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Examples Of Allegory In Dantes Inferno

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Inferno, written by Dante Alighieri in the early 1300s, discusses Dante’s journey through Hell. Dante is the protagonist in this comedy. While its genre is comedy, comedy during the middle ages was known to have a happy ending, Inferno has also been referenced to as an epic poem or a long narrative. The happy ending in Inferno or Dante’s other works in conjunction with Inferno would be Paradise or Heaven. Dante goes through his journey in hell with Virgil. Virgil is in Hell because he lived in a time before Christ appeared on Earth, but has gotten orders to guide Dante through Hell. The journey is in the best interest of Dante possibly for sins he may have done. One major theme of Inferno is actions and how it affects a certain person’s reputation. Dante discusses the levels of Hell and how one person sinned to get to that level. There are 9 levels throughout Hell, starting with Ante-Inferno or the Neutrals and ending with fraudulent which consists of hypocrites and thieves and also treacherous people. Another theme in Inferno, is sinning. Sinning is what gets an individual in to Hell, and once they are in Hell regardless of what level, they are stuck. …show more content…

Almost all of Inferno is an allegory. Dante’s journey through Hell is an allegory for everybody’s thoughts on sins and their repercussions. All of the levels of Hell are an allegory. Gluttons eat too much, falsifiers make counterfeit money and deceivers are liars. All of these levels of Hell have a meaning with them. Dante’s journey in to the woods at the beginning of the story is also an allegory. Dante writes “Midway along the journey of our life. I woke to find myself in a dark wood, for I had wandered off from the straight path.” (Alighieri 1053) This is an allegory for Dante’s life and how about half way through, he is getting off the straight path of

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