The Importance Of Contrapasso In Dante's Inferno

In the Inferno, as Dante treks through Hell it becomes evident that the punishments imposed upon the sinners match their crimes; this is known as contrapasso. God created the Inferno in order to punish sinful souls –he made each punishment appropriate for the sin committed. In the Inferno, the punishments grow more horrid every Circle the sinners go down. Regardless of the nature of the punishment, the contrapasso not only serves as a means of Godly revenge for sin, but it is also a fulfillment of the fate chosen by the sinner.

The second Circle of hell is devoted to chastising the incontinent. Here, we see the lustful pair of Francesca and Paolo who wanted to be together in life –even at the cost of their individual relationships. “One day, for pleasure we read of Lancelot, by love constrained: alone, suspecting nothing, at our leisure. Sometimes at what we read our glances joined, looking from the book each to the other’s eyes…but one particular moment alone it was defeated us: the longed-for smile, it said, was kissed by that most noble lover: at this, this one, who now will lever leave my side, kissed my mouth… that day we read no further.” [Canto V, lines 112-124] In this passage Francesca described how Paolo and she would read to one another. The story they read was one about a couple whom also committed an infidelity –they felt as though their own story was reflected in their readings. “That day we read no further” references how the duo died –Francesca’s husband killed the two. Now, the adulterous couple is doomed to be [physically] stuck together for eternity. These sinners abandoned God when they chose to commit adultery, now God has abandoned them also and the pair is thus doomed in hell to suffer until the end of time...

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...iving up the privilege of self-determination. As a shrub, these individuals have no free will. Violence is a bestial sin and this can been seen in the Harpies whom feast on the leaves of the shrubs and so allow those who committed suicide to complain of their pain.

There is not a single, better example than contrapasso to show the literary and theological influences that Dante uses to write The Inferno. Dante makes the punishment fit the sin –sometimes the sinner gets exactly what they wanted [such as in the case of the lustful couple] or sometimes they get the exact opposite [as in the safe of those who never took a stand in life.] The idea of contrapasso teaches human-beings to keep consequences in mind before they perform certain actions. God has chosen the punishments for these sins and he does not make mistakes –these sinners get the punishment they deserve.