Examples Of Allegory In Dante's Inferno

Literature is very intrinsic in society today like it has always been. The importance of literature is immeasurable. Breanna Sahr states, “Literature connects individuals with larger truths and ideas in a society.” Literature is not only pleasurable and entertaining, it also helps with expanding the mind to new ideas. Many great leaders in history have used and referenced literature to rise up in the world and become the great men and women we remember today. Much of the famous and inspiring texts that are studied today were written by great leaders such as Plato and Marcus Aurelius. Other great texts in literature were written by “nobodies” who were not known very well within society such as Emily Dickinson and Dante. The stories and other

Many allegories can be picked out when reading the Inferno. One allegory that can be found would be his actual journey through hell. Hell, or the inferno, is a very scary place. The gate of hell literally read, “ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE” (Canto III, Line 9) People ended up in the inferno because of the sin they committed and a lack of repentance. Dante’s journey into hell could represent every man's weakness and descent into sin. This was one of my favorite allegories in this text. Dante is traveling through hell because he hasn’t repented in the real world. Another allegory in Dante’s Inferno, would be the She-Wolf. The She-Wolf is one of the three animals stopping Dante from running up the hill away from hell in Canto One. The She-Wolf was desperately hungry for the souls of humans forced into the Inferno. This She-Wolf can symbolize many things. Flynn Stewart states, “Finally, the she-wolf (and the one Dante is most afraid of) symbolizes incontinence.” The She-Wolf in this text represents incontinence, or lack of control. The She-Wolf is so desperately hungry, that she can’t even control herself in all her greed. She is so greedy and desperate to gormandize other humans that made it to hell. The She-Wolf though is in no form, part of the hell mates punishment. The She-Wolf was a very vicious creature, but it is very

Marcus Aurelius was a great Roman emperor and he wrote Meditations, where he outlines what kind of person he wants to be. This text became famous and is now studied today all over the world. John Sellars states, “Marcus' reputation as a philosopher rests upon one work, the Meditations.” Marcus Aurelius was an emperor, but because of his Meditations, many people saw him as a philosopher also. A favorite passage of mine from Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations can be found at the beginning of Book Two. Aurelius states, “Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busy-body, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All these things happen to them by reason of their ignorance of what is good and evil.” Here, Marcus Aurelius is stating that he will meet with some kind of evil everyday. He goes on, then, to explain that there is this evil in the world because of the ignorance of people to distinguish between what is good and evil. Aurelius argues that this ignorance is what causes evil. I especially liked this passage because it outlines,in Aurelius’ mind, what the root cause of evil