Human Suffering in Inferno and King Lear Essay example

Dante's use of allegory in the Inferno greatly varies from Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" in purpose, symbolism, characters and mentors, and in attitude toward the world. An analysis of each of these elements in both allegories will provide an interesting comparison. Dante uses allegory to relate the sinner's punishment to his sin, while Plato uses allegory to discuss ignorance and knowledge. Dante's Inferno describes the descent through Hell from the upper level of the opportunists to the most evil, the treacherous, on the lowest level. His allegorical poem describes a hierarchy of evil.

The poem Inferno is about a man who has “lost the path that does not stray” (Inferno, Canto I, line 3) where “the path” represents the path to Heaven. Dante, having strayed from the path, is in danger of being sent to Hell. When Beatrice, whom Dante loved before her early death, finds out that Dante has strayed she becomes worried that he will not be able to join her in Heaven. Beatrice wants to help Dante find God again, but because she is an angel, she cannot walk through Hell or Purgatory and in her stead she asks the Roman poet Virgil to guide Dante on a cautionary trip. Much the way Dante travels through Hell in the Divine Comedy, Macbeth must endure the consequences of his actions.

This dichotomy between external blames and internal repentance is used by Shakespeare to demonstrate the tragic nature of King Lear from more than one plane, showing how two different personalities respond to two similar fates.

Both Lear and Capaneus show excessive pride and stubbornness throughout their respective works, and fail to see their own faults. They were forewarned about their punishments, yet they continued down the path that would bring them the most suffering. Even though suffering is an inevitable part of living and there is no path in life that does not include some sort of suffering, these two men chose the ones that would bring them the most pain.

The concepts of nature, humanity, power and love lay as a foundation for Shakespeare’s, King Lear. These notions are examined through the actions and realizations of King Lear, himself. Throughout the discourse of this play we view the portrayal of humans as animals and witness King Lear’s mistreatment after he gives away his power. When doing so he makes clear his view on love and its value, solely based on the flattery of words.Through nature, King Lear becomes grounded and recognizes the animalistic behaviors of the rich and the struggles of the poor. This recognition brings him to an utmost discovery that presents the reality of vicious humanity and changes the way he views the world.

Dante’s work Inferno is a vivid walkthrough the depths of hell and invokes much imagery, contemplation and feeling. Dante’s work beautifully constructs a full sensory depiction of hell and the souls he encounters along the journey. In many instances within the work the reader arrives at a crossroads for interpretation and discussion. Canto XI offers one such crux in which Dante asks the question of why there is a separation between the upper levels of hell and the lower levels of hell. By discussing the text, examining its implications and interpretations, conclusions can be drawn about why there is delineation between the upper and lower levels and the rationale behind the separation.

King Lear is understandably one of William Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, it encompasses the journey through suffering and explores, in detail, the idea of justice. Each character in the play experience s one or the other throughout the progression of the plot, it is evident that through compositional features such as these, the play write is trying to convey this meaning. Through methods such as intense imagery, motifs, repetition of words and rhyming the play write has given intensity to certain passages, speeches and conversations. Shakespeare, through the use of character development, unravels the way in which humanity responds to injustice, the character relationships, specifically character foils, give rise to a number of notions

In “King Lear” Shakespeare highlights that human suffering is unavoidable, the choices he made throughout the play led to a series of events that eventually changed his life for the worse due to stubbornness and not accepting knowledge from the wise. The choices that are made on our behalf not only affects the way life unfolds but also the people surrounding us. Both the Inferno and King Lear have aspects of desperation, but the tone of the works display their differences. In today's generation not often do we take time to completely think through on our decisions, but rather act off of impulse and have to deal with the severity of the consequences of our selfish decisions later. Even though suffering is apart of living and there is no path that does not include some sort of suffering, these two men chose

   In The Inferno, Dante explores the ideas of Good and Evil. He expands on the possibilities of life and death, and he makes clear that consequences follow actions. Like a small generator moving a small wheel, Dante uses a single character to move through the entire of Hell's eternity. Yet, like a clock, that small wheel is pivotal in turning many, many others. This single character, Dante himself, reveals the most important abstract meaning in himself: A message to man; a warning about mankind's destiny. Through his adventures, Dante is able to reveal many global concepts of good and evil in humanity.

There is no denying that Shakespeare is a definitive playwright. He has presented us with classic works that have set the precedent for drama and the theatre. Among Shakespeare’s more notable plays are his tragedies. In the tragedy his protagonists are often given flaws in their character and hence, are suitably named tragic heroes. The downfall of these protagonists is often a result of their own character flaws and unfortunately, they suffer a doomed and unhappy ending. While the tragic hero is flawed they must also be honorable and worthy of the audience’s understanding and sympathy. On a quest for righteousness the tragic hero often goes through immense suffering which is why the audience can feel bad for him. For the most

In Dante’s Inferno, Dante is taken on a journey through hell. On this journey, Dane sees the many different forms of sins, and each with its own unique contrapasso, or counter-suffering. Each of these punishments reflects the sin of a person, usually offering some ironic way of suffering as a sort of revenge for breaking God’s law. As Dante wrote this work and developed the contrapassos, he allows himself to play God, deciding who is in hell and why they are there. He uses this opportunity to strike at his foes, placing them in the bowels of hell, saying that they have nothing to look forward to but the agony of suffering and the separation from God.

Hamlet and Oedipus are stories about sons of royalty, cursed with the death’s of their fathers, then cursed with incest and secrets. In a soliloquy near the end of the play, Hamlet recollects, “How stand I, then, / That have a father killed, a mother stained, / Excitements of my reason and my blood,” (Shakespeare 4.4.60-61). After finding out truth of his curse, he cries out, “Oedipus, damned in his birth, in his marriage damned,” (Sophocles 1122). Hamlet and Oedipus are both typified by their rash and impulsive behavior that will ultimately lead to their downfall. Oedipus, King of Thebes, kills his father without knowledge of who it was in rash behavior he says, “But as the charioteer lurched towards me I struck him in my rage… and he rolled on the ground. I killed him.”(Sophocles 766-767, 771). Anger consumes Oedipus and torments him as his brother-in-law Creon says, “Ugly in yielding, as you were ugly in rage!/ Natures like yours chiefly torment themselves.” (Sophocles 635-636). Likewise, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, acts impulsively to get revenge upon his uncle, King Claudius, for killing King Hamlet and in the end gets himself killed. Although Laertes tells the truth, saying, “The King, the King’s to blame.” just lines later, Hamlet says, “Horatio, I am dead. / Thou livest; report me and my cause aright / To the unsatisfied.” (5.2.351, 370-373)

This reckless behaviour causes Lear to lose a valued and trustworthy follower. Without a doubt, Lear's rash behaviour contributes to the suffering he endures at the hands of others.

In both texts, individuals are destined to suffer. Regardless of the individual being rich or poor, moral or immoral or good-hearted, they are all impacted. In King Lear, individuals such as Gloucester, Edgar and Lear all suffer. Gloucester suffers due to his flaw of gullibility which causes him to misjudge Edgar and trust Edmund. Lear suffers psychologically due to the poor mistreatment by his malicious daughters. His inability to cope with his daughters shocking behavior leads to hate and anger resulting in his “wits to turn” (King Lear III ii 73). Lear’s resentment towards his daughters’ betrayal and continuous suffering pushes him to the verge of turning insane. Lear, once a powerful, rich man on top of the hierarchy, becomes a powerless,

King Lear is frequently regarded as one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, and its tragic scope touches almost all facets of the human condition: from the familial tensions between parents and children to the immoral desires of power, from the follies of pride to the false projections of glory. However, one theme rings true throughout the play, and that very theme is boundless suffering, accentuated by the gruesome depictions of suffering our protagonists experience . There is no natural (nor “poetic”) justice depicted in this pre-Judeo-Christian world Shakespeare presents, as the relatively virtuous individuals (Kent, Gloucester, and Cordelia) in this