It is said that for medieval western Europeans, the city could be place of danger or of refuge, but where is the section for the cities that are in between? The term “refuge” is defined as “the state is being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or difficulty” (OED), and the term “danger” is defined as “the possibility of something unwelcome or unpleasant happening” (OED). Some medieval western European cities are clearly more thought of as a place of safety and acceptance, while others were brutal and oppressive.Though they are not definite, concrete structures, both the city of ladies as created by Christine De Pizan and the “city” of Hell as depicted by Dante Alighieri appear to be more defined on one side of the spectrum, but in reality …show more content…
Christine’s city essentially turns the tables and deflects from the oppression of women to the oppression of men. With every woman and story included in Christine’s city, instead of the female character appearing inferior, the male figures are portrayed as the anti heroes. For example, with the story of Dido and Aeneas, Christine makes Aeneas out to be a self centered betrayer of love, and neglects to include the whole spectrum of how the event occurred (Part II, Page 173). This negative portrayal of men does not adhere to the definition of a refuge city because it does not shelter men from being persecuted. Furthermore, her city does not even meet the requirements for a safe place for women as well because not all women are welcome in the city. Christine quotes one of the magical ladies: “Only ladies who are of good reputation and worthy of praise will be admitted into this city. To those lacking in virtue, its gates will remain forever closed” (Pizan, Part 1 Page 11). Essentially Christine’s “city” has become an elite collection of specific women for the sole purpose of getting back at men by changing the perception of …show more content…
Dante describes Hell as a city in his epic poem Inferno. On the surface, Hell appears to be considered a city of danger over safety, however ultimately the purpose of Hell weighs more towards the refuge end of the scale. In the beginning of Dante’s Inferno the structure of Hell is described and resembles that of a typical city with a wall and a gated entrance. Inscribed on the gate it reads: “Through me the way into the suffering city, through me the way to the eternal pain, through me the way that runs among the lost. Before me nothing but eternal things were made, and I endure eternally. Abandon every hope, who enter here” (Canto III, Page 68, Line 1-9). This section of the gate implies eternal suffering and great pain to those who are condemned by God to reside there, however the last line is most intriguing. The implication of the phrase “abandon every hope, who enter here” suggests that when a soul enters Hell, there are never to be released and when judgment day comes, they will be left behind and their punishments become
As Dante and Virgil, Dante’s guide through Hell, approach the Gate of Hell, Dante reads the inscription above the gates:
The purpose of the pilgrim's journey through hell is to show, first hand, the divine justice of God and how Christian morality dictates how, and to what degree, sinners are punished. Also, the journey shows the significance of God's grace and how it affects not only the living, but the deceased as well. During his trip through hell, the character of Dante witnesses the true perfection of God's justice in that every sinner is punished in the same nature as their sins. For instance, the wrathful are to attack each other for all eternity and the soothsayers are forever to walk around with their heads on backwards. Furthermore, Dante discovers that hell is comprised of nine different circles containing sinners guilty of one type of sin, and that these circles are in order based upon how great an opposition the sin is to Christian morality and the ultimate will of God. We see here how Christianity plays a major role in the structure of hell and the degree to which each sinner is punished. Lastly, we can look at the story and see the importance of the grace of God not only to Dante during his journey, but how it affects the souls in hell and purgatory as well.
When talking about leadership positions within the community, the authors who were writing in the Antiquity along with some authors who were writing in the Renaissance strongly believed that men were the only ones capable of being in an elected position in the city. Christine de Pizan has a different opinion, expressing a strong argument for the strengths of women, while also demonstrating how a city without men could become an equally successful city. By using the allegorical figures of Reason, Rectitude, and Justice as her guide to constructing this city, she paints a picture of how women exhibit all of the traits of men while also having many qualities that men do not possess. Christine de Pizan’s The Book of the City of Ladies lays the foundation for how women can be successful in leadership positions and many of her ideas also match what the Greek philosopher Plato was saying through his book The Republic. The similarities of ideas in Christine de Pizan’s The Book of the City of Ladies and of Plato’s Republic for an ideal city and the inhabitants of these ideal cities proves that women are just as capable as men of populating and leading an ideal city.
...herself as a man and has misogynistic tendencies. Fortunately, the role of women in society today has changed very much from the roles that they played in classical mythology. Women are now seen as being able to play any role they desire, whether it is the role of a housewife or the role of a workingwoman with a successful career. It is no surprise that achieving the roles that women play today took such a long time when for so long even in mythology women’s roles in society were constantly pushed in the direction of domestics and when for so long women were portrayed as less then pleasant creatures. The fact that these sorts of roles were pushed on women in the Greco-Roman society was proof enough that it was a patriarchal society. It is astoundingly wonderful that the roles that women play in modern society have evolved so much since the times of classical myths.
In the Inferno we follow the journey of Dante as he wanders off the path of moral truth and into Hell. The Virgin Mary and Santa Lucia ask Beatrice, Dante’s deceased love, to send some help. Thus, Virgil comes to the rescue and essentially guides Dante through Hell and back to the mortal world from which he came. However, things begin to seem kind of odd. When reading the Inferno one may begin to question the way Dante describes Hell and the things that occur within, or even the things we have always believed about Hell. Despite the way it is described and well known in western civilization, Hell is not at all how we expect it to be because of Dante's use of irony throughout this poetic masterpiece.
Dante Alighieri's The Inferno is a first-person poem that tells the story of Dante’s journey through the nine circles of Hell after he strays from the rightful path. Each circle of Hell contains sinners who have committed different sins during their lifetime and are punished based on the severity of their sins. When taking the beliefs and moral teachings of the Catholic Church into consideration, these punishments seem especially unfair and extreme. Souls residing in Purgatory receive punishments despite the fact that this level is not considered part of Hell. As Dante and his guide, Virgil, enter Ante-Inferno (also known as Purgatory), Virgil explains to him that this is where the souls of those who did not take a side between God and Satan or did not do anything during their lifetime that would determine whether they would go to Hell or Heaven (III. 30-37.
...ards monstrous figures and sympathy towards those who seem to be tortured unjustly. In his perverse education, with instruction from Virgil and the shades, Dante learns to replace mercy with brutality, because sympathy in Hell condones sin and denies divine justice. The ancient philosopher Plato, present in the first level of Hell, argues in The Allegory of the Cave that truth is possible via knowledge of the Form of the Good. Similarly, Dante acquires truth through a gradual understanding of contrapasso and the recognition of divine justice in the afterlife. Ultimately, Dante recognizes that the actions of the earthly fresh are important because the soul lives on afterwards to face the ramifications. By expressing his ideas on morality and righteousness, Dante writes a work worth reading, immortalizes his name, and exalts the beliefs of his Christian audience.
The Oxford English Dictionary describes Justice as the “quality of righteousness” . The allegorical figure of Justice in The Book of the City of Ladies helps Christine build the Torrents and towers in order to protect. In the book these turrets had towers are reserved for those who those who were greatly revered in the world that De Pisan was living in. The people living in these towers were mostly religious figures. Women of the likes of Mary, the mother of Jesus, Saint Catherine and Saint Lucy are all features of this part of the book.
The geography for each circle of Hell's misery is distinctly arranged to coincide with the sin of the sinners contained within. In Canto V, we are taken to the prison of those souls who were unable to master their own desires. These are those who "betrayed reason to their appetite" (1033), allowing the lust of flesh and carnal things overcome their God-given human reasoning. It is here that we see a dark and deafening Hell, full with the roar of the anguish of the condemned dead. Dante sees a great whirling storm of souls that are forever tossed and battered on their "hellish flight of storm and counterstorm" (1033). It is conveyed to us that each soul's path in the whirling cyclone is all but steady, blown about in a constantly changing torment with no direction or destination...
Despite the obvious flaws of Dante himself, he does give a clear vision of how punishments will be taken forth in the afterlife. He gives reason to fear and respect the law of God lest eternal punishment be your only promise in the afterlife. These punishments are as relevant as can be, so he offers a very vivid picture of hell. The men that he puts in hell give it a realistic twist, enhancing the fear that is felt upon reading this work
A major concern in both the film and the original text is the ‘status of women’. This is represented through the differing roles of women and their denigration within the Elizabethan society. For instance, Hero is accused of committing infidelity; consequently her image in society is tarnished, In addition to this, Claudio insults Hero publicly without even considering confirming the accusation of her being unchaste. This is illustrated through Claudio slandering Hero through the use of usage of Greek Mythological allusions “You seem to as Dian in her orb, but you are more intemperate than Venus in y...
Picture a child sitting in front of a television watching the Wizard of Oz. To them, it is an assortment of magical beings, a land filled with wonderful places, with varieties of different colors. They do not picture it as something with far more meaning than just a plain fairytale. On the other hand, gender/feminist critics have been able to analyze the Wizard of Oz as well as Wicked, in order to find a more elaborate meaning behind the story itself. They have discussed what lies behind the story when it comes to the issue of sexism and masculinity towards the book itself as well as the characters. There are many concepts as well that help to further explain feminism and gender criticism. The four concepts that will be discussed later on are gender, feminist writings, patriarchal society, and gynocriticism. These concepts will then be reviewed as to how they play a part in the book Wicked.
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.
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, wrath and unworthiness. He is lead by Virgil, who is a representation of intellect. Through Dante's experiences he will purge his sins.
Inferno, the first part of Divina Commedia, or the Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri, is the story of a man's journey through Hell and the observance of punishments incurred as a result of the committance of sin. In all cases the severity of the punishment, and the punishment itself, has a direct correlation to the sin committed. The punishments are fitting in that they are symbolic of the actual sin; in other words, "They got what they wanted." (Literature of the Western World, p.1409) According to Dante, Hell has two divisions: Upper Hell, devoted to those who perpetrated sins of incontinence, and Lower Hell, devoted to those who perpetrated sins of malice. The divisions of Hell are likewise split into levels corresponding to sin. Each of the levels and the divisions within levels 7,8, and 9 have an analogous historical or mythological figure used to illustrate and exemplify the sin.