A significant idea contained within Dante's The Divine Comedy is the Augustinian concept of ordered and disordered love. Each realm of the afterlife symbolizes the type of love the inhabitants exercised while they were living on earth. For example, the Inferno represents disordered love, since the souls in Hell exhibited little love for mankind and little acknowledgement of God. Because the kind of love Hell symbolizes is the worst type that anyone could possess, it is located nearest to the center of the earth, farthest away from God. On the other hand, Paradise, which is situated closest to God, represents ordered love. This area is reserved for those who treated their neighbors well and felt connected to God. Although they sinned during their lifetimes, they fully repented long before death. However, Purgatory is unlike Paradise or the Inferno. Since the inhabitants of Purgatory were those who started to repent later in their lifetimes, but still often only thought of their own individual needs and corporeal pleasures, it only makes sense that this world be in between Heaven and Hell. Purgatory, being a "gray area" (that is, neither all good or all bad), represents a type of

In contrast, in the sin of gluttony, at least the guilty individuals did gain some sense of satisfaction while on earth. However, they too were blameworthy of surrendering to material things. Since they ate and drank in excess while living, their reprimand in the Sixth Cornice is complete emaciation, a horrific physical punishment. Since they abused food and drink, now they must starve as a purification mechanism to ascend into Heaven.

Sins of pride, envy, wrath, avarice, gluttony, sloth and lust all share one significant aspect in common. They involve man loving self-pleasures more than God. In each case this sort of love lies in between order and disorder. Whether these indulgences are physical or psychological, they are hindrances to achieving the ultimate end of man, which is happiness. Since (according to Aquinas) happiness comes from God, only by truly loving and honoring Him can one ascend into Paradise. These temporal pleasures prevent man from developing a good relationship with God. As punishment, God makes these sinners wait in Purgatory in the same way they made Him wait. In many cases self-love has been the main reason why spirits are forced to repent in Purgatory. However, although the sinners did not know how to love in the proper manner while on earth, they are given another chance to ascend into Heaven via Purgatory. They realized their mistakes later in life, but this self-recognition proves that they have the potential to become better people, if not in the flesh, then in the spirit.

According to Dante, three main types of love are depicted in Purgatory. These include "bad love", "too little love", and "immoderate love". Bad love, the worst of the three, coincides to the first three Cornices that represent the sins of pride, envy, and wrath respectively. Therefore, since the First Cornice contains those who were too proud during their time on earth, they also exhibited the most disordered love in comparison with the other six sins. They spent more time exalting themselves than they did caring for others and developing a relationship with God. As their punishment, they, "crawling by under such bu

Some common words found in the essay are:
Deadly Sins, Third Cornice, Sins Continuing, Comedy Augustinian, According Dante, Fourth Cornice, Seventh Cornice, Fifth Cornice, Canto XVI, Sixth Cornice, disordered love, bad love, type love, immoderate love, little love, love depicted, deadly sins, seven deadly, seven deadly sins, pride envy, sins pride envy, love lies, developing relationship god, pride envy wrath, relationship god punishment,
Approximate Word count = 1451
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)