1) Inferno by Dante Alighieri was written around 1314, in renaissance Florence, Italy. Dante finds himself lost in the woods, a metaphor for his soul being lost and heading for eternal damnation, and is then escorted by Virgil through the depths of hell. Dante then travels through hell because it is the only way to cleanse his soul and get to heaven and to his lost love Beatrice. Dante wrote the novel after the death of Beatrice and also after his exile from Florence. Dante was the first great writer to publish his works in his country's vernacular rather than Latin and was greatly influenced by the politics of the late 13th century Florence.
2)Main Characters: Dante: Dante is the main character and protagonist of the story, as well as the author. However, it is said that the Dante in the poem is much different from the real Dante. At the beginning of the poem, Dante is portrayed as a sympathetic character, but by the end of the play, he becomes vengeful and sees the punishment being passed on sinners as divine judgment. He is brave and courageous for walking through the depths of hell but also weak and faints when he sees something he finds particularly gruesome. Dante is also a little bit intellectually confused about his existence. Virgil: Virgil is Dante's guide and adviser in his journey through hell. Virgil is very wise and resourceful, and is much help to Dante in his journey. We saw Virgil as almost a father figure because of his paternal watching over of Dante in the passage. Virgil offers words of wisdom to all of Dante's intellectual inquiries, and provides clarity to Dante when he is unsure of things. He is the voice of reason and guides Dante through Hell to show him the error of his ways and what he would experience if he did not repent. Beatrice:Beatrice is Dante's love in real life, who died. In the story, she is an angel in heaven, and we almost saw her as the reason for Dante's journey. She aids Virgil and Dante from heaven by sending angels to help them in their passage through hell. Also, the relationship between Dante and Beatrice embodies what Dante believes is true love. In this novel she is not really a main character but becomes a main character and Purgetory and Paridiso.
3)Minor Characters Lucifer: Lucifer is the ruler of hell, and also the devil. He is sticking out of the ground in final and deepest circle of hell. He has three faces but doesn't speak(we thought this was possibly to amplify non human characteristics?) Lucifer spends all of his time eating the three greatest betrayers of all time over and over again, Judas(who betrayed Christ), Cassius and Brutus (who betrayed Julius Caesar) Guido De Montrefeltro: Guido was offered anticipatory absolution, which is paying for forgiveness before one commits a sin. This is paradoxical that he is in hell for this, because he was promised by the Pope. Guido is an important character because at the time the novel was written, the Catholic Church was selling indulgences, which purges people of sins for fees. Dante put Guido in hell because Dante was against the sale of indulgences because he thought they were ungodly (whatta ya know)
4) Major Settings The River Acheron: This is the river that is pretty much the moat of hell. Virgil and Dante must cross it as their first obstacle, where they meet Charon, who ferries deal souls across the river into hell. Just before the river is the Ante-Inferno, where people who did neither good nor bad in their lives must chase a blank banner for eternity. The 4th Ring of the 9th Circle of Hell: This is the final circle of hell, where Lucifer lives(see minor characters). This circle is no longer hot, and instead frozen. At the end of the story Dante and Virgil climb down Lucifer's massive body holding onto his frozen hairs all the way down to the River of Forgetfulness, which they ride back to earth.
5)Summary
6)Themes Motifs and Symbols Perfection of the Divine: In the poem, all of the punishments sinners receive may be viewed as a little outlandish, but Dante believed that the punishment of God was always just and worthy of the sin. Also, there is an underlying idea that God is perfect and every judgement and facet in hell is created perfectly and for just reasons. Punishment Fits the Crime: every punishment is not only just, but it is also symbolic of its treachery to all that is good. For instance, Dante says in the poem that those who are at the whim of lust are being blown about by their fleshy desires, so their punishment is to be tossed around by a great storm.
7)Style The Inferno is an epic poem recording Dante's excursion through Hell. The poem consists of Cantos by means of organization and ascertaining the disparate levels, rounds, and pouches of Hell. The narrative structure incorporates dialogue amongst Dante, Virgil, and any other creature encountered amid the journey. Aside from this discourse, The Inferno capitalizes on astute imagery to explicate the perils and punishments within the realm of Hell, along with its residents.
8)Dominant Philosophy, Theme, or Idea Divine Justice: "Sacred justice moved my architect" (Canto III, line 4), meaning that God created Hell by means of justice. Hell's affliction was designed by God to infallibly persecute the wicked, aligned with their atrocities-- the wrathful assail one another, and the gluttonous feast on ordure and so forth.
9)Group Disscussion Summary
Our group focused on the means by which Dante allocates Hell's punishments, calculating who would wind up where and why. This generated the question of divine justice and where Dante derived the concepts of the poem's retributions. Hell's explicit punishments essentially testify to the Biblically divine perfection that all sin violates.
10) Unanswered Questions
- What is Virgil’s exact relationship to Dante? Is he merely just a guide or something more significant?
- Why does Dante have to travel through hell to go to heaven? Are there no alternatives?
- When Dante pities people he encounters in the Inferno, is that an act against God and what does that truly say about his faith as a Christian?
- In the story, the Inferno exists as an area for punishment of sinners. How does the journey through it earn a person a passage to heaven? Can heaven not be achieved without hell?
- In the first Canto, the story explains that Virgil is Dante’s symbol of Human Reason. Thus, in this context, is Virgil a tool of divine aid or consequence.
11) Short Quotations
- “Poet, by that God to you unknown, lead me this way. Beyond this present ill and worse to dread, lead me to Peter’s gate and be my guide through the sad halls of Hell” (pg 32).
- “I AM THE WAY TO THE CITY OF WOE. I AM THE WAY TO A FORSAKEN PEOPLE. I AM THE WAY INTO ETERNAL SORROW. SACRED JUSTICE MOVED MY ARCHITECT. I WAS RAISED HERE BY DIVINE OMNIPOTENCE. PRIMORDIAL LOVE AND ULTIMATE INTELLIGENCE. ONLY THOSE ELEMENTS TIME CANNOT WEAR WERE MADE BEFORE ME, AND BEYOND TIME I STAND. ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE” (pg 42).
- “This was my Guide’s command. And he turned me about himself, and would not trust my hands alone, but, with his placed on mine, held my eyes shut” (pg 88).
- “He first, I second, without thought of rest we climbed the dark until we reached the point where a round opening brought in sight the blest and beauteous shining of the Heavenly cars. And we walked out once more beneath the Stars” (pg 287).
12) Overall themes
- There are situations where humans find themselves in a position where they put others before themselves. Write an essay in which you identity a situation in a literary work where a character sacrifices his/her morals in order to preserve the safety of another.
- Take a moment to analyze the different circles of hell and what they mean. Write an essay in which you analyze the connections the circles have with each other and what their significance is to God.
1) Inferno by Dante Alighieri was written around 1314, in renaissance Florence, Italy. Dante finds himself lost in the woods, a metaphor for his soul being lost and heading for eternal damnation, and is then escorted by Virgil through the depths of hell. Dante then travels through hell because it is the only way to cleanse his soul and get to heaven and to his lost love Beatrice. Dante wrote the novel after the death of Beatrice and also after his exile from Florence. Dante was the first great writer to publish his works in his country's vernacular rather than Latin and was greatly influenced by the politics of the late 13th century Florence.
2)Main Characters:
Dante: Dante is the main character and protagonist of the story, as well as the author. However, it is said that the Dante in the poem is much different from the real Dante. At the beginning of the poem, Dante is portrayed as a sympathetic character, but by the end of the play, he becomes vengeful and sees the punishment being passed on sinners as divine judgment. He is brave and courageous for walking through the depths of hell but also weak and faints when he sees something he finds particularly gruesome. Dante is also a little bit intellectually confused about his existence.
Virgil: Virgil is Dante's guide and adviser in his journey through hell. Virgil is very wise and resourceful, and is much help to Dante in his journey. We saw Virgil as almost a father figure because of his paternal watching over of Dante in the passage. Virgil offers words of wisdom to all of Dante's intellectual inquiries, and provides clarity to Dante when he is unsure of things. He is the voice of reason and guides Dante through Hell to show him the error of his ways and what he would experience if he did not repent.
Beatrice:Beatrice is Dante's love in real life, who died. In the story, she is an angel in heaven, and we almost saw her as the reason for Dante's journey. She aids Virgil and Dante from heaven by sending angels to help them in their passage through hell. Also, the relationship between Dante and Beatrice embodies what Dante believes is true love. In this novel she is not really a main character but becomes a main character and Purgetory and Paridiso.
3)Minor Characters
Lucifer: Lucifer is the ruler of hell, and also the devil. He is sticking out of the ground in final and deepest circle of hell. He has three faces but doesn't speak(we thought this was possibly to amplify non human characteristics?) Lucifer spends all of his time eating the three greatest betrayers of all time over and over again, Judas(who betrayed Christ), Cassius and Brutus (who betrayed Julius Caesar)
Guido De Montrefeltro: Guido was offered anticipatory absolution, which is paying for forgiveness before one commits a sin. This is paradoxical that he is in hell for this, because he was promised by the Pope. Guido is an important character because at the time the novel was written, the Catholic Church was selling indulgences, which purges people of sins for fees. Dante put Guido in hell because Dante was against the sale of indulgences because he thought they were ungodly (whatta ya know)
4) Major Settings
The River Acheron: This is the river that is pretty much the moat of hell. Virgil and Dante must cross it as their first obstacle, where they meet Charon, who ferries deal souls across the river into hell. Just before the river is the Ante-Inferno, where people who did neither good nor bad in their lives must chase a blank banner for eternity.
The 4th Ring of the 9th Circle of Hell: This is the final circle of hell, where Lucifer lives(see minor characters). This circle is no longer hot, and instead frozen. At the end of the story Dante and Virgil climb down Lucifer's massive body holding onto his frozen hairs all the way down to the River of Forgetfulness, which they ride back to earth.
5)Summary
6)Themes Motifs and Symbols
Perfection of the Divine: In the poem, all of the punishments sinners receive may be viewed as a little outlandish, but Dante believed that the punishment of God was always just and worthy of the sin. Also, there is an underlying idea that God is perfect and every judgement and facet in hell is created perfectly and for just reasons.
Punishment Fits the Crime: every punishment is not only just, but it is also symbolic of its treachery to all that is good. For instance, Dante says in the poem that those who are at the whim of lust are being blown about by their fleshy desires, so their punishment is to be tossed around by a great storm.
7)Style
The Inferno is an epic poem recording Dante's excursion through Hell. The poem consists of Cantos by means of organization and ascertaining the disparate levels, rounds, and pouches of Hell. The narrative structure incorporates dialogue amongst Dante, Virgil, and any other creature encountered amid the journey. Aside from this discourse, The Inferno capitalizes on astute imagery to explicate the perils and punishments within the realm of Hell, along with its residents.
8)Dominant Philosophy, Theme, or Idea
Divine Justice: "Sacred justice moved my architect" (Canto III, line 4), meaning that God created Hell by means of justice. Hell's affliction was designed by God to infallibly persecute the wicked, aligned with their atrocities-- the wrathful assail one another, and the gluttonous feast on ordure and so forth.
9)Group Disscussion Summary
Our group focused on the means by which Dante allocates Hell's punishments, calculating who would wind up where and why. This generated the question of divine justice and where Dante derived the concepts of the poem's retributions. Hell's explicit punishments essentially testify to the Biblically divine perfection that all sin violates.
10) Unanswered Questions
- What is Virgil’s exact relationship to Dante? Is he merely just a guide or something more significant?
- Why does Dante have to travel through hell to go to heaven? Are there no alternatives?
- When Dante pities people he encounters in the Inferno, is that an act against God and what does that truly say about his faith as a Christian?
- In the story, the Inferno exists as an area for punishment of sinners. How does the journey through it earn a person a passage to heaven? Can heaven not be achieved without hell?
- In the first Canto, the story explains that Virgil is Dante’s symbol of Human Reason. Thus, in this context, is Virgil a tool of divine aid or consequence.
11) Short Quotations
- “Poet, by that God to you unknown, lead me this way. Beyond this present ill and worse to dread, lead me to Peter’s gate and be my guide through the sad halls of Hell” (pg 32).
- “I AM THE WAY TO THE CITY OF WOE. I AM THE WAY TO A FORSAKEN PEOPLE. I AM THE WAY INTO ETERNAL SORROW. SACRED JUSTICE MOVED MY ARCHITECT. I WAS RAISED HERE BY DIVINE OMNIPOTENCE. PRIMORDIAL LOVE AND ULTIMATE INTELLIGENCE. ONLY THOSE ELEMENTS TIME CANNOT WEAR WERE MADE BEFORE ME, AND BEYOND TIME I STAND. ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE” (pg 42).
- “This was my Guide’s command. And he turned me about himself, and would not trust my hands alone, but, with his placed on mine, held my eyes shut” (pg 88).
- “He first, I second, without thought of rest we climbed the dark until we reached the point where a round opening brought in sight the blest and beauteous shining of the Heavenly cars. And we walked out once more beneath the Stars” (pg 287).
12) Overall themes
- There are situations where humans find themselves in a position where they put others before themselves. Write an essay in which you identity a situation in a literary work where a character sacrifices his/her morals in order to preserve the safety of another.
- Take a moment to analyze the different circles of hell and what they mean. Write an essay in which you analyze the connections the circles have with each other and what their significance is to God.