Dantes Inferno A Journey Through Hell
The Inferno, the first part of the Divina Commedia, written around 1307 to 1314, is the masterpiece of Dante Alighieri. The story tells of a pilgrim Dante, not to be confused with the writer Dante, and his journey through hell to the base of the mountain of purgatory. Along the way, Dante accompanied by Virgil (human reason), meet many of Dante's political rivals and many mythological creatures and sinners from throughout history. In the end, the travelers climb down Satan's back, through the center of the earth and find themselves inside mount Purgatory. Dante develops many themes throughout the adventures of these travelers. The Inferno is a work that Dante used to express his ideas on God's divine justice. Because of this, Dante was one of the most popular poets in the world when he died in 1321. Dante develops this theme with skill unparalleled even today. In an essay by Friedrich Von Schelling, the Inferno is described as, "the most objectively terrible [part] in its subject matter, so it is the strongest in expression and the strictest in diction, sombre and full of dread in its very choice of words" (21). He even invented a new rhyme scheme, terza rima, to use throughout his epic work. Dante de
Hugo, Victor. "Book II: Men of Genius," in William Shakespeare. A. C. McClurg, 1887, p 36-94. Rpt in World Literature Criticism Supplement 1, ed. Polly Vedder, Gale press, New York, 1997. Then there is Beatrice. In the Inferno she is made reference to many times. She represents divine revelation. It is because of her request that God grants Dante this journey into the depths of hell. This represents God's divine justice in that God, being omnipotent, knows that it is right for Dante to make this journey and be shown the way of light. After all, the whole reason Dante has undertaken this journey is, "...to learn all there is to know about sin as a necessary preparation for the ascent to God"(Musa 426). As a result, it is revealed that God's divine justice is also made clear by the fact that Dante is even on this journey. Through these torments a vision of the sins they committed is drawn by Dante. He eloquently describes the sinners and their hell in vivid and imaginative language. Von Schelling again comments, "The diversity and variety of the punishments in the Inferno have been thought out with an almost unparalleled inventiveness" (21). These torments though, are what Dante believes God would impart on the lost souls, His divine justice coming to fruition. Every sin that can be committed on earth has its counterpart in hell as a punishment. These punishments are not only a reflection of the sins themselves, but more than that. They were also, "...revealed truth of the hereafter,.... To deny this would be to make the poet...a materialist of the nineteenth century" (Scartazzini 22). A materialist, Dante was not. His view on hell was one of continuation. He believed that the afterlife was a reflection of what people prepare in this life, thus the torments in hell reflect their sins and exemplify God's divine justice (Scartazzini 24). The spiritualization of the torments received in hell, give the Inferno powerful moral bearing (Hugo 24). Dante shows that God's justice is most supreme in the fact that the sinners caught in hell have no hope of ever attaining paradise. These sinners were called by God but refused to answer that call and as a result God has denied them what they long for, to be closer to Him. Dante though, has to take God's divine justice and make it material. For true death is inconceivable (Knight 26). So Dante has to describe an immaterial thing in terms of the world. He does this quite well and this makes the Inferno the easiest of the three parts to understand, on the surface. Dante lays many ideas underneath the literal context of his writing. One of t
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Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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