The Influence of Dante's Inferno

He could be placed in his own circle of the hypocrites, for placing people in hell, while he himself has committed their sins. 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

He was a pious man whose own experiences in a corrupt society shaped his writing style and the symbolism he included in his stories. There are graphic details of each circle of hell by describing the appropriate judgement of each sin. In essence, the condemned are those who ignored with God’s laws and eluded His spirit. He describes the different realms of Hell and always descripts the emotions he is feeling in order for the reader to understand the severity of what he has witnessed. The comedy is supposed to symbolize the world we reside in; and Dante’s journey into the afterlife evaluates the human struggles when confronted with sin whether they conquer or succumb to it.

Certainly then, if the motive of hell’s creation was justice, then its purpose was (and still is) to provide justice. But what exactly is this justice that Dante refers to? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it is the So hell exists to punish those who sin against god, and the suitability of Hell’s specific punishments testify to the divine perfection that all sin violates. This notion of the suitability of God’s punishments figures significantly in the structure of Dante’s Hell. To readers, as well as Dante himself (the character), the torments Dante and Virgil behold seem surprisingly harsh, possibly harsher than is fair, Dante exclaims this with surprise.

Scattered throughout the book, we see several mythological characters that have indeed descended into Hell. On... ... middle of paper ... ...e after all, he is the most sinister. The irony of this situation is compelling once we are told that Satan is in fact the “…soul that suffers the most.” (Canto XXXIV. Line 61). Because of this use of irony, the Inferno causes you to question what we know, or what we think we know in this case.

(Dante. 4-15 Along with ... ... middle of paper ... ...ing devoured for all eternity for example; one believes that this would be a better punishment. In conclusion, allegorically, Dante’s Inferno represents the soul seeing corruption and sin for what it really is. Dante as a writer creates a lot of tension between unbiased punishment of Gods justice and the sympathy of Dante for the lost souls he sees around him. As Dante travels further into hell Dante feels less inclined toward pity for the souls, because the sins become so great that even Dante feels that they deserve what they are getting.

There are several implications of the four functions of myth that can be derived from Dante’s Inferno. Dante divides Hell into three dispositions: incontinence, malice and brutality. (Alighieri, Dante, and Longfellow 6.79-82) Sinners are placed in the lesser part of Hell, the incontinence, when demonstrating an uncontrollable appetite for human desires. The application of the psychological function is evident through Dante’s descriptions of the sins committed. “Th... ... middle of paper ... ...orsaken.

The ninth and final circle of Hell is those of betrayal. Betrayal of family, country, guests, and worst of all benefactors. After Dante goes through the circles of Hell and understands the punishment for the different types of sin, he wants to live a life more virtuous and repent in order to get to Heaven. The contrapasso or God’s perfect justice is used for offenders to relive their sins they chose over serving God. Dante relates to the reader because he too chose sin over God, but finds redemption as the poem suggests the reader can also.

The borrowed torturous forms of punishments create a physical pain for the shades, whereas the creative punishments are used to inflict a mental and psychological suffering. However, it is possible for the creative punishments to inflict both a mental and physical pain upon the sinner. Several punishments that Dante envisions for the various sinners are borrowed from forms of torture. The first physical punishment Dante borrows from that is his punishment for the heretics. The penalty in the medieval era for heresy was often public humiliation or to burn to death.

As well, they represent important themes in the Inferno, and are interpretations of important symbols. The mythological characters are vital in this epic poem, as they are not only used as important metaphors, but also keep the Inferno going. Dante first comes in contact with the mythological characters in the second circle of Hell. This section is populated with those who could not deny the temptation of passion, and surrendered themselves to the desires of the flesh. They are eternally swept around an uncontrollable wind just like they “…abandoned themselves to the tempest of their passions” (57).

In Dante’s Inferno, we followed Dante as he narrates his decent and observations of hell. A wonderful part of that depiction is his descriptions of the creative yet cruel punishments that each of the different sinners receive. This story is an integral part of literary history, and even if I were to have the imagination and ability of Dante Alighieri, I don’t believe I would change this tried and true version known universally. Since I have the desire to maintain the validity of Dante’s version of hell in its entirety, I will explain the parts I found most intriguing, and why. His use of incredible and descript wording was impressive.