The Politics behind Dante’s Inferno

Dante Alighieri was a major Italian poet of the Late Middle Ages, he was born into a family with a complex involvement in the Florence political scene. In the Dante Alighieri's epic poem The Inferno, Dante, the protagonist, witnesses the Circles of Hell, guided by Virgil the character representing Human Reason. Alighieri shows compassion towards different sinners in Hell, which provides an insight on the way he feels about people who do not repent. Although they are illustrated as good people by the poet, they are punished within the different circles of Hell because they did not cleanse themselves of sin. Through the uses of diction, actions of Dante and Virgil, and imagery, Alighieri was able to show readers he felt compassion towards Farinata Degli Uberti, Pier Delle Vigne, and Count Ugliono.

For scholars to recognize Dante’s Inferno as a politically influenced piece of work there needs be an understanding of a contemporary custom, Aristotelian in nature, which engaged political sensibility and moral principles concomitantly with an ethical conscience determined by the Catholic faith; all of these qualities were intangibly interwoven and could not be disconnected. Political actions were required to be guided by moral standards to permit human beings to live out Church approved virtuous lives. Within the Inferno, the political and the moral morph into one another, where moral reflections lead to political conclusions, and political arguments are expressed through fierce moral vocabulary. In the world of Dante, religion cannot be

Dante Alighieri lived during a period in time where the political sphere had a direct influence on the factional strife of Florence and on the greater Italian country as a whole, where corruption and greed impacted every aspect of society. The events Dante encountered, both before his birth and during his lifetime, deeply influenced his political mentality that is reflected in the first section of his work the Divine Comedy – Inferno. The atmosphere created by the long lasting discord between the Guelph and Ghibelline factions within central and northern Italy allowed for corruptive politics between the Church and the state of Florence. This corruption overflowed onto Florentine society, where the “White” Guelph and “Black” Guelph turmoil resulted

Dante’s Inferno is considered one of the greatest pieces of literature around world. It gave Dante a title of being considered the father of the Italian language. It showed an artistic depiction of the late medieval period he was a part of and how he would soon provide some influence on start of the renaissance era. To comprehend Dante’s Inferno, one must look at the beginning of Dante Alighieri the poet and analyze his life and influences that shaped the poet he would become. How did the political events and life of Dante affect the work of the Inferno?

Circle one, Limbo, this circle consists of souls who were born before Christ or souls who were unbaptized as a child or did not worship God. It is clear that religion is a social value to the society, however, it is not as important as the social values in the inner circles. Dante thought to himself “I knew that beings of great worth were here suspended in this Limbo” (Dante, Inferno, IV, p.63), this shows that Dante feels bad for the souls in Limbo. He then goes on to ask his guide, Virgil, if anyone ever redeems himself or herself from Limbo. Virgil goes on to to tell him that once the Mighty One came and took a number of souls to Heaven. Since religion did not hold has much importance as the other social values there was a chance for redemption for the souls in Limbo. Some of the other social values important to their society are lust, greed, materialism, prodigality, anger, and hostility. All of these crimes are before the Gate of Dis, and the crimes behind the Gates of Dis are the crimes that hold a higher social value. Heresy, Violence, the 10 Malebolge, and the Frozen Floor of Hell consists of higher crimes. Within Circle Nine are the ones that went against

Foscolo, Rossetti and Valli demonstrated that the different critical exegetical positions, regarding the Divine Comedy (whose intent appears on one side as a disciplinary and moral renewal of the Church, and on the other side as a hidden, heretical reversion) were not free from contemporary pressures. In fact, their own theories are able to offer a valid evidence of the nineteenth century's political and religious debates, and for this reason, I am going to analyse the interpretation of Dante's work by Ugo Foscolo, through both, the 'Discorso sul testo della Divina Commedia', and two articles that Foscolo published in the Edinburgh Review' in 1818; in addition, I am going to analyse the interpretation by Rossetti through his work titled

The theme of equilibrium between reason and faith is one of the core messages of Inferno and it is essential in conveying the main idea of the Divine Comedy and of the pilgrim’s journey that the exploitation of intellect and the misuse of will is the cause of sin, and that through faith, those who are morally lost find their salvation in God. In Inferno Dante makes it clear that he greatly values knowledge and reason in a way that is more characteristic to the Renaissance rather than of his own Medieval time. However, throughout this first book, the author reminds the audience of the Christian nature of his poem as he uses the stories of the sinners he encounters to stress the idea that without faith, the intellect is not sufficient to achieve divine salvation and that the misuse of reason can often lead to terrible sins.

The first circle is the widest whereas the ninth circle is the smallest and narrowest. Each circle is reserved for different classifications of sinners. The major divisions of the Inferno are Upper Hell, Lower Hell (the City of Dis) and the Center of Hell (the Ninth Circle). The nature of the sin also determines the physical environment in which the punishment is dispensed.

Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy is a series of epic poems that begins with The Inferno, otherwise known as hell. Dante’s Inferno was an extraordinary piece of European literature that influenced many aspects of literature during the renaissance era and still continues to influence literature up to this date. More importantly, however, Dante’s Inferno was significantly impacted and influenced by many ancient Greek heroes and stories. During the 14th century, ancient Greek myths were returning back into society and with Dante’s help, these stories were introduced and vastly acknowledged during the renaissance era of Europe. With allusions to many important and significant heroes such as Achilles, who is seen in the second circle of hell, the

Dante’s motive to write The Inferno of Dante The Inferno of Dante is an account of Dante’s perspective including his thoughts on hell and where certain political and religious figures within that time period belong. Dante’s main drive to write these poems may have been, to show how corrupt the historical and political figures from that era are because he is angry at the fact that these leaders are taking advantage of innocent people. Dante meets Pope Nicholas III who “was vested with the great mantle of power” which refers to the papacy (Dante 195.63-67). Pope Nicholas was a part of the papacy from 1277 to 1280 before he was accused of different types of simony, the buying or selling of political positions.

When reading Dante’s ‘Inferno’, it becomes apparent that Alighieri used his writing as a means of cogitating on the events that happened in his life. In order to understand his references to early Rome, Florentine politics, and other characteristics of the poem, it is necessary for the reader to develop a foundational background of Alighieri himself. With this knowledge, one can begin to grasp the concepts of symbolism and idealism that are so prevalent within the text, experiencing the poem in a completely different way.

Three rings divide the Seventh Circle of Hell. The first ring holds sinners who were violent towards other people. Their punishment, like all others, was very suitable. Forced to boil in the blood that they created

In the story Dante’s Inferno we as readers get to experience hell in a whole light. Throughout the narrative we find out that hell is not only what we know of it from the Christian bible. According to Dante Hell is a complex situation that is nothing like anything we have read earlier.

Often when we set out to journey in ourselves, we come to places that surprise us with their strangeness. Expecting to see what is straightforward and acceptable, we suddenly run across the exceptions. Just as we as self‹examiners might encounter our inner demons, so does Dante the writer as he sets out to walk through his Inferno. Dante explains his universe - in terms physical, political, and spiritual - in the Divine Comedy. He also gives his readers a glimpse into his own perception of what constitutes sin. By portraying characters in specific ways, Dante the writer can shape what Dante the pilgrim feels about each sinner. Also, the reader can look deeper in the text and examine the

Dante was a poet in Italy in the 13th century and the events in Dante's life shape Dante's Inferno. There were political problems in Florence, Italy, and there were two groups, the Guelphs and the Ghibellines.