Lesson 8 - Mind Over Matter

Paolo and Francesca represented, or symbolize, sinful love by example. They show how an intrinsically noble emotion, love, if contrary to God’s law, can bring two essentially fine persons to damnation and spiritual ruin. Dante’s personal response of overwhelming pity should not blind us to the justice of the penalty. Dante describes himself as fainting at the end of Francesca’s recital, his purpose is partly to portray the attractiveness of the sin. Dante allows the lovers the bitter sweetness of inseperability in Hell, but they have lost God and thus corrupted their personalities; they can hardly be considered happy. In a sense, they have what they wanted; they continue in the lawless condition that

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.

Dante's "Inferno" is full of themes. But the most frequent is that of the weakness of human nature. Dante's descent into hell is initially so that Dante can see how he can better live his life, free of weaknesses that may ultimately be his ticket to hell. Through the first ten cantos, Dante portrays how each level of his hell is a manifestation of human weakness and a loss of hope, which ultimately Dante uses to purge and learn from. Dante, himself, is about to fall into the weaknesses of humans, before there is some divine intervention on the part of his love Beatrice, who is in heaven. He is sent on a journey to hell in order for Dante to see, smell, and hear hell. As we see this experience brings out Dante's weakness' of cowardice,

It is summer, a warm, sunny day in June and the water in the fountain is cool and sparkling– not in the least traditionally ominous, save for Briony’s own imaginative interpretation. Where Briony sees violence, reality for Cecelia and Robbie is quite different: a broken vase, though not beyond repair, and light-hearted defiance. Briony’s “creatively enhanced” view from the window is perhaps the strongest indication of the coming significance of water and its relationship with challenges and an ability to betray. Though primarily important for the sake of the plot, Briony’s darker fantasy interpretation of the scene nevertheless sets into action the uneasy association with water – whilst from Cecelia and Robbie’s perspectives there is definite contention in the air, it is nothing compared to the scale the motif will eventually reach (Cecelia’s death)

She is upset by the loss of the day even though her mother attempts to distract her with a garden of flowering violets, her father also attempts to comfort her. Finally, she returns to sleep after dinner. Her memory is a positive memory and the motif if the violets are used to link the past and present as it will help her get through her dark times. In the visual her memory is included, and he mother confronting her is one of the main images that she remembers from this. The image of her mother comforting her is a very important one, as it establishes the role and persona of a mother at the time and how women in that era were seen as to stay home look after children and the men went out and worked to support the

Dante's and Virgil's scorn seems at first glance to echo the sin of intemperate anger which infects the foul waters of the Stygian marsh. Filippo Argenti, the weeping sinner who emerges from the mire, is eternally punished for his anger. However, the pilgrim's denunciation of Filippo is not only permitted, but lauded by Virgil with the praise given Jesus: "Blessed is the womb

At this point the poet uses symbolism substituting a flower for his mother. This is an appropriate symbol as, like his mother, a flower is feminine, delicate and

Dante is a poet who wrote an epic poem called The Divine Comedy. This epic poem is about Dante’s journey as he goes through 3 levels, which he calls Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise. In the Inferno, he meets Virgil, his guide throughout his voyage. They both pass through the nine circles of Hell, where they witness many different punishments for those who have done awful things in their past. Good versus evil is a major theme that occurred throughout Hell. In the Inferno, there are times where Dante sees good and evil and also represents it himself.

For example, in the typical biblical story, the Garden of Eden was a life-giving sanctuary that allowed all living creatures within to flourish and to live in harmony. In contrast, “Rappaccini’s Daughter” creates a Garden of Eden that does not seem so inviting. Though it is described as beautiful, it is also mentioned by Giovanni that "When, in his walk through the garden, he came to the magnificent plant that hung its purple gems beside the marble fountain, he placed a kind of mask over his mouth and nostrils, as if all this beauty did but conceal a deadlier malice" (Hawthorne 408). Easily one can forget that the plant life within this modern Garden of Eden is not a life-giving oasis, but a flowerbed filled with poison and death. Rappaccini has created with his hands a garden filled with poison and destruction instead of the loving sanctuary God provided for Adam and Eve.

daughter of the scientist Rappaccini, is the central figure of the story, while her neighbor Giovanni becomes the observer, participant, and interpreter of the strange events that transpire within the garden next door. It is Giovanni's inability to understand these events that eventually leads to Beatrice's death. Giovanni sees things that are either all good or all bad. While he is quick to judge Beatrice, he is unable to examine his own motives and thoughts. During the story,

After reading chapter 3 of the book, Teaching with the Brain in Mind written by Erik Jensen. A quote stood out for me was “Don't get discouraged when students want to shrug off a repetition or revision activity. All that tells you is that you need to be a bit more creative… Too much of the same thing can be boring to the learner” (Jensen, 2005, pp. 38-39).

Dante’s Inferno begins in a dark forest, a place of confusion, because he lost his way on the “true path”. Seeking an escape, Dante finds a hill where the sun glares down on him. This light seen in Dante’s Inferno symbolizes clarity as the sun represents God. After encountering three beasts and turning back to the murky forest, Dante crosses paths with the great Roman Poet, Virgil. Virgil is an aid and guide to Dante to Heaven, the ultimate Paradise. He warns Dante he must pass through Hell and Purgatory in order to reach his salvation in heaven. Virgil is depicted as nature or human reason perfected by virtue. It is strongly emphasized that Virgil can only take Dante so far in his journey by guiding him to heaven. Much like St. Thomas Aquinas’ reasoning, nature or human reason can only bring you so far in the journey to God. As Virgil and Dante approach the mouth of Hell, Virgil preaches to Dante about a woman in Heaven who took pity upon Dante when he was lost in hell. The woman Virgil speaks of is Dante’s departed love Beatrice. After Dante hears that Beatrice is heaven he now sheds the fear of traveling through Hell and Purgatorio.

Earth: Vertumnus and Pomona is an oil painting made by artist Francois Boucher in 1749. Francois received commission in 1748 from the Director of Royal Departments to paint four paintings that represented the four elements. In this picture, Vertumnus and Pomona are surrounded by flowers, trees, and fruit, which represents the Earth. Pomona, a beautiful nymph that lived in the forest and grew fruit trees, did not respond to men that tried to woo her. Demi – Gods Picus and Silvanus had both tried to come on to Pomona, but they then started to fight and Pomona fled. She then built a wall around where her trees grew to keep anymore male divinities from coming onto her.

Dante is truly a great poet. When he describes a place, he goes truly deeply than what’s on the surface. In Purgatory, when Dante and Virgil are walking through the gateway, Dante describes each step when walking in. “Once there, Dante and Virgil have to climb three steps to ascend to the gate (Purg. IX, 76-77; Sayers 1955b) which is guarded by an angel. These three steps signify the confession of sin, contrition for sin and satisfaction for sin”. He first describes the first step by saying, “We came to the first step: white marble gleaming/ so polished and so smooth that in its mirror/ I saw my true reflection past all seeming” (IX 94-96). In these first stanzas to the entrance of Purgatory demonstrates the color white as hope and desire of improvement. This is very

Dante, the pilgrim, meets a man in Purgatory named Marco Lombardo, and he explains to Dante how everyone has free will, and that, “intellect” (Dante, Purgatorio XVI. 80) is what frees him “from the heavens’ influence” (Dante, Purgatorio XVI. 81). Lombardo is telling Dante that the more intellectual knowledge one has, the more control one has over their own fate. Lombardo goes on to tell Dante that, “The spheres [are what] start your impulses along” (Purgatorio XVI. 73) and that the soul “turns eagerly to all that gives it pleasure” (Purgatorio XVI. 90). Thus, our souls are drawn towards beautiful and pleasurable things first, and in order to make sure that these beautiful things aren’t coming from a “simple soul” (Purgatorio XVI. 87), which will deceive, one must “guide its love to higher things” (Purgatorio XVI.93). But thankfully Lombardo reassures Dante that he is “headed the right way to reach the stair that leads above” (Purgatorio XVI. 49). By following his desire for Beatrice, he is on his way to the divine. The idea that love is what is leading Dante in the direction of heaven is evident in Lombardo’s words.