Analysis of Dante´s Inferno

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Dante’s Inferno is a very important piece of literature. There are many things to be learned from it, from the face value knowledge that Hell is a bad place, to a deeper understanding of how God intended us to live; but the most important lesson to be learned here is the power of allegory. Nancy Thuleen says this about it. “Dante's portrayal of Hell in the Inferno is an undisputed masterpiece of visual and allegorical imagery, enriched not only by extensive use of figurative language, but by concrete physical descriptions as well” Dante had allegory down to a science, and applied it to every aspect of his Inferno. If you are looking for it, you will notice that everything in the poem is laced with deeper meaning. However, there are some parts that stand out from the rest in my mind. My three favorite parts of Dante’s Inferno are circle four, circle six, and the third bolgia of circle eight because of how well the punishment reciprocates the sin.
First off, the fourth circle of hell is one of my favorite parts of Dante’s Inferno because of how well the punishment reciprocates the sin. The fourth circle is simply a large, flat ring. It contains sinners of avarice, or those who are very materialistic, and of prodigality, or spending too freely. There are two different kinds of sinners here; some are hoarders, those who had an excess of material things, and wasters, those who did not value what they had. These two groups were fated to roll huge boulders for eternity. Kyle McGuinness will detail this. “As punishment in this circle of hell the shades must push large boulders with their chests in opposite directions. When two of the opposite sins collide they yell at one another and then go in opposite directions only to repeat the same ...

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...n the ninth floor. It actually is pretty warm in there; it is right above the boiler room, powered by Satan’s tears after all. The guys here are all co-owners of Hell, Inc., and take pride in their leadership skills. But they are constantly plotting against one another to gain power. It really is terribly unfortunate, but hey, it’s how business works.

Works Cited
Beaumont, Doug. "Soul Device." Soul Device. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.
Cuizon, Gwen. "Dante's Inferno." HubPages. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.
McGuinness, Kyle. "Dante's Inferno: Circles 3 and 4." Prezi.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.
Phelan, Julie Renee. "Classical Literature and Poetry." : The Inferno: Canto XIX, by Dante Alighieri. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.
Thuleen, Nancy. "Imagery and Allegory in Dante's Inferno." Imagery and Allegory in Dante's Inferno. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.

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