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Literary analysis of dante inferno
Literary analysis of dante inferno
Literary analysis of dante inferno
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Throughout Dante’s Inferno, Dante travels through the many circles and pouches of Hell, encountering people of all kind: the lustful, the gluttonous, the heretics, the violent, the hypocrites, and the thieves. Each person who falls into one of these categories is given a punishment that most would say is deserved, for it suits the level of their crime. During their lifetime, the individual completes a sin that is a blame-worthy or culpable action. The result to their action in the after life would be there punishment, or their “counter – penalty” (Source). However, some people in Hell are situated in their certain circles because they fell under basic human emotions such as love, or were completely blinded by something, like insanity. This
In most ancient literature some sort of divine justice is used to punish people's acts in life. This is that case with Dante's Inferno, where the Author categorizes hell in 9 circles. Circle 9 being the lowest sins and punishments as the circles decrease. From the time this was written to now in days many things have changed, and things are not seen the same no more. Back then sins like greed and gluttony were ranked as high sins but now people would probably rank those very low with other things like murder way on top. Yet the basic structure set by Dante remains.
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...
This notion of the suitability of God’s punishments figures significantly in the structure of Dante’s Hell. To readers, as well as Dante himself (the character), the torments Dante and Virgil behold seem surprisingly harsh, possibly harsher than is fair, Dante exclaims this with surprise. He doesn’t actually wonder who decided on these tortures. He knows it was god. What he is questioning is how these punishments are just, since they don’t appear to be just from a human’s point of view which views each punishment together with its conjugate sin only superficially. For example, homosexuals must endure an eternity of walking on hot sand, and those who charge interest on loans sit beneath a rain of fire. At first glance, each one seems too terrible for any sin. However, when the poem is viewed as a whole, it becomes clear that the guiding principle of these punishments is one of balance. Sinners suffer punishment to the degree befitting the gravity of their sin, in a manner matching that sin’s nature. The structures of the poem and of hell serve to reinforce this correspondence.
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.
Divine punishment occurs in Oedipus and Dante’s Inferno. Divine Punishment is an endless punishment where your fate is determined and you cannot escape it. It is known as an irreversible occurrence that creates attitudes within characters that harms themselves and others. Oedipus faced a punishment that he had no choice over and couldn’t escape it. In Dante’s Inferno, people chose to sin and make their own decisions when sinning. The difference is that in Dante’s Inferno, some sins could’ve been escaped by man. People in Dante’s Inferno chose to sin while Oedipus had no choice and couldn’t escape it. Divine punishment can be escaped by man after a certain age of maturity, and control of their own actions. The question is, can divine punishment
Judgment, a term used in Christianity to refer to someone’s soul, heart and their deeds. Dante Alighieri was the first person to judge people and put them in Hell for their deeds and actions in life. The book, Dante’s Inferno, explores morality and judgment. It is a book that truly says, “The punishment fits the crime.” It explores the deeds of people such as William Howard Taft, King John, Otto von Bismarck, and Nostradamus. These people are in Inferno for the same reason that someone like Alexander the Great is there because they committed some sort of crime or sin while living on Earth. These people violated absolute standards of humanity and behavior that is in fact there across culture and time.
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.
Dante Alighieri's The Inferno is a poem written in first person that tells a story of Dante’s journey through the nine circles of Hell after he strays from the rightful path. Each circle of Hell contains sinners who have committed different sins during their lifetime and are punished based on the severity of their sins. When taking into the beliefs and moral teachings of the Catholic Church into consideration, these punishments seem especially unfair and extreme.
The “law of nature” that applies to Hell, in Dante’s Inferno, states that for every sinner’s crime there has to be an equal and fitting punishment. The mistreatment has to match with the crime of the sinner. The level of Hell that best represents contrapasso is circle 2. The sinners in circle two are those who are guilty of lust; in this circle, they are condemned to eternal torment. For instance, Dante states that “ I came into a place mute of light, which bellows as the sea does in a tempest, if by opposing winds’t is combated” (Canto 5). The sinners are being blown around in circles by never-ending winds. The sinners, who couldn't control their appetite for lust, do not have control in this circle; therefore, the punishment is a perfect match for the
“Through me you pass into the city of woe: Through me you pass into eternal pain: Through me among the people lost for aye” (Alighieri III 1/3). “Inferno”, the first section of the Divine Comedy devised by Dante Alighieri, illustrates the qualifications of a sin, and the punishments befalling a sinner within the nine levels of Hell. Alighieri’s moral ranking of sins, while appropriate for 14th century Italy, contradict modern-day western principles and ethics. Current social tolerance and knowledge in psychology go against Alighieri’s decision of what is sin, and placement of these ‘sins’.
In Dante’s Inferno, Dante is forced to make a journey through Hell in order to save his soul and while he comes out with desires to never come back, he has no further comprehension of God’s justice which rules Hell. The journey begins when Beatrice, an angel in heaven, sent the soul of Vergil to guide Dante to do “whatever need be for his good/ and soul’s salvation” (II, 68-69). Vergil decides to show Dante Hell, and concentrates on revealing God’s justice to him as he believes that if Dante could understand this concept, it would drastically change his destiny. Vergil starts by introducing the beginning of Hell as the place where “Divine Justice transforms and spurs” the souls forward (III, 122). Here Vergil presents God’s
All of these problems can be resolved with the will to do so, unlike the sins Dante has uncovered. Treachery, greed, betrayal, murder and many more are permanently stuck in the mind of the sinner or the person they have hurt, for infinitude. Dante felt that since a person has done something so horrific that it will haunt them for the rest of their lives, they deserve a suffering spot in hell and the constant reminder of what they committed. The induction of sins, however, seems illogical. For example, limbos should not have any place in hell. Since those citizens had no choice or sight when they were born into their family doesn’t mean they should have to spend afterlife in hell. Dante must have felt strongly about religion and the importance of loyalty towards God to decide on this particular sin. Also, fraud should be given a higher ranking than violence. Violence is physically hurting an alive and well human being, yet fraud is messing with minds and objects which is much easier to mend. Dante decided these particular sins to organize his emotions towards the wrong of the world, only so he could focus on the
The brave and unlikely journey of Dante in The Inferno by Dante Alighieri takes him through the depths of Hell in a search for Heaven. During his quest, he witnesses sinners belonging to various levels of Hell, who receive a specific punishment according to their sins. In Circle 8, Ditch 9 sowers of discord were cut in half to the degree of the schism they caused, like the lives of the people who were divided, clearly showing the punishment is fitting of the sinners’ crimes. Additionally, Circle 1, or Limbo, contained those who were uninvolved in Christianity, so the punishment was to exist in eternal inactivity to represent their lack of an active religion, perfectly appropriate for the sins.
My level of Hell for non-believers is most similar to Dante Alighieri’s level of violence against God, nature, and art. One way in which these two level relate is my level of hell and Dante’s level of hell have people trying to change what God has already given them to follow. “Once Rhea chose it as the secret crypt and cradle of her son; and better to hide him, her Corybantes raised a din when he wept” (Dante 1494-96). Rhea tries to change her fate that God had set for her, which leads her to become a sinner. Dante sets certain punishments to different types of sinners; Blasphemer is violence against God, their punishment is to be burned on the sand. In my level of hell, people have to be burned at the stake and limbs are torn apart from their
In Dante’s Inferno see the author's view of levels of sin in hell's nine levels of sin. Every level containing a distinct penalty for various types of sin. The sins committed are Lust to have an intense desire or need. Gluttony excess in eating and drinking. Greed excessive or reprehensible acquisitiveness, Laziness. disinclined to activity or exertion. Wrath strong vengeful anger or indignation. Envy painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to own the same advantage. Pride quality or state of being proud inordinate self esteem.