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A discussion of the Plan of Dante’s Inferno

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Dante’s Inferno is about a man who goes through, and describes hell in great detail. He describes the many different levels, and the levels within the levels. He tells about who and why someone would go there, at each different level. Each crime, or sin has a different punishment that has to do with how bad the sin was that the person committed. Some punishments are more intriguing than others, depending on the person reading them. Some of these more interesting, or more allegorical punishments are for the Prodigals, the suicides, and the seducers.
The first punishment that is interesting from Dante’s Inferno is for the prodigals. The prodigals were people who were greedy with money, and other things, and would just spend freely without care. Their punishment for this, was that they had to bang big rocks together for eternity. There are also other people in this circle of hell that are call avaricious. “They are divided into two groups-those who hoarded possessions and those who lavishly spent it” (Hudson) With the exception of the Vestibule and Limbo, upper hell is reserved for sins of incontinence like, sins that originate from unbalanced actions. “They are few demons here, though Minos does assign sinners to their place in hell when they come to the Vestibule. Most of these sins harmed nobody other than the sinner himself or herself.”(Wilkie) This punishment is interesting because of how it has to do with the crime it associates with. Because the people were so greedy, and were so eager to get rid of the money they had and spend it, they have to spend eternity sitting there patiently, with rocks that they cannot get rid of.
The second punishment that is allegorical in Dante’s Inferno is the one for those who committed suic...

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...n with lashes for eternity. Each circle has rings, and each ring in the different circles have different meanings and different levels of punishment and allegorical significants.

Works Cited

Cardi, John, ed. Dante. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2013. .
Hudson, J.D., ed. 9 Circles of Hell. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2013. .
Sayers, Dorthy, ed. St. Peters List. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2013. .
Wall, Aron, ed. Spirits Who Dwel in Suspense. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2013. .
Wilkie, Brian, ed. Dante's Inferno. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2013. .
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