to re-awaken Dante, and, by extension, the reader, to the reality of sin and the accompanying need for confession and repentance, to return to the straight path that leads to eternal salvation.

    Read More

  • The Divine Comedy vs. Paradise Lost

    3039 Words  | 7 Pages

    The primary characters in Dante’s poem include himself, who is also the narrator, Virgil, a poet he has admired, who serves as his guide through most of the first two sections, and finally, Beatrice, his inspiration, who greets him at Paradisio and escorts him through the remainder of his journey.

    Read More

  • Dante’s, The Divine Comedy

    1012 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dante, Alighieri. The Divine Comedy. Trans. Robin Kirkpatrick. New York, USA: Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition, 2012. Print.

    Read More

More about Dante's Voyage Through Hell

Open Document