Suffering In Dante Alighieri's Inferno

Both Shakespeare’s King Lear and Dante’s Inferno explore the reasons for, and results of, human suffering. Each work postulates that human suffering comes as a result of choices that are made: A statement that is not only applicable to the characters in each of the works, but also to the readers. The Inferno and King Lear speak universal truths about the human condition: that suffering is inevitable and unavoidable. While both King Lear and the Inferno concentrate on admonitions and lamentations of human suffering, one of the key differences between the works is that Inferno conveys an aspect of hope that is not nearly as prevalent in King Lear.

As he tries to enlighten the remaining prisoners he is received with anger and threats. Nothing is learned about the characters as individuals. They remain nameless, faceless images. In contrast, there are numerous characters in the Inferno. The sinners are arranged in

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 Inferno is a tale of cautionary advice. In each circle, Dante the pilgrim speaks to one of the shades that reside there and the readers learn how and why the damned have become the damned. As Dante learns from the mistakes of the damned, so do the readers. And as Dante feels the impacts of human suffering, so do the readers. Virgil constantly encourages Dante the pilgrim to learn why the shades are in Hell and what were their transgressions while on Earth. This work’s purpose is to educate the reader. The work’s assertions on the nature of human suffering are mostly admonition, with each shade teaching Dante the pilgrim and by extension the reader not to make the same mistakes. Dante views his journey through hell as a learning experience and that is why he made it out alive.

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.

Now in Circle Nine, Virgil points out the face of Satan to which Dante cowers behind Virgil in numbing fear. "Do not ask, Reader, how my blood ran cold/ and my voice choked up with fear. I cannot write it: / this is a terror that cannot be told."(XXXIV 22-24). In striking fear Dante looks to Virgil to quell his emotions and protect him. Virgil simply goes on to explain who the 3 souls that Satan chews on are, unfathomed. The only way to get out of hell is to climb Lucifer, Virgil puts Dante on his back and begins climbing. "Then, as he bade, I clasped his neck, and he, / watching for a moment when the wings/ were opened wide, reached over dexterously/ and seized the shaggy coat of the king demon;."(XXXIV 70-73). Dante's own blood runs cold at the sight of Satan's 3 horrifying faces. With the presence and reason of his guide he is able to battle his own fear through the last part of their Journey

Virgil and Dante proceed down into Hell; in Hell Dante sins in every circle, committing the sin that represents each circle. After Dante sins in each circle he begins to learn and grow as a person realizing his mistakes but Dante is still his proud, careless self. In the circle of the wrathful, containing the sinners full of anger, Dante scolds one man saying “may you weep and wail to all eternity, for I know you hell-dog”. Dante is becoming angry just like the

Central to “Inferno” is the concept of contrapasso, the idea that the punishment one experiences in Hell is the reversal of one’s sin on earth: gluttons are forced to consume filth against their will; prophets and soothsayers have their bodies disfigured to turn their heads backwards; adulterers are forever forced to couple with their lovers; it is a poetic, medieval take on Exodus’s reciprocal punishment of “eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot” (King James Bible, Exodus 21:24). Within Canto XIII Dante meets those who have committed suicide: those that have taken their lives are “reborn” into bleeding, deformed trees upon which harpies feed and onto which harpies nest. There they remain forever, subject to all forms of abuse--and completely unable to abuse themselves again (as they did in life). While Dante’s intent may be to illustrate the justice of God’s punishment for sins done on earth, the forest of suicides found in Canto XIII questions the punishments delivered by God through the words and actions of the unfortunate souls found in this level, the words of our guide, Virgil, and our the words of our protagonist, Dante.

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.

limbo, 2. lust, 3. gluttony, 4. greed, 5. anger, 6. heresy, 7. violence, 8. fraud, and 9. treachery. Dante journeys through hells layers and as he gets closer to the center of hell, the sins, and their penalties get crueler. In the first level, limbo, all the individuals who died before becoming Christians reside, including famous philosophers Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates. After limb, arrives the part of hell which is comprised of sins of the flesh: greed, anger, gluttony, and lust. In the last remaining circles, Dante witnesses’ souls that have committed severer sins such as; violence against God, fraud, false prophets, violent against nature, thieves, and hypocrites. The punishments for these sins are extremely painful, including souls being submerged in boiling blood and fire. The last circle of hell is treachery. This round is separated into four compartments corresponding to the gravity of their sins and all of the sould are stuck in the frozen

Circle one of Hell is reserved for those whose only crime is living before Christianity and therefore not worshipping God as is deemed proper by God. These shades are the unbaptised infants and virtuous pagans who came before Christ. Virgil explains the sin in lines 34-39:

A person who commits suicide is not equal to a profligate, or wasteful users. Some of the sins in circle seven are far worse than the others, yet they are mentioned as almost the same. The eighth circle is filled with all the people who have committed fraud and this section is where it should be. There are many ways to hurt and lie to people which they have done, and they should have to pay the price. People now and in Dante’s time should be punished for acting with such a low self respect for

When you think of Hell, what do you see, perhaps a burning pit full of criminals and crazed souls? Or maybe you’re like Dante and have a well organized system of levels in correspondence with each person’s sins. In Dante Alighieri’s epic The Inferno, Dante and his real life hero, Virgil, go on an adventure through a rather elaborate version of Hell. In this version of Hell numerous thoughts and ideals are brought to the attention of the readers. Through Dante’s use of both imaginative and artistic concepts one can receive a great visual impression of how Dante truly views Hell, and by analyzing his religious and philosophical concepts the reader can connect with the work to better understand how rewarding this work was for the time period.

In Dante’s Inferno, we followed Dante as he narrates his decent and observations of hell. A wonderful part of that depiction is his descriptions of the creative yet cruel punishments that each of the different sinners receive. This story is an integral part of literary history, and even if I were to have the imagination and ability of Dante Alighieri, I don’t believe I would change this tried and true version known universally.

As Dante travels deeper into the pit of hell he finds much more horrific places which climaxes in the fourth ring of the ninth circle, Judecca the lowest part, of hell were people go who betrayed their benefactors. These people spend eternity completely