Dante’s Inferno

Leslie Loveland

Eng271

Mrs. Vance

07/18/2015

Dante’s Inferno

Leslie Loveland

Eng. 271

Mrs. Vance

07/18/2015

        Is Hell the final resting place for humanity? Dante’s Inferno is a humanistic view of sin, its consequences, and a promising hope for a better future.

        Dante’s Inferno is the first of three poems of literary masterpiece trilogy – The Divine Comedy. The Divine Comedy encompasses the poems: The Inferno, The Purgatorio and The Paradiso.  It is a journey through the circles of hell, an allegory of man’s pilgrimage towards Heaven and God.  This epic series, although written in 1306, is still studied, researched and applied to society and humanity today.

I chose this piece of literature to provide a deeper reflection and perspective to the struggles, both internal and external, of sinners and the positive choices that are available in the afterlife.  

Dante Alighieri was born in Florence Italy, 1265. The exact date of his birth is not known. He died September 14, 1321 in Ravenna. Italy. He was the son of Alighiero de Balliincione and Donna Bella degli Abatia.  The Abatia family was a prominent family in Florence, Italy. Dante’s family had a strong alliance with the white Guelphs and had a strong influence on the papacy. “Dante declared that his family ancestry belonged to the ancient romans” ( TheFamouspeople.com).  His heritage was the foundation for many of the political battles that he encompassed during his adulthood. He married Gemma Di Manetto at the age of 12. However his love and devotion was to Beatrice Portinan. “Dante was deeply attracted to Beatrice Portinan and wrote numerous poems dedicated to her” (TheFamouspeople.com). “It was also the name of his hidden love that Dante offered his impression to the Dolce Still Novo” (TheFamouspeole.com). Beatrice became an inspiration and foundation for many of his writings.

Later in life he met Charles Mantel, King of Hungary in 1294,   became a doctor and a pharmacist, was admitted to the apothecaries’ guild in 1295, and became one of 6 magistrates in Florence in 1300.   In 1302, under the counsel of Pope Boniface, he was excluded from public office and sentenced to exile due to his political connections with the White Guelph’s After 19 years in exile, Dante was able to return to Ravenna in 1321. It is suspected that he died from complications with malaria.  Dante is buried in Ravenna at the Church of San Pier Maggiore. In 1829, a tombstone was built for Dante. “The front of the tomb reads Onorate I’altissimo poeta which interpreted means ‘honour the most exalted poet” (TheFamouspeople.com).  

The Latin poetry of Cicero and Ovid inspired Dante’s creative poems and literature. His poetical events, love for Beatrice and his acquaintances were the foundation of many of his writings. Dante is known for many poems and pieces of literature. These include: De vulcan eloquinta, The Convivio, and questio de acque et terra. However, his most famous poem is The Divine Comedy.  This epic masterpiece was written in the vernacular Italian, instead of the popular Latin or Greek. This enabled other readers to understand and comprehend literacy to greater degree.  “The Divine Comedy, in its three main divisions, treats of the corruption of the will, the purification of the will and the perfection of the will…It is because our souls are bound up with a material frame that we struggle for the conquest of the flesh by the spirit and it is because there is an infinite God that our souls yearn towards Him with aspiration, and bow before Him with awe” (Blow 2). This poem was written between 1303 -1306 and published in 1314. Since its publication, the inspiration for Dante’s Inferno has been something of research for many scholars. The inspiration of Dante’s Inferno is to know one’s self and a journey of man’s soul towards God. “Dante has been called the voice of ten silent centuries, and certain it is that the truths to which he gave immoral expression had, during these ages, been slowly crystallizing in the consciousness of the Christian world” (Blow).

The various animals that Dante uses within the trilogy represent sin, humanity and its associated punishments. Each animal that Dante uses is a vivid portrayal of sinners, their actions and their place in hell while he takes us through his own pilgrimage to God and Heaven.

 Humans will usually submit to their hidden feelings and desires. These feelings and desires are a vital part of human nature. The use of symbolism in Dante’s Inferno connects human and animal behavior to illustrate the destructive power of sin. Humans are constantly struggling to do the right thing, fighting a continuous battle of between morals, values, desires and will.

Within Dante’s epic masterpiece, The Inferno, there are many uses of symbolism. Dante uses animal imagery to bring to light the sinful desires of the flesh and their eternal effects that may turn us away from a loving God.  Each canto is a descriptive picture of sin and its consequences.  He is lost in the woods, and on a journey through hell.  Each of the circles that they pass through is inhabited by sinners who have committed immoral acts.  Their punishments, and the circles that they inhabit, reflect the severity of their transgressions.  The eternal resting place reflects their sins before death and the values at that time within society.