Dante And Dante: The Story Of Dante's Inferno

722 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The deep meaning of inferno

Dante’s Inferno, set up of hell is created by is created by Dante himself which allows him to designate where in hell each sinner falls into. With that power, Dante places all the inhabitants in regards to his judgement, as he acts as a proxy of god. The second circle of hell in the Inferno, is inhabited by the individuals which commit a sin of incontinence. Two individuals that we find in this circle are, Francesca and Paolo, lustful lovers that are given the opportunity to tell their story to Dante the pilgrim. The story of Francesca and Paolo compel Dante the pilgrim but this allows us to see how the pilgrim differentiates from Dante the poet. The pilgrim, hears out Francesca’s story in which she describes the dissatisfaction with her previous marriage to Giancotto and how all that changed when she encountered when she met Paolo. After Francesca shares her story with the pilgrim, he responds to them both, “Francesca, your afflictions move me to tears of sorrow and of pity” (Inf. 5. 116-117). It …show more content…

5. 118-120). The pilgrim takes it a step forward from feeling compassionate towards Francesca, he wants to dig deeper into the why it happened. Except now it seems that his tone of voice has changed, “but tell me” sounds direct and objective. He does this as he is now questioning her actions and uses “gentle sighs” to mark the event as unfortunate. I feel that he decides to take this approach in talking to her, to seek answers for himself. Dante is longing himself and he wants to see if his feelings are justified (towards Beatrice) based on the feelings Francesca had toward Pablo. By using the word “still” he acknowledges the eternity of this desire for more than just love towards one person, saying once you cross that line, and cross over into a sexual desire than you cannot come back from

Show More
Related

  • Divine Comedy - Indignation and Sin in Dante’s Inferno

    1355 Words  | 3 Pages

    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 that bore thee!" (VIII, 43-44) Even the pilgrim's further, seemingly sadistic request to see Filippo attacked by his brethren is granted and accepted as appropriate. This seeming discrepancy in behavior can be reconciled by understanding the underlying motivations of the speakers. The pilgrim and Virgil travel with Divine sanction through Hell. The pilgrim's entire being learns to become entirely subject to the will of God. Virgil's journey is in obedience to the three angelic women who are Dante's patronesses: Our Lady, St. Lucia and Beatrice. However, Filippo Argenti is described by Virgil as "full of arrogance" (VIII, 46) Filippo Argenti's primary concern is Filippo Argenti. The essential element that separates the pilgrim from the sinners in the marsh is his subservience to God. Due to their divergent natures, the treatment of Filippo Argenti by the pilgrim and Virgil reflects the supreme triumph of the righteous over evil and serves as a warning to the reader.

    Read More

  • Close Reading Of Dante's Inferno

    589 Words  | 2 Pages

    Descending from the first to the second level of Hell, Dante witnesses the transition to greater agony and greater punishment for the damned. Overwhelmed by the sinner’s harrowing cries and the extensive list of seemingly innocent souls given to him by Virgil, Dante beckons for two lovers to approach him, desperate for some sense of comfort. The souls are known to be the historical figures Francesca de Rimini and her lover Paolo, forever trapped in the circle of lust due to their sinful adultery. Through her words spoken to Dante, Francesca shows how she feels she has been unjustly punished and is deserving of others’ sorrow, and Dante, despite his awareness that she is a sinner, pities her. A close reading of this passage is necessary to better understand Dante’s internal battle with showing compassion where it is not deserved and Francesca’s incessant denial of her sins.

    Read More

  • Dante's Relationship In Dante And His Guide Virgil

    716 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thesis- Dante and Virgil have an interesting relationship that changes throughout Dante’s Inferno. They started off very different and Virgil didn’t care much for Dante. Dante looked at Virgil differently after he had heard Beatrice sent him to guide him. Throughout their travels, their relationship changed as they went through every layer of hell. Something happened in each one that changed their relationship either drastically, or barely at all. Their travels are very intriguing and their relationship is very complex. They become very close, so much that Dante acquires a deep trust in Virgil. They are no longer “just friends.” They are both poets and can communicate very well through words and Literature.

    Read More

  • From Selfish Desires to Intimate Relationships

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Dante’s Inferno, there is a clear shift in motives for the relationships between Virgil and Dante. Their companionship is one of the most complex to represent because it occurs in hell, a very unrealistic world. When Virgil first approaches Dante to guide him through hell, Dante is very reluctant to go along with his plan. However, after Virgil tells him that Beatrice sent him on the mission, Dante’s heart instantly swells with gratitude and he exclaims “O she, compassionate, who has helped me!” (Dante 2.133) He becomes eager to do as Virgil says and his whole demeanor towards taking the trip through hell changes. He gives all the praise to Beatrice and Vi...

    Read More

  • Dante Inferno Hero's Journey

    413 Words  | 1 Pages

    Traveling through Hell, Dante’s pity and fear starts to challenge and overcome him, resulting in him blacking out. Within the storming Second Circle, home of the lustful, the pity Dante feels for the shade Francesca had him “Swooning as in death, [as he] fell like a dying body,”( V. 127 ). Growing as an individual as his vile journey continues, Dante’s fainting out of pity or fear concludes, which shows a small transformation of him

    Read More

  • Juxtaposition In Dante's Inferno

    686 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Canto VI, Dante encounters Ciacco, a gluttonous sinner who reveals to Dante that the “good” (49, 71 & 72) men who Dante knew on earth now are now deep in the pit of “Hell” (49, 76). This contrast between how these men appeared on earth and where there are now, in hell, is also illustrated by Ciacco’s strong juxtaposition of Hell and earth through vibrant phrases such as “Their souls are among the blackest in Hell” (49, 76) and “earth’s sweet light” (49, 79). Through Ciacco’s dialogue, Dante the poet engrosses Dante the pilgrim in the horrors of hell while simultaneously reminding the him—and the audience—that he does not belong there. Dante is the only individual in hell who can return to earth, and the souls recognize that.

    Read More

  • Those Who By Insight Know What Love Is

    1488 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...eral chronicle of Dante’s life. This is not the case, as historical information proves, Dante led a full life separate from his love of Beatrice. This story instead serves as a description of the power that Love wields over the sensitive and romantic. Indeed, Love could wield this power over anyone He chooses, though he chooses only those with the poet’s soul, through which God can speak and tell humanity of the power of Love. God inspires those who are open to him, in a way that they can understand. In the case of Dante, God spoke to him through Love and produced a tale that will convey the same message to all those who are able to hear. Dante was not writing for those without a poet’s mind, a fact he makes clear throughout the text, and the reason for this is evident: they would simply not understand.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Dante's Inferno

    1248 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dante’s The Divine Comedy illustrates one man’s quest for the knowledge of how to avoid the repercussions of his actions in life so that he may seek salvation in the afterlife. The Divine Comedy establishes a set of moral principles that one must live by in order to reach paradiso. Dante presents these principles in Inferno where each level of Hell has people suffering for the sins they committed during their life. As Dante gets deeper into Hell the degrees of sin get progressively worse as do the severity of punishment. With that in mind, one can look at Inferno as a handbook on what not to do during a lifetime in order to avoid Hell. In the book, Dante creates a moral lifestyle that one must follow in order to live a morally good, Catholic

    Read More

  • Analysis of Dante's Inferno

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • beatrice is the vita nuova

    535 Words  | 2 Pages

    Despite Dante being filled with overwhelming joy by the thought of Beatrice, he never publicly expresses his love for her. The whole essence of Dante’s being was accounted for through Beatrice’s greetings to him. Although the definition of her greetings is undefined in his accounts, Dante’s mood is dependent on his interactions with Beatrice. Through the words in his sonnets, Dante m...

    Read More

  • Dante’s Inferno - The Evolving Relationship between Dante the Pilgrim and Virgil the Guide

    2166 Words  | 5 Pages

    In Dante’s Inferno, the relationship between Dante the Pilgrim and Virgil the Guide is an ever-evolving one. By analyzing the transformation of this relationship as the two sojourn through the circles of hell, one is able to learn more about the mindset of Dante the Poet.  At the outset, Dante is clearly subservient to Virgil, whom he holds in high esteem for his literary genius. However, as the work progresses, Virgil facilitates Dante’s spiritual enlightenment, so that by the end, Dante has ascended to Virgil’s spiritual level and has in many respects surpassed him. In Dante’s journey with respect to Virgil, one can see man’s spiritual journey towards understanding God. While God loves man regardless of his faults, His greatest desire is to see man attain greater spirituality, in that man, already created in God’s image, may truly become divine, and in doing so, attain eternality.

    Read More

  • Dante’s Inferno in Milton´s Paradise Lost

    1317 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many arguments have been made that Dante’s Inferno glimmers through here and there in Milton’s Paradise Lost. While at first glance the two poems seem quite drastically different in their portrayal of Hell, but scholars have made arguments that influence from Dante shines through Milton’s work as well as arguments refuting these claims. All of these arguments have their own merit and while there are instances where a Dantean influence can be seen throughout Paradise Lost, Milton’s progression of evil and Satan are quite different from Dante. Dante’s influence on Milton is noted by many scholars and is very apparent in several instances throughout Paradise Lost, however, Milton shows a progression of evil through his own vision of Satan and creates a Hell that is less meticulously constructed than Dante’s and more open to interpretation.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis: Dante's Inferno

    822 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dante’s Inferno presents the reader with many questions and thought provoking dialogue to interpret. These crossroads provide points of contemplation and thought. Dante’s graphic depiction of hell and its eternal punishment is filled with imagery and allegorical meanings. Examining one of these cruxes of why there is a rift in the pits of hell, can lead the reader to interpret why Dante used the language he did to relate the Idea of a Just and perfect punishment by God.

    Read More

  • Dante's Journey Analysis

    801 Words  | 2 Pages

    “There is no greater pain than to remember, in our present grief, past happiness…”(Canto 5) is what Francesca mentioned to Dante and I believed that this is where Dante himself founded that he shouldn’t dwell on the past and this is also where he learned that lust isn’t truly needed in life. That there is love, but lust is an unnecessary part of life. The deeper that Dante would go feel started to change his view towards people. He began to feel pity and sadness towards each and every soul he met during his journey. Once he met Brunetto Latini, Dante explained that he lost himself in a valley and that 's why he was sent there. The Pilgrim explaining himself proves that he was truly on a journey of self-discovery. Once he met Satan himself Dante realized, “the lovely things the heavens hold” (Canto 34) which one of the steps to self-discovery, finding the beauty in

    Read More

  • The Structure and Content of Dante's Inferno

    1106 Words  | 3 Pages

    In his first article of The Inferno, Dante Alighieri starts to present a vivid view of Hell by taking a journey through many levels of it with his master Virgil. This voyage constitutes the main plot of the poem. The opening Canto mainly shows that, on halfway through his life, the poet Dante finds himself lost in a dark forest by wandering into a tangled valley. Being totally scared and disoriented, Dante sees the sunshine coming down from a hilltop, so he attempts to climb toward the light. However, he encounters three wild beasts on the way up to the mountain—a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf—which force him to turn back. Then Dante sees a human figure, which is soon revealed to be the great Roman poet Virgil. He shows a different path to reach the hill and volunteers to be Dante’s guide, leading Dante to the journey towards Hell but also the journey seeking for light and virtue.

    Read More

More about Dante And Dante: The Story Of Dante's Inferno

Open Document