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Dante’s Inferno
Dante's poem is a firsthand narrative of his own journey through the depths of Hell. After his exile from Florence in 1302, he spends his life traveling through a perpetual Hell and recounts his realizations about society in his writings. Dante explains his vision of Hell the entire way through, giving the reader an idea of the different degrees of sin and punishment there. He emphasizes how the sins get worse the deeper he descends into Hell; the worst sinners are toward the bottom. Witnessing punishments and facing sinners directly, he attempts to discover what he must do to resolve his own sins and get back on the righteous path. Much like the Dante in the story, the author must also redeem himself so that he may return from exile. The book has very similar ties to Dante’s personal life and ideals.
When Dante makes it out of the dark wood, he sets out to climb a mountain. This could be referring to that Dante has just come out of a very dark part of his life, possibly because the love of his life has recently died. However, he is now trying to overcome his sorrow, but it is as big as a mountain. As he is climbing this mountain, he encounters a lion, a leopard, and she wolf. The lion is the sin of pride, the leopard is lust, and the wolf is greed or avarice. They are the very sins and regrets he cannot overcome. They represent three of the seven deadly sins from the Church’s teachings. He seeks atonement and would like to overcome the mountain in front of him, but his heart is too weak and he fails to climb the mountain.
As Dante travels into Hell, he notes that, “The heavens, that their beauty not be lessened, have cast them out, nor will deep Hell receive them” (Canto III). He may be trying to say that Heaven ...

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...ngel before he defied God and was renamed Satan. He is depicted with three heads and six wings with his lower half permanently frozen in place. Sayers notes, “Satan is impotent, ignorant, and full of hate, in contrast to the all-powerful, all-knowing, and loving nature of God.” (Canto XXXIV). Dante learns to come to terms with his previous sins and lets the past be what it may. After experiencing Hell firsthand, he does not plan on returning. So decides to live a much more righteous life. He damns the people in Hell and says he can be better than them but also realizes that this is his pride coming out. He knows this is a sin but decides he must live with it for now and will address it later. He climbs out of Hell with a new way to cope with life and face the demons of his past. He has overcome his struggle within and will hold his head high under the stars of hope.