Knowledge Of Sin

849 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Dante's sins and punishments

In comparison to the souls in Inferno, the souls in Purgatorio have not only realized their wrongs but have also accepted them, and their sole goal is reaching God's love. However, how much of an understanding do the souls in Purgatorio understand their sin? The characters who exemplify this understanding are the Negligent Rulers and Statius.
The Negligent Rulers in the fourth circle mourn for their lack of spiritual duty to God. Among the Negligent Rulers Dante and Virgil meet in the fourth circle are Rudolph of Hapsburg, Ottocar of
Bohemia and Marquis William Longsword. When Sordello, Dante and Virgil's guide, point out the rulers they are unhappy and miserable. However, what is the cause of their unhappiness and misery and were these rulers really seeking God's love? Sordello describes Rudolph of Hapsburg as being ashamed to sing praises to God; as a Hymn in the background, Salve Regina,was being sung, because
Rudolph in his previous life had done somethings he regretted (Purg. VII. 90-93). However, what was it that Rudolph of Hapsburg regretted, was it being unable to unite Italy under his leadership (Purg.
VII. 94-96), or his spiritual duty to God? Yet, Rudolph of Hapsburg is placed in the fourth circle of
Purgatorio, why not a lower level?
The same questions can be applied to Marquis William Longsword in his attempt to end a rebellion between Monferrato and Canavese (Purg. VII. 135-137), unfortunately he was captured and died a terrible death. Unlike the other rulers, Ottocar of Bohemia too was a Negligent Ruler but also a tyrant who hated Rudolph of Hapsburg. Ironic or not, when Ottocar is introduced in the story of Negligent Rulers, he is comforting Rudolph (Purg. VII. 97-101). Two things can be concluded a...

... middle of paper ...

...have freely shared his faith with others even though it met dying for his faith. This is important because the Greeks were a Paganism culture. To a certain extent, it makes sense why Statius hid his faith but little did he know Virgil was a Pagan before Virgil conform it. Meaning, if Statius had shared his faith with others, and they had come to believe in God’s love, they would have been saved. However, Statius had such fear in his own self; this must mean that although he did want to pursue God’s love, he was restraint by his fear. In other words, he valued his human form a smidge more than he trusted in his faith, another form of avarice Statius displays with God. This is so because the sole purpose of the soul is to disconnect from all material things and prepare for the glory of God’s love, and Statius has yet a lengthy journey before he fully comprehends this.

Show More
Related

  • Germany's Fatal Attraction to Hitler

    684 Words  | 2 Pages

    Because of the state of Germany’s economy, Hitler portrayed himself as the saviour of Germany, the man that was going to restore the respect that their forefathers had earned & installed. However, under no uncertain terms was he going to do it alone, he pr...

    Read More

  • The Butcher's Tale Sparknotes

    1561 Words  | 4 Pages

    Beginning with the economic level of analysis, Smith points out how accusations regarding the Jews concerning the murder of Ernst Winter generally had a common trait in that several of the accusers had either “worked for the Jews they accused or had been in close business relationships with them” (Smith 2002, 139). Smith goes on to note that these accusers often came from low-class or low-middle class citizens and consisted of “unskilled workers, day laborers, masons and a civil servant, a prison guard and a night watchman, a poor farmer and his family, a handful of apprentices, and a large number of servant girls” (Smith 2002, 139). Unsurprisingly, Smith explains that the result of such noticeable differences in the possession of wealth between Konitz citizens led to poorer Christians seeking to place blame on Jews of middle-class status; thereby creating a “rudimentary form of economic or class protest” (Smith 2002, 140). However, Helmut Walser Smith is quick to indicate that this form of analysis cannot solely provide an answer to the rise of anti-Semitic sentiment in Imperial Germany. This explanation, Smith says, is rather simple; although it is true that Christians were perhaps motivated to falsely accuse their Jewish neighbors due to their social and economic trials, not all Konitz-residing Christians were disadvantaged and not all Konitz Jews

    Read More

  • Comparing the Defective Rulers in Henry IV and Richard II

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    It has been shown again and again throughout history and literature that if there is a perfect human he is not also the perfect ruler.  Those traits which we hold as good, such as the following of some sort of moral code, interfere with the necessity of detachment in a ruler.  In both Henry IV and Richard II, Shakespeare explores what properties must be present in a good ruler.  Those who are imperfect morally, who take into account only self-interest and not honor or what is appropriate, rise to rule, and stay in power.

    Read More

  • Dante And Secondary Guides In Dante's Secondary Guides

    1722 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Purgatorio, Dante’s journey continues under Virgil’s guidance from preparing to ascend the mountain of Purgatory until reaching the garden of earthly paradise, at which point Beatrice arrives to take on the role of guide through the rest of purgatory. However, along the way, Dante interacts with several other secondary guides on brief portions of his journey. Individually, Cato, Sordello, Statius, and Matelda serve as corrected counterparts to other characters in the Divine Comedy, classical mythology, and the Bible. Collectively, Cato, Sordello, Statius, and Matelda serve to bridge classical and Christian teachings, both of which are critical in defining the values of Dante-author’s Purgatory, and in shaping Dante-character’s will as the purpose of the journey through purgatory.

    Read More

  • Free Hamlet Essays: Teaching Deception and Selfishness in Hamlet

    1079 Words  | 3 Pages

    did the murder _ my crown, mine own ambition, and my queen? (lines 54-58). The

    Read More

  • Punishments in Dante's Inferno

    592 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Interpretation of Robert Brownings My Last Duchess

    741 Words  | 2 Pages

    I was gratified to see that this critic agreed with my interpretation of the Duchess’s demise, viz., the Duke had her murdered. The theory advanced by my brilliant and magnificent Professor had been that the Duke gave her so many orders and restrictions that she pined away. I had been looking at his famous line “And I choose/never to stoop.” He married her for her beauty but would never lower himself to tell her when she angered him.

    Read More

  • Finding Morality and Unity with God in Dante's Inferno

    1404 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dante feels hell is a necessary, painful first step in any man’s spiritual journey, and the path to the blessed after-life awaits anyone who seeks to find it, and through a screen of perseverance, one will find the face of God. Nonetheless, Dante aspires to heaven in an optimistic process, to find salvation in God, despite the merciless torture chamber he has to travel through. As Dante attempts to find God in his life, those sentenced to punishment in hell hinder him from the true path, as the city of hell in Inferno represents the negative consequences of sinful actions and desires. Though the punishments invariably fit the crimes of the sinners and retributive justice reigns, the palpable emphasis of fear and pity that Dante imbues on the transgressors illustrates his human tendency to feel sympathy towards one who is suffering. For example, when Dante approaches the gat...

    Read More

  • Otto von Bismarck

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    To begin with, Otto Von Bismarck’s mother, whose name is Wilhelmina Mencken, impacted him the most, when he was in his young ages. She didn’t want her son to become another insipid landowners, or as they were called Junkers, as his father was. “She had high hopes for her gifted son. She pushed him mercilessly to study hard and make something of himself”(19). However, as any other young boy he didn’t like to study, but it’s mother, who decides what is the best for the child. This made Otto hate her, when he was a kid. Nevertheless, his mother was not the only important person in his childhood: “The second great power in Otto’s life was his father, Ferdinant von Bismarck.”(19) The Bismarcks had been Junkers for centuries. They had the reputation of being tough, unimaginative, and absolutely loyal to their king. “Otto later confessed that he wa...

    Read More

  • Dante's Inferno Research Paper

    2001 Words  | 5 Pages

    In conceiving the punishments of Hell, Dante employs mythical material and elements of popular faith; they are enormously imaginative, but each single one of them is based on strict and precise reflection, on the rank and degree of the sin in question, on a thorough knowledge of rational systems of ethics; and each one, as a concrete realization of the idea of divine order, is calculated to provoke rational thought concerning the nature of this sin, that is, the way in which it deviates from the divine order. (111)

    Read More

  • Divine Love In Dante's Inferno

    1273 Words  | 3 Pages

    Inferno begins with Dante lost in a dark wood. When he tries to exit, three impassible beasts blocked his path. Dante is rescued when Beatrice sends the spirit of Virgil to lead him to salvation. However, Dante must journey through hell first. Dante and Virgil then journey through the nine circles of hell, with the occasional help of a heavenly messenger sent to aid Dante in his journey. Dante meets many significant people and hears their stories in each circle. The First Circle of Hell or Limbo is resided by virtuous non-Christians and unbaptized pagans. In the Second Circle, Dante and Virgil find people who were overcome by lust. In the Third Circle, they find souls of gluttons that are seen as more than the usual excessive eating and drinking but also drug addiction. In the Fourth Circle, Dante and Virgil see the souls of people who are punished for greed.

    Read More

  • Free Will Within Dante

    592 Words  | 2 Pages

    At first glance it may not appear that Dante’s Purgatorio has a central theme of liberty. However, the majority of its premise all relates to that of liberty and free will. Free will is the dictionary form of liberty; thus, they can be interchangeable. As humans, God has given us all the choice to do as we wish whether it be good or bad, and this ability to choice is that of free will. Dante’s journey through the afterlife is ultimately a quest for freedom, and this essay will address how the theme of free will is presented.

    Read More

  • Dante's Inferno Summary

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dante witnesses the punishment that each sinner receives, and listens to their stories so that he may pass them on the world of the living. Each punishment corresponds to the sins that were committed on earth. Dante realizes, the farther down into the depths of hell they go, the more extreme the punishments. Some of the punishments the souls receive render them unrecognizable. Dante is slowly becoming used to the terror he is witnesses.

    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

  • Life After Death

    1114 Words  | 3 Pages

    One way in which death can be viewed comes across the Catholic religion. The Catholic believers look life after death in a prospective of three different worlds, such as Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise according to the deeds committed during life. If a person during his or her lifetime committed any sins, this person’s next world will be the Hell. The traditional view in which people refer to hell can be found in the book written by Dante Alighieri, “La Divina Commedia”. The book states that the formation of Hell was given by the crash of Lucifer (the angel that wanted to be better than God) from the sky onto the earth. Crashing on the Earth in Jerusalem, his head formed an upside down cone inside the Earth. This is where is located the Hell. In the Hell, people pay for their sins with different penitences (12-13). For instance, a person that committed homicide will freeze in a lake frozen by the breath of Satan (XXXIV canto). If a person during his or her life commits any sins but asks for forgiveness, then he or she will go to the Purgatory. The purgatory is represented by an island with a mountain (23). One source states that “Purgatory is very similar to Hell; the main difference is that one will eventually be released from torture. The souls that go in the Purgatory are tortured with fire. These souls remain in purgatory until they become sufficiently purified to enter heaven”(2). For example, if a soul in the purgatory asks for forgiveness and pays the punition with some tests, the soul will be released and moved immediately to Heaven (2).

    Read More

More about Knowledge Of Sin

Open Document