Dante's Inferno Questions and Answers
by Dante Alighieri

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• Dante's Inferno
  who does Francesca blame for her adultry
  The poet meets Francesca in Canto V of Dante's Inferno by Dante Alighieri. Virgil has just led him into the second circle of hell, where he encounters the great beast Minos. The spirits in this...

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  What are the seven levels of purgatory in Dante's Inferno?
  Dante envisions Purgatory as a mountain. The seven levels of Purgatory in Dante's Divine Comedy are called terraces. At the top of the mountain is paradise. To get there, a person must be purified...

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  In Dante's Inferno, what is the punishment in Canto 15?
  In this canto, the Sodomites are seen walking under a rain of fire. Referring back to the Bible, the Sodomites committed violent crimes against nature. Thus, their punishment is to be punished by...

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  How is the philosophy of divinity represented in Dante's Inferno?
  For an epic about Hell, Dante spends much more of his time concerned with humanity than deity. Dante delineates the various human vices and sins that lead people to eternal damnation and the...

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• Dante's Inferno
  Are the motifs of dark and light there, and if so, how are they used?
  The binary between light and dark is a very present theme in Dante's Inferno. At the beginning of the poem, Dante tries to climb a mountain to the light shining over it, but Virgil tells him that...

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• Dante's Inferno
  How is divinity represented in Dante's Inferno?
  Dante's Inferno is the first part of the three that make up the epic poem The Divine Comedy, the second being Purgatorio and the third, Paradiso. In it, Dante, both as a poet and a pilgrim, embarks...

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• Dante's Inferno
  Who sends the guide to assist Dante in the Inferno on his journey through Hell and Purgatory before he can reach Paradise?
  After Dante stumbles away from the good and righteous path at the beginning of the Inferno, he finds himself challenged by three wild beasts representing vices that lead to damnation. Soon, Dante...

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• Dante's Inferno
  In Dante's Inferno, what are five examples in which a human interacts with gods in their lives?
  There are two complications worth discussing before delving into the various particular examples that you are asking for. The first is that while Inferno does combine pre-Christian Pagan influences...

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  In Dante's Inferno, what are the different ways in which humans experienced gods in their lives?
  There's an interesting distinction to be made when speaking about Inferno between the God of Christianity, and the Greek and Roman pagan influences. In Inferno, Dante weaves these two cosmologies...

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• Dante's Inferno
  What is Virgil's advice to Dante as spoken at the gate of hell?
  As Dante and Virgil approach the gates of Hell, Dante starts getting more than a little scared, not least because the inscription above the gates says "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here."...

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• Dante's Inferno
  Why does Beatrice keep saying that Dante betrayed her?
  In the Purgatorio, canto 31, Beatrice says that Dante has betrayed her through being attracted to other women in the ten years since she has died. He has not been been faithful to her beauty, which...

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• Dante's Inferno
  In Dante's Inferno, what is in the first circle?
  The first circle of hell is called limbo. Though the people here have lead virtuous lives, they were either unbaptized—including unbaptized babies—or born before the beginning of Christianity....

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• Dante's Inferno
  What was Charon's reaction to Dante's attempt to cross the river of Acheron in Inferno?
  When Dante attempts to cross the river into the Underworld, Charon, the boat driver, tries to prevent him from going. He is angered that a living soul would attempt to enter the Underworld and see...

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• Dante's Inferno
  How does Virgil silence Charon?
  In canto 3 of Dante's Inferno, Dante and his guide, the Roman poet Virgil, come to the banks of the river that separates the realms of the living from Hell, which only spirits may enter. An old man...

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  How dies Virgil silence Charon in Dante's Inferno?
  Charon is the ferryman who transports the dead to Hades. He is characterized by Dante as a prickly white-haired old man with fiery eyes. He refuses initially to take Dante across to the land of the...

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• Dante's Inferno
  How does Virgil silence Charon in Dante's Inferno?
  Charon is the ferryman of Hades, who transports souls of the newly deceased across the rivers Styx and Acheron that divide the world of the living from the world of the dead. Dante is keen to find...

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• Dante's Inferno
  In cantos 1–13 of the Inferno, what are the mythical illusions?
  Dante frequently alludes to the classical antecedents of Italian society, both in Greece and Rome. The religions of those states provide the sources of the numerous myths that he refers to or...

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• Dante's Inferno
  What is Charon's reaction to Dante's attempt to cross the river of Acheron?
  Charon has absolutely no intention of letting Dante and Virgil on his boat to cross the river of Acheron. See, the thing is, they aren't dead, and Charon's boat is strictly for dead people. You...

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• Dante's Inferno
  What are the three categories of sin and their meanings, according to Dante in his Inferno?
  The three types of sin that Dante describes in Inferno are thus: Incontinence, sometimes referred to as "inconstancy" or simply, "urges." Violence, including violence against God, others or one's...

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• Dante's Inferno
  Who is the foil to Dante in The Inferno, and why is that person the foil?
  As a literary device, a foil is a character that contrasts and emphasizes the qualities of another character, generally the protagonist. True foils always have a number of things in common with the...

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• Dante's Inferno
  I am writing an essay on the use of imagery and simile in Dante's Inferno. I need to focus on two cantos in particular. Any suggestions on which I should use?
  As nearly every single canto in Inferno concerns a portion of hell containing an ironic punishment that is described in vivid detail, it would not at all be difficult to choose two cantos to...

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• Dante's Inferno
  If you have a chance to put these characters of Gertrude, Claudius, and Hamlet from Shakespeare's Hamlet into Dante's 9 Circles of Hell (Dante's Inferno) where would you put them and why?
  This question assumes that Gertrude, Claudius and Hamlet would all go to Hell, which they might not, particularly Hamlet. Claudius must be the most straightforward case. He killed not only his...

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• Dante's Inferno
  What does Virgil represent to the reader and to Dante (the character)?
  Dante is the author of Inferno, but he is also the protagonist and the point of view character. As the character from whose point of view the story is told, he acts as a catalyst for the reader to...

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• Dante's Inferno
  What role does Virgil serve in the Inferno?
  Virgil's primary role is to serve as Dante's guide through the hell. Dante, at 35, is halfway through life and feels he has lost his way. With the help of Beatrice, Dante gains what no mortal man...

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• Dante's Inferno
  When looking at Virgil's role, why does he seem to act the way he does towards Dante? What lesson is it that Virgil wants Dante to learn?
  Dante Alighieri carefully selected Virgil as his guide through Hell because he could provide insights from the ancient world. As a man who lived in Rome’s pre-Christian past, Virgil was acquainted...

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• Dante's Inferno
  Judging by Dante’s own criteria, can you discuss three people in hell who are seriously out of place by a full circle or more?
  Some of the people placed in hell by Dante were placed there because of Dante's own bias against them. I think you can argue that Brunetto Latini who is in the Seventh Circle for violence, Pope...

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• Dante's Inferno
  Why was Dante's Inferno called a comedy? Was it something to do with the higher and lower language of the day?
  Dante's Divine Comedy often seems misnamed to modern readers, since there is nothing particularly funny about it. There are really two elements which make it a comedy according to the definition of...

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• Dante's Inferno
  How do Dante's Inferno and Yeats's "The Second Coming" relate to the idea of seeing things in a new way? Provide one specific example from each poem.
  In both poems, gentler feelings we might have about the world are confronted with harsher ideas. In the Inferno, Dante—and the reader—must learn to see lust in a new way. In hell, Dante meets and...

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• Dante's Inferno
  In Dante's Inferno, how are classical and Christian literary techniques used together?
  Though the subject matter is Christian, the Inferno uses a great deal of literary techniques from the classical (that is, Greco-Roman) world. Firstly, The Divine Comedy as a whole is an epic poem...

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• Dante's Inferno
  How does Dante present and challenge hierarchies of power in the Inferno?
  Dante's Inferno is one section of his Divine Comedy, and it presents hierarchies of power in several ways. Dante presents hell as a hierarchy with nine circles or levels. The sinners with the least...

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• Dante's Inferno
  How would you characterize the narrator so far in cantos 1 and 2 of Dante's Inferno?
  Dante Alighieri’s Inferno (and the Divine Comedy as a whole) begins with characterization in the very first stanza. Midway upon the journey of our lifeI found myself within a forest dark,For the...

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• Dante's Inferno
  In canto IV of Dante's Inferno, who are the virtuous pagans, and why are they in hell?
  In canto IV of the Inferno, Dante and Virgil encounter Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan in the first circle of Hell. Virgil is at home in this company, having based the Aeneid on the Homeric epics...

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• Dante's Inferno
  What does Virgil symbolize in the Inferno? Why is he Dante's chosen guide? What is Dante supposed to learn from him?
  Virgil symbolizes the best of the pagan world. He is as wise, as knowledgeable, and as virtuous as a person can be who has never had an encounter with Christ. This makes him a fit and trustworthy...

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• Dante's Inferno
  Explain the story of Paolo and Francesca in the second circle in canto V of Dante's Inferno. How is their fall related to romantic or courtly love? How is it not? Why does Dante sympathize with them?
  The second circle of hell, where Francesca and Paolo reside, is a dark place where people are punished by being buffeted ceaselessly around by howling winds. Francesca and Paolo's story is as...

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• Dante's Inferno
  In Dante's Inferno, how are the lustful being punished in the second circle of hell? Why is that punishment appropriate for this sin? Some critics believe that Francesca and Paolo have triumphed, because they are in love and are together for all...
  Dante's Second Circle of Hell (the first after Purgatory) marks the first of the Sins of Incontinence. This refers to sins that are committed by virtue of one not being able to control their sinful...

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• Dante's Inferno
  What does it mean that the souls punished in the Inferno have “lost the good of intellect” (Musa Inferno 3.18)?
  In canto 1, Virgil speaks the following words to Dante (words that I think are useful in conceptualizing the larger tone and imagery bound together in Inferno): follow me and I will be your guide...

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• Dante's Inferno
  At the end of canto III and at other times in Dante's Inferno, Dante swoons. What is the significance of his fainting at these times?
  As Virgil leads Dante into the Vestibule of Hell at the beginning of canto III, the latter is disturbed by the inscription they observe carved into stone above a gate, which ends with the words:...

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• Dante's Inferno
  In Dante's Inferno, Dante meets three obstacles: the leopard, the lion, and the she-wolf. What do they symbolize? Which animal poses the greatest problem for Dante? Why? How are they encountered in real life?  
  The dark forest in which Dante finds himself at the beginning of The Divine Comedy represents sin, and the three animals that confront him stand for specific sins. The leopard is lust, the lion is...

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• Dante's Inferno
  Explain who the three heavenly women who are concerned about Dante are in the Inferno. Cite evidence.
  In Canto II of the Inferno, Dante, with Virgil as his guide, becomes fearful as he comes nearer to the entrance of hell. He tells Virgil that he is worried he is not worthy to take this journey,...

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• Dante's Inferno
  Which three classes of people are (or were) in Limbo in canto 4 of Dante's Inferno? Provide evidence.
  Canto 4 of Dante's Inferno describes the first circle of hell, otherwise known as Limbo. The inhabitants of Limbo are unbaptized infants and virtuous pagans. There is much more focus on the...

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• Dante's Inferno
  What do the sinners in Dante's Inferno all have in common? Why can't we take what the sinners say at face value?
  The sinners in Dante's Inferno have committed a variety of crimes, from lust to murder, which may not seem to have much in common, but they all share the common theme of having preferred self will...

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• Dante's Inferno
  Many of the guards of each circle are of Mythological origin. Name some of them and explain what type of mythological creature they are or what myth they come from. Why would Dante use this type of guard and what does it say, if anything, about...
  Three of many mythological entities in Dante's Inferno are Charon, Cerberus, and harpies. Charon is the demon ferryman who takes souls, as well as Dante and Virgil, into Hell. Cerberus is a...

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• Dante's Inferno
  Explain the stylistic differences between Canto 5 and Canto 6 of Dante's Inferno.
  In Canto 5 of Inferno, Dante descends with Virgil into the Second Circle of Hell. This is where Minos assigns sinners to their particular circle of punishment based on the sins they confess to...

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• Dante's Inferno
  Why are the hoarders and wasters punished together in Canto 7 of Inferno?
  Canto VII of the Inferno focuses on the punishment meted out to the Hoarders and the Wasters. As Dante and his guide Virgil continue their descent through the Fourth Great Circle of Hell, they come...

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• Dante's Inferno
  Write a character analysis of Dante the Pilgrim as he appears at the beginning of the Inferno. 
  The character of Dante initially appears in the Inferno as its protagonist, the Pilgrim, but also as the narrator who reflects on his earlier passage through Hell. When he awakens in an unfamiliar...

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  In Dante's Inferno, by making Florence, the city, the true protagonist of canto 6, Dante also creates for himself an opportunity to think about sin in a metaphorical way. In what way is Florence connected to gluttony? How does Dante move from...
  In canto 6, Dante and Virgil move to the Third Circle of Hell. Here, the gluttons, those who could not control their desires for food and drink, dwell in stinking mud and mire. As a punishment for...

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• Dante's Inferno
  How does Dante's Inferno answer the question "Are we creatures of light or darkness"? 
  In the opening of Dante Alighieri’s epic poem Divina Commedia, or Divine Comedy, Dante strays from what he calls the true path—the true way to salvation—and finds himself alone in "a gloomy wood"...

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  What attitude does the heavenly messenger display towards the damned in Inferno? Is this attitude appropriate? 
  When Dante and Virgil approach the gates of Dis, the pilgrim-poet is afraid. This indicates that he's still at a relatively early stage in his spiritual journey and so lacks the confidence and...

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• Dante's Inferno
  What are two pieces of evidence in Cantos 11–20 that exemplify divine justice in Inferno? What are two pieces of evidence in Cantos 11–20 that exemplify morality?
  In Inferno, God's judgment is flawless, a fact Dante has to come to grips with so that he won't feel sorry for the sufferings of hell's sinners: the punishment is always just and always fits the...

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• Dante's Inferno
  How is theme of justice and sin portrayed in Dante's Inferno?
  In the Inferno, justice is portrayed as perfectly fitting the crime. As Dante and Virgil go deeper into hell, they meet sinners whose punishments are ever harsher, but always related to their...

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