The Cantos Essays

  • Analysis Of Canto 34 In Dante's Inferno

    1017 Words  | 3 Pages

    Though there are countless disturbing moments throughout Dante’s Inferno, one can dare to say that Canto 34 is the most irreverent canto in Inferno. In Canto 34, Dante and Virgil meet the sinners who are deemed to be the most evil; those who betrayed their benefactors (the individuals who extended their kindness towards them.) It is also the canto where Dante meets Satan, the king of hell. Dante opens Canto 34 with a sentence in Latin that reads: “Vexilla, regis prodeunt inferni.” One translation of the

  • Canto 18 of The Inferno by Dante Alighieri

    3807 Words  | 8 Pages

    Canto 18 of The Inferno by Dante Alighieri It was once said by Marcel Proust that “We do not receive wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can make for us, which no one can spare us…”. This journey through the wild to discover wisdom is exactly what transpires in The Inferno by Dante Alighieri. The Inferno is an epic poem that is the first section of a three-part poem called The Divine Comedy. The Inferno is about the narrator, Dante

  • Bel Canto Opera

    2267 Words  | 5 Pages

    Opera in the Romantic Period was a time when opera changed drastically, especially in the country of Italy. The recognition of singers as being important, almost irreplaceable, in the art of “bel canto” opera changed the idea of a vocalist in opera forever. A singer’s voice was prized and Italian composers, like Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini wrote operas and works to showcase the voice, it’s color, range and agility. These Italian composers were moving away from the normal style of composition

  • Divine Comedy - Dante and Virgil's Relationship in Canto XIV of Dante’s Inferno

    841 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dante and Virgil's Relationship in Canto XIV of Dante’s Inferno In Canto XIV of Dante’s Inferno, Virgil describes the statue of the Old Man of Crete. Dante uses the Old Man of Crete as a metaphor for Virgil’s legacy in order to elucidate the nature of Dante’s and Virgil’s relationship. In the beginning of the metaphor, Dante carefully and methodically illustrates the grandeur of the Greek empire and Roman civilization. "[Mount Ida] was once chosen," Virgil explains, "as a trusted cradle/

  • Dante's Divine Comedy - Eighth Circle of Hell in Canto XXVIII

    1654 Words  | 4 Pages

    Eighth Circle of Hell  in Canto XXVIII Who, even with untrammeled words and many attempts at telling, ever could recount in full the blood and wounds that I now saw?  Dante begins the opening of Canto XXVIII with a rhetorical question. Virgil and he have just arrived in the Ninth Abyss of the Eighth Circle of hell. In this pouch the Sowers of Discord and Schism are continually wounded by a demon with a sword. Dante poses a question to the reader: Who, even with untrammeled words and many attempts

  • Bel Canto Singing Style

    1037 Words  | 3 Pages

    While the term “bel canto” is a rather loose term, Celletti’s words seem to sum up what bel canto was generally about. The Italian term translated to “beautiful singing,” developed in the late seventeenth century, where it became a technique used to create a beautiful sound as opposed to the imitation of instruments by the voice. It was also intended to set virtuoso singers apart from amateur and choral singers, which resulted in a new kind of vocal expression. Giulio Caccini, a member of the Florentine

  • Francesca's Style in Canto V of Dante's Inferno

    5050 Words  | 11 Pages

    Francesca's Style in Canto V of Dante's Inferno Canto V of Dante's Inferno begins and ends with confession. The frightening image of Minos who «confesses» the damned sinners and then hurls them down to their eternal punishment contrasts with the almost familial image of Francesca and Dante, who confess to one another. In a real sense confession seems to be defective or inadequate in Hell. The huddled masses who declare their sins to Minos do so because they are compelled to declare or make

  • Dante's Divine Comedy - Close Reading of Canto V of the Inferno

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dante's Inferno: A Close Reading of Canto V Dante Alighieri presents a vivid and awakening view of the depths of Hell in the first book of his Divine Comedy, the Inferno. The reader is allowed to contemplate the state of his own soul as Dante "visits" and views the state of the souls of those eternally assigned to Hell's hallows. While any one of the cantos written in Inferno will offer an excellent description of the suffering and justice of hell, Canto V offers a poignant view of the assignment

  • Divine Comedy - Mastery of Language in Dante’s Inferno

    1887 Words  | 4 Pages

    sensitivity to the sights and sounds of nature, and his infinite store of knowledge allow him to capture and draw the reader into the realm of the terrestrial hell.  In Canto 6, the Gluttons; Canto 13, the Violent Against Themselves; and Canto 23, the Hypocrites; Dante excels in his detailed portrayal of the supernatural world of hell.  In each canto, Dante combines his mastery of language with his sensitivity to the sights and sounds of nature to set the stage.  He then reinforces the image with examples that

  • Art Of Language In Dante's Inferno

    1483 Words  | 3 Pages

    every move. His art of language, sensitivity to the surroundings of nature, and his knowledge allow him to capture and draw the attention of the reader. In Canto 6, the Gluttons; Canto 13, Suicide, and Canto 23, the Hypocrite is where you see Alighieri do his best work. He excels in portraying the supernatural world of hell. In each canto, Dante combines his art of language with his sensitivity to nature to set the stage. He then reinforces the image with examples that call upon his knowledge

  • Wages of Sin Revealed in The Divine Comedy

    788 Words  | 2 Pages

    around thirty four cantos. Each of these cantos marks a steady progression from the mildest to the worst of sins. The cantos depict sinners under various forms of punishment which are commensurate to the nature of their sins. Dante categorizes sin into three different categories of fraud, incontinence and violence. In canto I he mentions three animals namely , a leopard, a lion and a she-wolf. These animals act as symbolisms for the various types of sins. The sin^ñs depicted in canto XVIII are symbolized

  • Byron's Don Juan - No Formal Ending is Needed

    1463 Words  | 3 Pages

    Formal Ending is Needed Lord Byron's chief masterpiece is probably the comic epic Don Juan, which occupied its author from 1818 until nearly the end of his life (Trueblood 14-15). The sheer length of the poem is in itself impressive; its seventeen cantos take Juan through a variety of adventures, including the famous affair with Donna Julia, the sojourn with Haidee, experiences in Turkey and later in Russia as a slave, and finally episodes in England among high society (Boyd 22-30). Remarkably, however

  • Use of the Mock-epic Style in The Rape of the Lock

    983 Words  | 2 Pages

    trivial occurrences are substituted in place of truly fantastic possibilities (mighty cities falling, for instance) for the purpose of putting the lock's severing into a more realistic perspective — this is made even more explicit in the following canto (4,8 "[no-one ever] felt such rage, resentment, and despair / as thou, sad virgin! for thy ravished hair" — meaning that perhaps Belinda over-reacts, in Pope's opinion, just ever-so slightly.) He also then reinforces his satire with a broadening of

  • Kings

    3374 Words  | 7 Pages

    Volume 1 : Inferno Cantos I - XI Canto I Halfway through his life, DANTE THE PILGRIM wakes to find himself lost in the dark wood. Terrified at being alone in so dismal a valley, he wanders until he comes to a hill bathed in sunlight, and his fear begins to leave him. But when he starts to climb the hill his path is blocked by three fierce beasts: first a LEOPARD, then a LION, and finally a SHE-WOLF. They fill him with fear and drive him back down to the sunless wood. At that moment the figure of

  • Comparison of Pope and Swift

    1665 Words  | 4 Pages

    Pope writes phrases about Belinda such as “And oped those eyes that must eclipse the day”. (Canto 1, 14) Belinda’s beauty is frequently praised by Pope throughout The Rape of the Lock and his representation of the nature and function of cosmetics is that it is an enhancer of her natural beauty. When Belinda goes to the mirror to put on her make-up, Pope writes that “A heavenly image in the glass appears”. (Canto 1, 125) Her beauty is praised by Pope in its natural form, and Pope describes the function

  • Divine Intellect in Dante's Inferno

    1911 Words  | 4 Pages

    Divine Intellect in Dante's Inferno In Canto XI of Dante's Inferno, Virgil carefully explains the layout of hell to his student, Dante. Toward the end of his speech, Virgil says that "Sodom and Cahors" are "speak[ing] in passionate contempt of God," (XI, 50-51), and divine will thus relegates them to the seventh circle. The sin of the Sodomites is clear for Dante, who poses no question on the matter, sodomy perhaps being an obvious affront to God which the bible directly addresses. However

  • How Did Ezra Pound Collaborated With The Nazi Regime?

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    Propagandist Ezra Pound actively supported the ideologies of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler during World War II. How was the case of this influential scholar different from other traitors who collaborated with the Nazi Regime? This is the central question for my research paper based on the research I have collected thus far. By studying how the life of Ezra Pound fits into the historiographical sequence of research I have gathered, it has become clearer that he was controversial later on because

  • dante

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    in much of the painting, which can be symbolic of death. Fire is one of the only elements man can create so fire can also be seen as a symbol of mortality. Virgil said, "I come to lead you to the other shore, into eternal darkness, ice, and fire." (Canto III: line 87) This quote shows the connection of fire and Hell. Fire can also be representative of the Holy Spirit and this relates to Dante who ties religion into the Inferno. Fire is the background of much of the top of the painting. Virgil said

  • Fourfold Analysis of the Fortune Tellers and Diviners

    548 Words  | 2 Pages

    the pilgrim cries over the unfortunate sight. Amphiaraus, one of the many fortune tellers in this bolgia, tried to see too far ahead of him. “In life he wished to see too far before him, and now he must crabwalk backwards round this track” (Inferno, Canto XX, 162). When Dant...

  • Theme of Temperance in The Faeirie Queene

    675 Words  | 2 Pages

    which stand as monuments to individual According to Berger,  Alma's Castle functions as an 'archetype of human temperance'; Spenser specifically  describes the building in terms of the human body, relating it to Christian teachings; in  the first canto, he states: Of all Gods workes, which do this world adorn, There is no one more faire and excellent, Then is mans body both for powre and form, Whiles it is kept in sobre government... Spenser's statement borrows from the polemic of St