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Impact of values on society
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Dante’s Inferno and its levels within are meticulously thought out for the time period of the 1300s. However, there are a few alterations to be made to fit the values of present day society. To begin, there will be the removal of the second level of Hell, The Lusftul; however, succumbing to sexual love is still a sin, therefore will be assembled with the seducers in the first bolgia of the original eighth circle in Hell as it is the same act being committed. The punishment for the lustful involves being swept by terrible winds, similar to how self-indulgence overpowered their self-control. However, with its addition to the seducers, the punishments will be combined. The souls will be hurtled by the wind and also whipped by horned demons for eternity. …show more content…
This will relocate the eighth circle, the fraudulent, to the seventh circle and the violent into the eighth circle. Being violent has a more fatal effect on the lives of those affected compared to being fraudulent. Their punishments are one with the nature and are very graphic in relation to gore and blood. These punishments are exceedingly appropriate as their acts involve spiritual and bodily harm while implicating the balance in nature and society. Moreover, the fifth bolgia of the eighth circle in Hell is the suitable home of the grafters. However, as a result of downgrading the entire seventh circle, it forces the grafters to now be instituted in the fifth bolgia of the seventh circle. Grafters are those who made money through corruption. Their punishment is to be immersed in a boiling black pitch while being torn to pieces. It represents their sticky fingers, ripping money of out the possession of their victims and the dark secrets of their corrupt
Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: Inferno. Trans. Allen Mandelbaum. Notes Allen Mandelbaum and Gabriel Marruzzo. New York: Bantam Books, 1980
In analyzing this gradient of morality, it is useful first to examine a work from early literature whose strong purity of morality is unwavering; for the purposes of this discussion, Dante’s Inferno provides this model. It is fairly straightforward to discover Dante’s dualistic construction of morality in his winding caverns of Hell; each stern, finite circle of Hell is associated with a clear sin that is both definable and directly punishable. As Dante moves downwards in this moral machination, he notes that
Christianity is one of the most popular religions in the world today. Christianity has the largest amount of followers today. Over time, the religion has developed and change depending on the era. However, most of the traditional values are kept the same since its creation. Throughout many years, there have been numerous ideas originating from Christianity that do not exist today. During the development of the western world, religion played a big role in everyday lives. During the 14th century, an era of change began with the Renaissance as people experienced change and development through the western worlds. In Dante’s Inferno, some of these new beliefs, changes, and different forms of imagery can be noticed throughout the whole poem. Throughout
The Middle Ages was a time of instability and corruption, which was when Dante Alighieri lived. Dante wrote about the horrible era because he wanted to show his hatred towards the current leaders. In the Inferno, he illustrates the unethical community vividly by the use of influential figures that disobey the laws. Additionally, Dante uses imagery in Hell that shows the connection between the Earthly sins and gruesome punishments that portray a vivid image emotionally attached to the church. Furthermore, Dante’s orthodoxy expresses mockery because the church did not always have a clear interpretation for the placement of a multiple sinner, thus exposing the inconsistent church. Likewise, Dante’s character development shifts in a negative manner due to evil pressures around him and his exposure to the true earthly sins. In summation, Dante uses the Inferno to express his animosity toward the church and the corrupt environment to expound how people that follow the church would be contaminated, just like the pilgrim.
In Dante Alighieri’s Inferno there is an abundant amount of violence shown in many ways. Literary critics say that violence does not appear in readings for its own sake, which is proven throughout The Inferno. As the levels of Hell increase, the severity of violence does so as well. This violence occurs in many ways, sometimes mentally, sometimes physically and many times both combined. Some people may not enjoy the book for its violence, however, the violence of Dante’s Inferno contributes to the dark theme and mood of the book, showing Alighieri’s meaning even more.
“The Inferno describes a situation in which the incarcerated have no hope and no possibilities” (Baur). Dante portrays Hell as the condition of the soul after death in which is influenced by the choices made in life. “Constructed as a huge funnel with nine descending circular ledges, Dante 's Hell is a vast and meticulously organized torture chamber in which sinners, carefully and almost pedantically classified according to the nature of their sins, suffer hideous punishment, often depicted with ghoulish attention to detail” (“Dante”). Many of the punishments are very cruel and unusual such as the punishments for suicides. One who has killed his/herself, becomes a tree and is pecked at by harpies. When a branch or twig breaks, it is the equivalent of a human being dismembered. Another group punished is the profligates (those who did not value their earthly goods), “Behind these two the wood was overrun by packs of black bitches ravenous and ready, like hunting dogs just broken from their chains; they sank their fangs in that poor wretch who hid, they ripped him open pieces by pieces, and then ran off with mouthfuls of his wretched limbs” (The Inferno, Canto XIII). There are even more horrifying and painful punishments in The Inferno. This fear of everlasting pain succeeds in acting as a threat to get people to act morally
“If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing.” This maxim applies to the poet Dante Alighieri, writer of The Inferno in the 1300s, because it asserts the need to establish oneself as a contributor to society. Indeed, Dante’s work contributes much to Renaissance Italy as his work is the first of its scope and size to be written in the vernacular. Due to its readability and availability, The Inferno is a nationalistic symbol. With this widespread availability also comes a certain social responsibility; even though Dante’s audience would have been familiar with the religious dogma, he assumes the didactic role of illustrating his own version of Christian justice and emphasizes the need for a personal understanding of divine wisdom and contrapasso, the idea of the perfect punishment for the crime. Dante acts as both author and narrator, completing a physical and spiritual journey into the underworld with Virgil as his guide and mentor. The journey from darkness into light is an allegory full of symbolism, much like that of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, which shows a philosopher’s journey towards truth. Therefore, Dante would also agree with the maxim, “Wise men learn by others’ harms; fools scarcely by their own,” because on the road to gaining knowledge and spiritual enlightenment, characters who learn valuable lessons from the misfortunes of others strengthen their own paradigms. Nonetheless, the only true way to gain knowledge is to experience it first hand. Dante’s character finds truth by way of his own personal quest.
Moreover, Dante, the narrator of the Inferno, has succeeded in not only telling the frightening story of the Inferno, but also pointing out the importance of the relationship between human’s sins and God’s retribution, using the monsters as the symbols for each kind of sin and its punishment throughout the progress of the story, which teaches his readers to be well aware of their sins through the literature – a part of humanities; the disciplines that teach a man to be a human.
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...
In circle three of Inferno, Dante conjures a despairing tone by use of vivid imagery and extensive detail to display the harrowing effects of gluttony. This is best exemplified through the weather patterns and general landscape of this circle, the Poets’ encounter with Cerberus, and Dante’s conversation with Ciacco, the Hog. These devices also allow for the conveying of ideas embedded within the text.
And I see there is a big fire wheel fall, fall to the head of the sinners, and the steamer drilled into their bodies instantly burned, temporarily kills the sinners more than thirty times. The sinners shout out loud: "Please kill me, I know how many worst thing I did in the world, and caused I get suffering and pain now." When they are shouting over, and then they fainted on the ground. Many jailers are holding a knife to cut the bodies of sinners in order to get and eat their lunch. The sinners' suffering in hell is
Dante’s work Inferno is a vivid walkthrough of the depths of hell and invokes much imagery, contemplation and feeling. Dante’s work beautifully constructs a full sensory depiction of hell and the souls he encounters along the journey. In many instances within the work, the reader arrives at a crossroads for interpretation and discussion. Canto XI offers one such crux in which Dante asks the question of why there is a separation between the upper levels of hell and the lower levels of hell. By discussing the text, examining its implications and interpretations, conclusions can be drawn about why there is delineation between the upper and lower levels and the rationale behind the separation.
Lummus, David. "Dante’s Inferno: Critical Reception and Influence." Dantes Inferno. Engerda: Arun, 2000. 63-79. Print.
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.
... Moreover, such belief in human reason signifies Dante's hope towards a bright society and the pursuit of God’s love as the other part of self-reflection. In conclusion, a great deal of tension and contrast between “dark” and “light” in The Inferno helps us to explore Dante’s self portrait—he fears dangerous desires and sinful darkness, but shows much courage and hope towards life since he nevertheless follows his guide Virgil to dive into horrible Hell. As shown in Canto I, such emotional reaction to dark and light symbols lays a great foundation for developing Dante’s broad and universal traits as his journey progresses.