The Vaule of Personal Development in The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri

In Italian Dante Alighieri (1265) Poem, The Divine Comedy Inferno, Translated by Mark Musa. Dante demonstrates the value of personal development which is the ability to keep a balanced life and continuously learn from past mistakes in order to create a better future. Dante begins the poem wrapped in his own thoughts and suffering but by the end of the poem he begins to understand other’s sufferings beyond his own. In his growth throughout his journey he learns about pain and sorrow that he cannot comprehend. He becomes more aware of the torture that is around him. At the beginning he appears to think that his life was horrible but by the end of the poem he seems to realize that he can make his and others lives better by becoming a better person. Dante also learns how to respect others by learning why the shades are in hell without judging them for their crimes, a few times however Dante disregards the core value of respect when he comes across a few shades that he personally disliked during that shades life time. Dante feels that a shade deserves to be psychically harm a shade when the shade does not respond. This shows complete disregard of the respect core value. The core value of excellence is also represented by Dante. The excellence core value is striving to be the best in all that you do and to always try to do everything better than the last time. As he goes through the layers of hell he learns more about life and gains courage that he lacked at the beginning of the poem.

Dante, the main character and the hero of Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy found himself alone in the woods he was thirty-five years old and terribly frightened. “I had become so sleepy at the moment when I first strayed, leaving the path of the trut...

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...te become surer of himself and less of a coward. Dante lost respect for some of the shades, at the beginning of the poem he spoke with respect to the shades and pitied them immensely. Towards the ending of the poem Dante lost most respect for the shades and went as far as kicking a shade in the head demanding that the shade answers him. This shows a decline in the value of respect rather than gaining more knowledge in how to be respectful. Excellence is a core value related to personal development and Dante shows in increase in excellence as his journey comes to an end. Over all Dante’s character improves by the ending of the poem. Though he has been through hell he comes out with a new understanding of life, appears less depressed and more courageous.

Works Cited

Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy, Inferno. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009. Print.