Good and Evil in Dante’s Divine Comedy and Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath

1873 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Significance of Dante s divine comedy

Good and evil are concocted differently in every imagination. To some, evil is the most appalling sins, including such heinous acts such as murder, rape, distortion, or betrayal. To others, evil might be something so simple as indecisiveness, extravagance, or vain glory. Goodness is ambiguous to mankind as well because one man might define goodness as the ordinary man living a free life, yet another might conclude that true goodness is obtainable only through a perfect, honorable lifestyle, completely abstaining from worldly endeavors. One’s attitude at good and evil will predetermine their values, actions, and points of interest. Whether life is spent pursuing heavenly goals or the applying oneself to his or her life, their experience deeply affects literary works. A good example of these two opposing thought processes can be seen by looking at Dante’s Divine Comedy, and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath.

Even though Dante and Chaucer never met, Dante died nineteen years before Chaucer was born, Dante inadvertently became Chaucer’s life long mentor. Dante’s severe spirit turned out to be far more harsh than Chaucer’s mild nature, however Dante’s protégé, Boccaccio, became one of Chaucer’s greatest inspirations. While under Boccaccio’s wing Chaucer learned an appreciation for Dante that he took with him through out his writing career. Looking back at both Dante and Chaucer’s works, experts now see striking similarities in their writing. Whether Chaucer ever meant to use Dante’s materials or not, he is now closely compared with his contrary counterpart. While one can see how closely related Chaucer’s writing was to Dante’s, a closer look shows just how differently their writing attitude was. They have comparable...

... middle of paper ...

...ton. “Geoffrey Chaucer 1918”. A History of English Literature. Date unknown. About.com: Classic Literature. 20 Nov. 2009

http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/rfletcher/bl-rfletcher-history-3- gchaucer.htm

Lawall, Sarah, and Mack, Maynard. ”Divine Comedy ”. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Dante. Trans. Mandelbaum, Allen. New York and London. W. W. Norton Company,2002. 1836-1914.

Lawall, Sarah, and Mack, Maynard. ”Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath ”. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Chaucer, Geoffrey. Trans. Morrison, Theodore. New York and London. W. W. Norton Company,2002. 1836- 1914.

Limentani, U. “The Mind of Dante”. London: Cambridge University Press, 1965.

Unknown. “Dante and Chaucer’s Concepts of Evil“. Comparison Essay # 62512. 2005. AceDemon. 20 Nov. 2009 http://www.liu.edu/CWIS/CWP/library/workshop/citmla.htm

Show More
Related

  • A Comparison of Evil in Richard III, Titus, and Romeo and Juliet

    978 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shakespeare's villains seem to fall into one of two categories: those who are villainous of heart (inherently and genuinely evil or Machiavellian) and those who are circumstantially turned antagonists. Richard III's carefully plotted plans to usurp the throne contrast heavily against Aaron's (of Titus Andronicus) rambling which contrasts with Aaron's lack of action. The motivations of these two characters are different however. Richard seizes the opportunity to take over the throne by Machiavellian means when presented with the opportunity. Aaron represents the evil presumed of a "godless moor," his character being a symbol as much as his skin colour particularly to an audience familiar with the conquests.

    Read More

  • John Gardner´s Grendel: An Epic Struggle Between Good and Evil

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    Through the analysis of characters and their actions, the novel Grendel suggests society has adopted good and evil’s unequal relationship for meaningfulness in life. The modern society is built on the opposite forces of nature and that evil must be challenged although good prevails it. However, evil and good is subjective which makes the true struggle between good and evil. Moreover, our every day actions are differentiated between good and evil acts. Unfortunately, while this occurs, good and evil will never be a black and white concept.

    Read More

  • Comparing The Wife of Bath and The Canterbury Tales

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    Boardman, Phillip C. "Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343-1400)." Enduring Legacies: Ancient and Medieval Cultures. 6th ed. Boston: Pearson Custom Pub., 2000. 430-54. Print.

    Read More

  • Essay on Morality in Dante’s Inferno, Hamlet, The Trial, and Joyce’s The Dead

    2804 Words  | 6 Pages

    Everyone remembers the nasty villains that terrorize the happy people in fairy tales. Indeed, many of these fairy tales are defined by their clearly defined good and bad archetypes, using clichéd physical stereotypes. What is noteworthy is that these fairy tales are predominately either old themselves or based on stories of antiquity. Modern stories and epics do not offer these clear definitions; they force the reader to continually redefine the definitions of morality to the hero that is not fully good and the villain that is not so despicable. From Dante’s Inferno, through the winding mental visions in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, spiraling through the labyrinth in Kafka’s The Trial, and culminating in Joyce’s abstract realization of morality in “The Dead,” authors grapple with this development. In the literary progression to the modern world, the increasing abstraction of evil from its classic archetype to a foreign, supernatural entity without bounds or cure is strongly suggestive of the pugnacious assault on individualism in the face of literature’s dualistic, thematically oligopolistic heritage.

    Read More

  • Is Grendel Evil?

    2263 Words  | 5 Pages

    Ethics is a wide field of philosophical study to which the core of every question within falls to one side of a blurred line. On the right, is good; the value which is popularly believed to be the correct alignment for which a person should live their life according to. On the left, is evil; that which is the cause of most human misery, and prevents peace on earth. In John Gardner’s book Grendel, the retelling of the ages old story Beowulf, further blurs the line between good and evil. Circumstance and perhaps a confused view of reality allow the monster, Grendel, to conceivably defend his evil beliefs. In order to better understand evil, using Grendel as a guide, I intend to attempt to justify it.

    Read More

  • King Ler And Inferno Research Paper

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the works of famous pieces of literature such as Dante Alighieri’s Inferno and William Shakespeare’s King Lear, the common theme of justice is prevalent throughout the works. Often resulting in physical pain, the concept of justice throughout these two works of literature reinforces the brute and cruel perspective that Dante and King Lear experience firsthand. The subsequent death of King Lear after Cordelia demonstrates the ultimate guilt in which King Lear experienced due to his arrogant and ignorant perception of the amount of love that Cordelia feels towards her father. Dante’s journey through the afterlife conveys the illumination of his transformation from a sinner who lost his path, to a spiritually righteous man.

    Read More

  • Judgment Awaits in A Good Main Is Hard to Find

    1346 Words  | 3 Pages

    Society, individuals, and governments all have their own definition of good. They vary a little, but they are still followed. However, when the definition of good is manipulated to fit someone’s own character, it loses its meaning. In the narrative, A Good Man is Hard to Find, the narrator creates a new definition of good; however, so do the characters. Eventually, the antagonist’s definition of good, which is just her values, along with her egotistical and manipulative nature, results in her downfall; the author employs biblical allusion and a series of plot twists to emphasize these tragic flaws.

    Read More

  • Divine Comedy - Contrapasso of Dante’s Inferno

    1650 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Dante’s Inferno, Dante takes a journey with Virgil through the many levels of Hell in order to experience and see the different punishments that sinners must endure for all eternity. As Dante and Virgil descend into the bowels of Hell, it becomes clear that the suffering increases as they continue to move lower into Hell, the conical recess in the earth created when Lucifer fell from Heaven. Dante values the health of society over self. This becomes evident as the sinners against society experience suffering greater than those suffer which were only responsible for sinning against themselves. Dante uses contrapasso, the Aristotelian theory that states a soul’s form of suffering in Hell contrasts or extends their sins in their life on earth, to ensure that the sinners never forget their crimes against God. Even though some of the punishments the sinners in Hell seem arbitrary, they are fitting because contrapasso forces each sinner to re-live the most horrible aspect of their sin to ensure they never forget their crimes against God.

    Read More

  • The Allegory of the Cave and Dante

    1237 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ards monstrous figures and sympathy towards those who seem to be tortured unjustly. In his perverse education, with instruction from Virgil and the shades, Dante learns to replace mercy with brutality, because sympathy in Hell condones sin and denies divine justice. The ancient philosopher Plato, present in the first level of Hell, argues in The Allegory of the Cave that truth is possible via knowledge of the Form of the Good. Similarly, Dante acquires truth through a gradual understanding of contrapasso and the recognition of divine justice in the afterlife. Ultimately, Dante recognizes that the actions of the earthly fresh are important because the soul lives on afterwards to face the ramifications. By expressing his ideas on morality and righteousness, Dante writes a work worth reading, immortalizes his name, and exalts the beliefs of his Christian audience.

    Read More

  • Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy

    1145 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy is said to be the single greatest epic poem of all time. The opening story of the character of Dante the Pilgrim is told in the first of the three divisions: The Inferno. The Inferno is a description of Dante’s journey down through Hell and of the several degrees of suffering and many mythical creatures that he encounters on the way. Throughout his travel Dante displays many different feelings and actions but the emotion that summarizes the entire poem is fear. While some of his character traits change as his mind matures and acknowledges the justice being carried out, from the very beginning until the final Canto, his fear does not subside. This does well to reinforce the symbolism of Dante as Everyman and serves to direct the reader to the moral purpose of Divine Comedy, because of the humility and dependence upon God that fear produces. In the first Canto, which serves as an introduction to the entire comedy, Dante encounters the three beasts which impede his progress out of the dark woods. Coming upon the She-Wolf he writes: "This last beast brought my spirit down so low / with fear that seized me at the sight of her, / lost all hope of going up the hill" (I.52-54). Dante is so shaken by the appearances of the three beasts that he rushes headlong into the dark woods he has just come out of. This is only the first obstacle Dante encounters, but it proves an insurmountable one.

    Read More

  • The Journey of the Inferno

    1987 Words  | 4 Pages

    Rudd, Jay. Critical Companion to Dante: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. New York. 2008. Print.

    Read More

  • Moral Evil Research Paper

    2001 Words  | 5 Pages

    Moral evil was an issue that weighed heavily on the minds of the people of the Medieval period. Philosophers and poets alike attempted to address and understand the problem of moral evil, scrutinizing the roots of evil and the effects of evil on the body and, more importantly, on the soul. Of the philosophers that the period produced the views of St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Boethius on the problem of evil are perhaps the most notable. From the literary side of the spectrum, the problem of evil is addressed heavily in Beowulf.

    Read More

  • Dante Alligheri's Divine Comedy

    545 Words  | 2 Pages

    Conflict can be found in many stories and it is one of the key pieces to making a story. Without a central conflict in a story the story will seem generic or boring. Writers like to put a conflict in the story to add life to their work and keep the reader interested in what they are reading. It is a way to keep the reader wondering what happens next. In the Divine Comedy, Dante’s Inferno, the main character in the story, Dante, encounters all five types of the different conflicts on his journey through Hell. Some of these conflicts include: person against self, people against people, and Dante against Society.

    Read More

  • Inferno by Dante Alighieri

    830 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dante uses this poem to communicate the way in which he views human evil and how he classifies and judges each kind of evil. To achieve this classification and judgment, Dante uses strict doctrinal Christian values. In other words, the worst sins do not necessarily violate human happiness or harmony on Earth, but instead disrupt God’s will in Heaven. For example, Dante considers violence to be a lesser sin than fraud. This is because fraud more greatly opposes God’s will; God wa...

    Read More

  • Chaucer’s The Prioress

    919 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Medieval period of The Canterbury Tales is held on April 11, 1387. The writing style of tales are literary skilled. “There is clear evidence in them that Chaucer was familiar with a considerable number of the great book of his time, and it is fairly well established that his writings show a steady increase in his literary skill” (Chaucer xxxvii). Chaucer is a writer of surprise. His stories not only come from plots of other writers but also from his lifetime. “There is of course no explaining where or how Chaucer acquired his ability as a great storyteller. However, the fact that he was a man of affairs as well as a man of books, a civil servant who dealt frequently with people from all walks of life, seem to have had great influence on the writing he did at night when he returned home from the office” (Chaucer xxxv). The Prioress tells an anti-Semitic tale, which reflects her position among the clergy.

    Read More

More about Good and Evil in Dante’s Divine Comedy and Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath

Open Document