Dante's Inferno : The General Strategy And Structure

Before the Renaissance, Italy & most of Europe were entrenched in the Middle Age idea that man is tarnished and unworthy. The viewpoint of the Middle Ages led to obsession with political and religious hierarchies, which greatly contrasted the individualistic mindset of the Renaissance. The Renaissance allowed people to become less absorbed in religious hierarchy and more curious about the capabilities of man. The idea of individualism is essentially linked to humanism and the desire to pursue education in the arts and the humanities. The concept of the individualism gave use to the idea of the Renaissance man, or the all sided man, which is someone who is capable and knowledge of all things.

Dante’s The Inferno is his own interpretation of the circles of hell. The people that Dante places in hell tried to validate their offenses and have never seen the injustice of their crime or crimes. They were each placed in a specific circle in Hell, Dante has nine circles in his hell. Each circle holds those accountable for that specific crime. Each circle has its own unique and fitting punishment for the crime committed. There are three different main types of offenses; they are incontinence, violence, and fraud. These offenses are divided into Dante’s nine rings of Hell. Each of these rings has a progressively worse punishment, starting with crimes of passion and

The people in Dante's second circle of hell all committed crimes regarding sexual desires. Whether it was falling in love for one, when being promised to another or simply cheating. These were all against the code of conduct and looked at as offences that landed them in hell. Another transgression was people who act out of sexual desire rather than doing what's right.

Dante's Inferno explores the nature of human suffering through a precautionary light. As Dante and Virgil move through the Inferno, Dante sees what has become of people who overindulged in things such as, lust, gluttony, violence, and bribery. Few of the punishments described in the Inferno have a direct correlation to the sin that the souls committed while they were living. Rather, they are a representation of what happens when we commit those crimes against ourselves and others. We create hells for not only ourselves, but those who we have sinned against. These hells are almost impossible to come back from as most of these sins cannot be taken back or undone. Some of the punishments that were clear representations were the punishments of

In Dante’s Inferno, the author Dante Alighieri described the journey of his fictionalized self going through Hell. Dante describes all nine circles as grisly and grave. Gustave Doré’s paintings relate the most to Dante’s descriptions. Doré’s paintings of the Inferno are dark and mysterious, which is how Dante explains Hell in his story. Doré does not use color in his paintings; all of his painting of the Inferno are black, white, and in some shade of grey. His paintings reflect the mood that Dante was trying to interpret in his story. This is why Dante would choose Gustave Doré to illustrate Inferno.

After crossing the Phlegethon, Dante the Pilgrim and Virgil cross into a dark forest where there are “no green leaves, but rather black in color, no smooth branches, but twisted and entangled, no fruit, but thorns of poison bloomed instead” (Dante, Inferno 186). The forest is depicted this way to give a picture of the barren nature of suicide. Dante sees the Harpies nesting and tearing at the trees surrounding them, “....in Greek mythology the Harpies are storm-winds which act as ministers of Divine vengeance, mysteriously snatching offenders away out of the visible world” (Dartmouth). The Harpies are a depiction of how those who commit suicide snatch themselves away from the visible world. He hears wails of torment within the woods all around him and Dante is confused by the noise and its origin. He first thinks that the yelling comes from individuals hiding behind the trees, but learns the truth once prompted by Virgil to break a branch. Dante tears off a piece of a “great thornbush.” The emphasis on the size of the bush may be a way to signify the importance of the man entrapped inside it, possibly like Medieval art in which artists stress the importance of a specific character by making it larger (Dartmouth). To Dante’s surprise, blood began to spew out of the branch, and the tree starts to speak directly to the Pilgrim. This tree, named Pier, committed suicide after being accused of treason. Pier continues to swear on “the new roots of this tree” that

I think Dante’s description of Hell is a wonderful work of literature. Dante uses numerous literary techniques to describe his vision of Hell to the reader. In my opinion, one of the most affective techniques used by Dante is symbolism. It would be a very difficult task to compile a brief list of significant symbols from the Cantos that we read in class. Dante utilized many symbols throughout each canto. Some of the symbols that Dante used in Inferno are well defined and easy to interpret, while other symbols are much more difficult to recognize and understand. For this paper, I will be analyzing multiple symbols from Dante’s Inferno. Some of the symbols came from the Canto’s that were included in class

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

The architectural and emotional literary synopsis of passage 15.1-30 suggests an insight to Dante Alighieri’s natural human characters pilgrimage and life journey through hell. At this moment Dante cannot see anything that resembles comfort or familiarity. The architecture of this circle thus far includes, “protecting banks”, “stoney boarders”, “bulwalk”, and “dikes” protecting it from flooding waters. This circle’s punishment for homosexuals is to walk with madness in the soil and fire raining on their skin. The architecture of the surrounding walls are not built to keep the living out, but to the “repel the sea”. The purpose of surrounding walls are to prevent fresh water from washing these people who walk through fire clean. Dante uses a simile to compare the flock of souls eyes to, “knitted brows like a old tailor’s needle’s eyes”. This gives a deeper perception of warmth, realism, and humanization of these sinner’s emotions and intentions. Dante finds his teacher, Bunetto Latini, running in hell, which he unconditionally honors and loves. This scene in essence illuminates how Dante finds the most sincere and familiar person he knows, in the utter most bowels of hell. Dante’s exchange with his former teacher is the most natural and bravest he has had in the novel. A

I'm chained to the hard stone wall. The chains are digging into my wrists,and ankles. I haven't eaten for months,everyday I waste away. More and more I feel as lf my body is devouring itself. They refuse to feed enough to fully sustain myself but enough for i could fight. I silently laugh at myself,looking down at the rough scars that marred my body. Each scar told a story about the person I killed. I could fully heal the scars but they reminded me of the lives I took. Reminded me that I'm no better than an animal.

Inferno, written by Dante Alighieri illustrates the idea of justice through the belief that with each action arise a consequence. What you sin above ground, you deal with under. Through this he gives examples of the sins done and the punishment that is inflicted from doing such thing as a disgrace to God. All through Dantes imagination and his views as to how it should be done, there is a punishment for each area of sin committed which is why a person who bribes will be in the further in the level of hell, as compared to someone who has killed an innocent.

With the mention of Hell, flames and spankings lick the minds of children, while adults contemplate the evil ratings of their own soul and the uncertainty approaching them. How uncertain should a person be in considering their afterlife? If a grand god randomly flings humans about, dividing them into heaven or hell, or if he chooses favorites, every cause for uncertainty and fear should remain. However, if the determination of a human’s placement into heaven or Hell was not soley the jurisdiction of a higher being, the question raises to what ability humans have in determining their place in the afterlife, and where does the perfect justice of an eternal God intervene? In God in the Dock, C.S. Lewis writes,“It's not a question of God 'sending'

Journeys can be taken many ways. Some people take the path less traveled and some people take the easy way out. Dante happens to be on journey that is less traveled, by exploring the depths of Hell in the Inferno. The epic poem’s story is about self-realization and transformation. It sees Dante over coming many things to realize he is a completely different person from the start of the Inferno journey. Dante sees many things that help him gain courage in order to prove to himself and the reader that accepting change and gaining courage can help one to grow as a person and realize their full potential. After seeing people going through certain punishment Dante realizes that he must not seek pity on himself and others in order to fully realize his true potential.

In his first article of The Inferno, Dante Alighieri starts to present a vivid view of Hell by taking a journey through many levels of it with his master Virgil. This voyage constitutes the main plot of the poem. The opening Canto mainly shows that, on halfway through his life, the poet Dante finds himself lost in a dark forest by wandering into a tangled valley. Being totally scared and disoriented, Dante sees the sunshine coming down from a hilltop, so he attempts to climb toward the light. However, he encounters three wild beasts on the way up to the mountain—a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf—which force him to turn back. Then Dante sees a human figure, which is soon revealed to be the great Roman poet Virgil. He shows a different path

The Divine Comedy is much more than an epic poem depicting a man’s interpretation of Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. Written by Italian poet, Dante Alighieri, the Divine Comedy frequently alludes to the political turmoil that was prevalent throughout 14th century Italy, specifically, the city of Florence. During this period of Italian history, there was a lack of a stable government and a power struggle between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Emperor. This paper will analyze the political aspects within the Divine Comedy and its connection to religion, focusing specifically on the Inferno.