Summary Of Dante

’s Inferno Essay, Research Paper

Part One – Sins of Incontinence (She-Wolf)

(excepting, of course, the first circle)

Circle One- Virtuous Pagans and Unbaptized Children (Limbo)

This circle is a grassy field illuminated by the light of human reason. Here reside the great poets of antiquity, whom Dante envies greatly. The only pain of the people here is that they have no hope.

Circle Two- Lustful Persons (The Carnal)

Those who reside here gave themselves up to their passions. They swirl in an eternal wind (lust) through murky air (beclouding of their reason by passion.) Since this is a sin associated with love, it is the least serious sin. Even some more serious sins, motivated by love or passion can be .pled down. to this level. Lancelot and the courtly lovers of the middle ages are punished here, as are, of course, Francesca and Paola.

Circle Three- Gluttons (The Gluttons)

Putrefaction and other forms of human waste fall from the sky, and the glutinous spirits lie in the waste they produced during their lives. As they consumed, they are consumed by Cerberus, the dog of Hell. Dante has a long conversation here with Ciacco the hog.

Circle Four- Selfish People (The Hoarders and Wasters)

Since these people lacked moderation during their own lives, they are condemned to carry immoderate weights upon their chests. There are two divisions within the circle: those who kept everything for themselves, and those who wasted what they had. Symbolic of their actions during life, they stand in a great crowd, pushing huge lead weights around. No one here is recognizable, since their greed and extravagance has made them indistinguishable from each other.

Circle Five- Mean People (The Wrathful and Sullen)

Again, there are two divisions with this circle. The first, the wrathful, run around the swamp of the river Styx, attacking each other furiously. The sullen are entombed beneath the mud. They chant eternally an infernal hymn, which admits their sin of grumpiness.

Heresy

(not really a sin of any of the evil aminals)

Circle Six- Deniers of God (The Heretics)

This is just inside the walls of Dis, the city of Hell. It is a great cemetery where those who denied the eternal life of Heaven and God are buried in fiery crypts. Epicurus, his followers, and Pope Anastasius reside here. The burning cemetery is guarded by the Rebellious Angels, and the reasoning behind their positioning here is obvious.

Part Two – Sins of Violence (Lion)

Circle Seven – Violent People (The Violent and Bestial)

Round One: Violent Against your neighbor

People who made war against their neighbors, other countries, or other large groups of people, as well as highwaymen and mass murderers reside here, submerged eternally in boiling blood, just as they wallowed in blood during life. If they rise up too far out of the blood, the guarding Centaurs stick them full of arrows. Naturally, great generals – Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, probably Genghis Kahn – are here.

Round Two: Violent Against yourself

Suicides are here, their souls encased in thorny trees. Since these people could only express themselves in life through the shedding of their own blood, they are only allowed to speak while bleeding. Harpies, birds who defile all they touch, rip and tear the plants through eternity. This is also symbolic, since the suicides defiled their own bodies through their self-mutilation.

Round Three: Against God, Nature, and Art

Blasphemers (sinners against God,) homosexuals (sinners against Nature,) and usurers (sinners against Art [in Dante.s day, another word for industry]) all reside here. This round is a large stretch of open sand. The sand is burning, and flaming rain falls from the sky. Blasphemers, the worst of the three, are stretched out upon the sand, and bear the brunt of the rain. Sodomites (homosexuals, who broke down the order of Nature, God.s child) run in circles for eternity. Those who practice usury, the least serious sin of these three (a sin against Art, the child of Nature, and therefore, the grandchild of God) are allowed to huddle in the sand, though they have to stare eternally at a purse around their neck. The sand here represents sterility (as these are all inherently sterile sins) and the rain, wrath.

Part Three – Sins of Fraud (Leopard)

Circle Eight- Frauds (The Fraudulent and Malicious)

In the eighth circle, there are ten mini-circles. Each contains a different type of sinner, and each is punished differently. However, they are all under the same category: those who committed simple fraud.

Bolgia One: Panderers and Seducers

In the first ditch, those who drove others on in life are forced to march for eternity, driven on by demons with huge whips. Jason of the Argonauts, from Greek mythology, is here.

Bolgia Two: Flatterers

Here, people who flattered others in life are sunk for eternity in the true value of their flatteries: poop (for lack of a better word.)

Bolgia Three: Simoniacs

In life, church officials who sold church offices and favors for money are held upside-down in mock baptismal fonts, with fire replacing water. As new sinners come, the residents are bumped down into the fiery rock to make ro

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать