Dante's Inferno

Inferno is the first part of Dante’s Divine Comedy. There is no doubt that inferno is talking about the world of hell, which looks like Virgil’s Aeneid. In people’s mind, the under-earth world always seems dark and terrified. They also believe that most evil souls who do horrible and immoral things will go to hell after they die. Hell is the place that no people want to go to talk about. However, in Dante’s poem, hell is his first journey. He cannot avoid it to approach haven. Dante shows many vivid images of hell to readers and lead the readers to go through the journey with him. His inferno contains general facts of hell, which are evil people, horrible punishment, and eternal surfing, but it also involves an unexpected element that is love.

The Inferno is a book that has grabbed a large ,and ever growing, audience for centuries. The book challenged 14th century catholicism and continues to challenge modern day theology. Tackling topics that are usually considered to sensitive to touch, Dante gives us a book filled with dark and light, a physiological adventure and a physical one, religious and historical controversy, a story that everyone can relate to in a strange and different way. Every person who reads this book walks away having complete their own spiritual journey and going on to challenge what they think and fight for what they believe, just as Dante did when he wrote this book. The story of Dante's life makes it seem as though he was born to challenge political and religious ideas.

In Limbo, Virgil appears before Dante. Lost and confused, Dante comes to the realization that this shade before him is his hero and asks him to be his convoy through hell. " 'Poet, by that God to you unknown,/ lead me this way. Beyond this present ill and worse to dread, lead me to Peter's gate/ and be my guide though the sad halls of Hell./'" (I 124-126).

It is commonly believed that the way someone acts is a reflection of their surroundings, whether immediate or long term. If you are surrounded by things that scare you, you will likely act panicked and frantic. If you grow up in an area infested with criminals, you will likely act less dramatically when you see minor crimes committed. The same theory goes for many protagonists in stories and poems. It is no different for Inferno, a poem by Dante Alighieri, where the protagonist is immediately affected by his surroundings.

The theme of equilibrium between reason and faith is one of the core messages of Inferno and it is essential in conveying the main idea of the Divine Comedy and of the pilgrim’s journey that the exploitation of intellect and the misuse of will is the cause of sin, and that through faith, those who are morally lost find their salvation in God. In Inferno Dante makes it clear that he greatly values knowledge and reason in a way that is more characteristic to the Renaissance rather than of his own Medieval time. However, throughout this first book, the author reminds the audience of the Christian nature of his poem as he uses the stories of the sinners he encounters to stress the idea that without faith, the intellect is not sufficient to achieve divine salvation and that the misuse of reason can often lead to terrible sins.

“My Guide and I crossed over and began to mount that little known and lightless road to ascend into the shinning world again.” The Inferno, by Dante Alighieri, is an epic poem, divine comedy, which was written in the 1500’s in Italian. Dante Alighieri lost his mother at a very young age and was exiled from his hometown, Florence when his group, the White Guelphs got into a disagreement with the Black Guelphs. Dante was a writer and greatly involved in politics which influenced him to write this epic poem. The story starts at with him meeting the ghost of Virgil, his idol, who becomes his guide for the remainder of the book and tries to escort Dante to heaven to be with his love, Beatrice.

images that Dante uses in his story were developed from his own interpretations of the stories

According to The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Dante Alighieri’s poem, the Inferno, is monumentally influential part of literature, especially the European literature. The poem is structured around creating an image of hell. Regarding religion, the poem has had its share of prevalence. In his work,

From the very beginning of Dante’s Inferno, a difference in the characterization of Dante the Poet and Dante the Pilgrim is very evident. While Dante the Poet is the one essentially writing the epic poem and shamelessly assigning each sinner’s punishment, Dante the Pilgrim is traveling through the different Circles of Hell and experiencing each sinner’s emotions first hand. Dante the Poet has a different perspective on each sinner which permits him to be aware of details that Dante the Pilgrim is oblivious to, thus leading to their differing viewpoints on each person encountered. By examining Dante the Pilgrim’s actions towards sinners through the duration of this epic poem, specifically when interacting with those placed in Limbo, Francesca and Paolo, Phlegyas, and eventually Bocca, a transition within Dante the Pilgrim’s attitude towards the sinners is very apparent. Because the sins became more and more extreme in both God and Dante the Poet’s eyes as they traveled through each circle and ultimately approached Circle Nine of Hell, Dante the Pilgrim transformed into a character very similar to Dante the Poet.

Of Confessions? The poem “The Inferno” is an interesting and magnificent narrative by Dante of his encounter of going to hell and back. The poem talks about the afterlife, teachings of religions, and mortality. Dante talks about his experience using artistic expressions and how the narrative is full of ghosts wandering around

Through Dante’s journey the reader can instantly connect to Dante because of the use of “I,” “Our,” and “We.” The use of these words allow for readers to imagine themselves in Dante’s position. Alighieri engages the reader’s mind as soon as the work starts

Often when we set out to journey in ourselves, we come to places that surprise us with their strangeness. Expecting to see what is straightforward and acceptable, we suddenly run across the exceptions. Just as we as self‹examiners might encounter our inner demons, so does Dante the writer as he sets out to walk through his Inferno. Dante explains his universe - in terms physical, political, and spiritual - in the Divine Comedy. He also gives his readers a glimpse into his own perception of what constitutes sin. By portraying characters in specific ways, Dante the writer can shape what Dante the pilgrim feels about each sinner. Also, the reader can look deeper in the text and examine the

Dante's `Divine Comedy', the account of his journey through hell, purgatory and heaven is one of the worlds great poems, and a prime example of a most splendidly realized integration of life with art. More than being merely great poetry, or a chronicle of contemporary events, which it also is, the `Comedy' is a study of human nature by a man quite experienced with it. The main argument I will make in this essay is that Dante's `Comedy' is chiefly a work of historical significance because in it lies the essence of human life across all boundaries of time and place. I feel that such a reading is justified, nay invited, by Dante himself when he says;

It is necessary to state that a journey through Heaven fascinates readers and gives a complete vent to the imagination. I believe that it is the last great portion of poetry from the period of Dante’s maturity. In it, more than in other parts of the poem, it is possible to see small but perfect fragments of lyrics. While

The Divine Comedy is an epic that has been studied and analyzed by numerous literary experts from around the world for centuries. It’s impacts on the start of the literary revival that comes with the Renaissance; Dante Alighieri’s epic poem conveys complex themes and symbols. By studying accomplished literary specialists that have analyzed Dante Alighieri’s intricate motifs, The Divine Comedy can be unraveled to uncover an epic that reveals an allegory through the journey of a human life. Alighieri uses contradicting ideas which reference to history, politics, and ethics combined with mixed styles of language that represent a universal theme of good and evil.