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Dante's Inferno
In Canto III of Inferno, Virgil shows Dante the tortures awaiting "neutral" souls who served neither God nor Satan, and are thus claimed by neither Heaven nor Hell. They are accompanied by the...
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Dante's Inferno
It's awesome that you're reading Dante's Inferno—it's a great and super important work! Satire is the use of irony, humor, and exaggeration to expose hypocrisy, stupidity, or evils. Social...
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Dante's Inferno
As Dante enters the second circle of hell, that of the Lustful, he is witnessing the first real punishments of the Inferno, since the first circle, Limbo, has no suffering for the virtuous pagans....
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Dante's Inferno
Like the rest of The Divine Comedy, Dante's Inferno is a vast work encompassing many ideas, questions, and themes. However, Dante had a few major reasons for writing this first part of his epic...
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Dante's Inferno
Though it is obviously a work of fiction, Dante's Divine Comedy contains many autobiographic elements. In particular, Dante the pilgrim has many similarities with Dante Alighieri, the real author....
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Dante's Inferno
There is an allusion to Aesop's fable about the frog and the mouse, both of whom perish at the hands of a hawk. Dante makes a parallel between the frog and mouse with he and Virgil, begging the...
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Dante's Inferno
The synthetic ideas of the 12th and 13th centuries focused on synthesizing Christianity with reason. Up to this point, reason and faith had been seen as antithetical, as were philosophy and...
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Dante's Inferno
The problem Dante encountered in depicting a Hell consistent with Christian theology is a problem that goes to the root of theological notions of salvation, sin, punishment, and redemption. Dante...
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Dante's Inferno
In the Inferno by Dante Alighieri, there are nine circles of Hell, each reflecting more serious sins and each having punishments reflecting the nature and severity of a specific type of mortal sin....
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Dante's Inferno
In Canto 3, as Dante and Virgil stand on the "melancholy shore" of the River Acheron, the last barrier to their entrance into the underworld proper, Dante describes the approach of Charon: And...
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Dante's Inferno
This is a good question. Charon, as you know, is the ferryman who takes people across the river in the underworld. Dante was familiar with Charon from Virgil's Aeneid (6.298-304 and 384-416)....
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Dante's Inferno
In Dante's classic, The Divine Comedy, there are three parts to the entire work: Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise. The question at hand is answered in Inferno, Canto 3. As Dante and Virgil, his...
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Dante's Inferno
In the Inferno, Dante provides commentary on his times by putting some of the popes and Florentine leadership in Hell for their sins, mainly greed and pride. Dante puts those who committed the...
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Dante's Inferno
Dante's Inferno can represent this life and the afterlife in its depiction of human transgression. Dante's Infterno is seen through the eyes of a "pilgrim." The poet Virgil leads Dante through the...
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Dante's Inferno
Canto XXXI of Dante's Inferno introduces the Ninth Circle of Hell, the level containing the very worst of the sinners. In Dante's vision, this circle consists of the traitors. The traitors are...
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Dante's Inferno
Wow, now that's a broad question jamisonr22, and the answer is not clear cut. First, it might be helpful to know some of the context Dante was writing. Dante was writing in the 14th Century, a...
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Dante's Inferno
As you know, each Canto of Dante's Inferno is set in a different "hellish" environment. Canto 18 is no different. In fact, Canto 18 is set in a special part of hell called "Malbowges" otherwise...
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Dante's Inferno
Dante and Roman poet Virgil travel to hell. There are 9 circles of hell in Dante's vision. As they travel deeper and deeper the circles become more intense. The first circle is called Limbo. Here...
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Dante's Inferno
In Dante Alighieri's Dante's Inferno (or The Divine Comedy), a narrative epic poem, the main theme is good versus evil. It is important to note that this tale is not a "comedy" by modern...
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Dante's Inferno
I can certainly appreciate your frustration as you try to work through this rather complicated work, but I suspect you will recognize the answer to your question when you read it here and actually...
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Dante's Inferno
The Anglo-Saxon Beowulf and Dante Alighieri's Dante's Inferno are both epic poems which are still widely read, and in both works, the protagonist experiences a journey. In most ways, however, these...
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Dante's Inferno
One of the most impressive elements about Dante's Inferno is his configuration of the inner- most regions of Hell. Dante clearly recognizes that there are two types of anger. The first type is...
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Dante's Inferno
In the sixth Canto of Dante's Inferno, we arrive with Dante at the third circle of Hell, in which we encounter the gluttonous.The souls of these sinners are pelted with dirty rain, hail, and snow,...
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Dante's Inferno
Dante Alighieri, the author of Dante's Inferno, includes as Dante's (the character) guide Publius Vergilius Maro (or Virgil). Dante (the character) comes upon Virgil (the character) during his...
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Dante's Inferno
Dante's Inferno (by Dante Alighieri) illustrates the use of both reason and faith as one travels through life. Although Dante (the character) sees reason as being important, he finds faith far more...
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Dante's Inferno
One example which illustrates the importance of heeding the warnings of others is found in Canto 17, lines 106-111, of Dante's Inferno (by Dante Alighieri). Here, Dante (the character)...
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Dante's Inferno
The primary focus of the Inferno is the notion of sin. Redemption in the form of Beatrice or Jesus is not readily evident. Since Dante and Virgil progress through the intense nature of...
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Dante's Inferno
The one thing that many readers need to always remember is that associations between an author and his or her characters should not be immediately assumed. Many times, the author does not allow his...
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Dante's Inferno
Dante's Inferno paints a dreadful picture of the tortured suffering of those souls damned to eternal punishment, but they are all (to medieval eyes) there for the same reason - they were sinners....
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Dante's Inferno
Beatrice is the source of redemption that exists. Dante struggles to find his spiritual identity. Dante casts Beatrice as the representation of divine love. She is the source of earthly goodness...
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Dante's Inferno
Dante (the character) comes upon Brunetto Latini in Dante's Inferno, Canto XV. Dante is in the Seventh Circle (saved for those who commit murder, suicide, sodomy, and usury). Latini, a sodomite, is...
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Dante's Inferno
In Dante’s Inferno the themes of punishment, justice and redemption are represented very vividly with colourful and arresting images. 'I reached a place where every light is muted, which...
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Dante's Inferno
One distinct way in which Dante criticizes the church is by placing specific members of the church in the most severe positions in the Inferno. Dante is strict on the idea that institutional...
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Dante's Inferno
The word Inferno comes from the Italian word for Hell , so we see Dante going straight away for your first theme in his title (a religious journey is suggested) although all the themes are present....
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Dante's Inferno
In a prison setting, Dante's Inferno speaks volumes. Dante, the pilgrim, seeks to find meaning and understanding in consciousness. Dante's journey forces him to understand and accept that which is...
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The Odyssey
The theme of maturation is usually one that is reserved for youths who mature into worthy adults. Dante and Odysseus are already adults when their journeys begin, Odysseus to reach home after the...
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Dante's Inferno
In Homer's The Odyssey, the theme is good and evil is most illustrated through the conflict between the gods and mortals and demigods. For instance, evil is illustrated through Neptune's treatment...
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The Odyssey
In The Odyssey and Dante's Inferno, the central themes are developed by introducing them in the opening of the narrative. In The Odyssey, two powerful themes are thus introduced: the intervention...
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Dante's Inferno
One of Dante's great challenges comes after he has seen the "Lustful" circle, wherein he encounters the lovers Francesca and Paolo. These two young people had fallen in love, despite the fact that...
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The Odyssey
The Homeric hero, as in Homer's Odyssey, is one who reaches his goals, who achieves what he sets out to achieve. Notwithstanding, the journey is a long, trecherous, and difficult one, nontheless...
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Dante's Inferno
Every Canto of this great work is complex and contains dozens of metaphorical scenes and actions. The heart of Canto XII seems to be the rugged, unstable landscape (emblematic of the...
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Dante's Inferno
The "dark wood" that establishes the exposition to the Inferno can literally be seen as an area in which the pilgrim does not know where he is. It is explained that the pilgrim, later to be...
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Dante's Inferno
Soothsayers are fortune tellers, or people who claim to be able to predict the future. In Canto XX, Dante and Vergil encounter these souls, forced to walk with their heads forever facing backwards....
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Dante's Inferno
Virgil acts as Dante's guide on his journey through hell to find spiritual enlightenment. Virgil is a fitting guide for Dante as Dante admired Virgil's work and considered him to be the most...
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Dante's Inferno
Virgil is Dante’s traveling companion in Dante’s Inferno. Virgil is a poet from Ancient Rome who appears in ghost form, but he comes to Dante and guides him through the Inferno. Virgil is...
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Dante's Inferno
The beating of Satan's wings maintains the icy cold that encases those that performed treachery (in the 9th circle).
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Dante's Inferno
In discussing the historical context of Dante's Inferno, I suggest that you focus on the development of the Renaissance. Dante's poem is an early forerunner of the Renaissance, but you could still...
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Dante's Inferno
God is in charge of Dante's vision of Hell. Because Satan is also a sinner (he went against God), he suffers punishment along with the other sinners in Hell. God has the ultimate power over...
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Dante's Inferno
This should prove to be interesting. I think that you can approach this in a variety of ways in terms of how you define the modern example of the deception and treachery that Dante gives to...
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Dante's Inferno
I'm not sure what level of research you have to do with the Inferno, or how much of it was assigned for reading, but you might want to try this. All of the punishements in the Inferno are geared...