Mrs. Lanham’s Dante’s Inferno Notes

English II, Honors 2014-2015

NOTE ON WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE: When writing about literature, always use present tense. Use Inferno when writing about the place Dante created. Use Inferno (or underline if handwritten) when writing about Dante’s work, The Inferno.

Dante Alighieri, author of The Inferno, was born in Florence Italy in 1265 AD. He was a Roman Catholic. Dante married Gemma Donati in 1291. They had two sons and one or two daughters. He died of malaria in 1321 (either September 13 or 14 according to historians) in Ravenna, Italy.

Dante was a successful poet and politician. It is believed that he fell in love with a young woman named Beatrice. It is believed that she died in 1290 (it should also be noted that Dante and Beatrice were married—but never to each other). Vita Nuova is a book of poetry he wrote entirely about Beatrice.

Dante was a member of the political party called White Guelfs. They opposed the Pope and wanted Florence to be free from his power. The Black Guelfs (who supposed the Pope) took power in 1301, and in 1302 Dante was exiled. He would never return to Florence.

The Divine Comedy

The Divine Comedy is about Dante’s imaginative journey into the world of the afterlife. It is composed of three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. Some consider it an epic love story in which a woman takes it upon herself to save Dante. Dante uses the work to tell the reader how to achieve Paradise.

Dante’s journey (the character of Dante, the pilgrim) takes about five and a half days in the year 1300 (a year in which spiritual renewal and repentance were major themes in the Roman Catholic Church. It begins on Good Friday and ends the Wednesday after Easter. Good Friday is defined by Merriam-Webster as the Friday before Easter observed in churches as the anniversary of the crucifixion of Christ. According to Merriam-Webster Easter is a Christian church festival that celebrates the return of Jesus Christ to life following his death.(Remember: he wrote The Divine Comedy well after 1300. He probably finished it right before his death.)

The major issues Dante covered in his work:

  1. Sin/the results of sin
  2. Spiritual transformation
  3. Politics
  4. Poetry (How can poetry help us?)
  5. How to enter Paradise

Major themes: religion, God, poetry, sin, accepting blame for one’s sin

Why is it is comedy?

  1. It has a happy ending.
  2. It was writing in the “vulgar” language of Italian (in other words, it is in vernacular) and not the formal “Latin” used for tragedies. Dante could write it as a narrative (not a high literary form at the time) and was free to use humor and colloquial language.

The Divine Comedy is an allegory. It has two meanings, a literal meaning and a figurative meaning. Literally, Dante the pilgrim travels through the Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise. Figuratively, it is about a human will be saved after he faces trials and overcomes them—then, he will achieve Paradise. LOOK FOR SYMBOLS AS YOU READ.

Dante believed in three kinds of moral failure:

  1. Incontinence: not being able to control oneself (for example, gluttony is the inability to control one’s appetite; wrath is the inability to control one’s emotions).
  2. Violence (against oneself: suicide, against God: blasphemy, or against other people—physical violence).
  3. Fraud: the willful use of misrepresentation to deprive another person of his or her rights/money/etc. Complex fraud is against those with whom a person has a special trust, like traitors to family, traitors to government, traitors to guests, or traitors to God.

Keep in mind that all the sinners in The Inferno are unrepentant sinners. They do not take responsibility for their sins and try to place blame on someone or something else instead. Some of the sinners in the Inferno will have quite a good story to tell or what seems like an excellent rationale for sinner; however, keep in mind that Dante believed that God does not make mistakes and people sinned because of a lack of will.

By the way, “repent” means to regret or to feel remorse about a wrongdoing or sin.

As you read, keep in mind that Dante did have a specific purpose for writing The Divine Comedy. Continue to analyze how he used figurative language (especially symbolism) to help him achieve this purpose.

Dante symbolizes every man; a sinner (The poem is representative of medieval man)

Virgil symbolizes human reason

Beatrice symbolizes love; faith

We will be reading The Inferno only. Reading tip: ALWAYS read in the introduction to the Canto. It will help you gain an understanding of the action.

Short Roman Numeral Tutorial:

I=1

II=2

III=3

IV=4

V=5

VI=6

X=10

XXXIV=34

Canto I (that means chapter 1) The Dark Wood of Error

Dark Wood of Error symbolizes worldliness

Sun symbolizes divine illumination and/or God and/or truth and salvation

“Midway in our life’s journey”: The Biblical life span was three score and ten (70 years). Half of that is 35. Therefore, the reader understands that Dante is 35.

Straight road is the religious path. (line 2)

Dante doesn’t know how he got there (off the path of righteousness) probably because it happened little by little. Keep in mind that he is different from the souls he will be encountering because he is still alive.

Line 17 sweets rays of that planet. This is the sun. What does the sun symbolize?

Dante acknowledges that this will be a scary story. Since it has a happy ending, he will go ahead and tell it.

The sun is climbing in the sky, so it is dawn. Dawn symbolizes a rebirth.

He encounters three beasts (each represents sin) while attempting to climb the hill. He is climbing the hill because the sun is at the top (again, what does the sun symbolize???). Notice that is Easter (the sun was in Aries which indicates it was Easter season). This joyous time is juxtaposed with the evil of the woods and the three beasts. (If you aren’t familiar with the term “juxtapose” and “juxtaposition,” make sure you look it up. It has to do with comparisons/contrasts and the use of these contrasts in writing.) The three beasts represent incontinence, violence, and fraud. Dante is unable to reach the top by himself, so Virgil comes to his aid.

Virgil outlines the three parts of the journey for Dante:

  1. The Inferno (where souls shriek)
  2. Purgatory (where souls willingly undergo a purifying fire (they are repentant)
  3. Paradise (where the everlasting blessed dwell)

Canto II The Descent/Dante Hesitates

Dante makes an invocation to the Muses. They are the ancient goddesses of the arts and were called on to give artists inspirations. Both Virgil and Homer invoked the Muses in their works. Dante is having second thoughts about continuing the journey because it will be scary. However, Dante is able to get help from others. God is concerned about him, so God allows Virgil and others to guide Dante to salvation. Dante learns Beatrice has sent Virgil to guide Dante out of the woods and back into the light. Virgil can take Dante only so far because human reason can get one only so far. Beatrice (symbolic of faith) will have to finish guiding Dante on his journey.

Aeneas, the hero of Virgil’s Aenid, and St. Paul are both mentioned. In Aenid, Aeneas visits the Underworld. St. Paul supposedly visited the world of the dead as described in Visio Sancti Pauli.

The reader learns that there are three heavenly women who are also concerned about Dante:

  1. Mary, the mother of Jesus Chris. In the middle ages, people regarded her as their spiritual mother.
  2. Saint Lucia, a 3rd Century martyr, was persecuted for being a Christian. She tortured, blinded, and then stabbed to death.
  3. Beatrice (previously mentioned)

It is believed that Dante includes Virgil as one of Dante’s guides because Christians in the Middle Ages believed that Virgil had forecasted the birth of Christ in his Fourth Eclogue.

Canto 3 The Vestibule of Hell/The Gate of Hell

Virgil and Dante enter the gate that leads to the Inferno.

Analysis of the sign over the gate :

Ultimate Intellect: knowledge of good and evil. It was gained in the Garden of Eden. My Architect is God. He created the Inferno to dispense Sacred Justice. Those souls who enter will never leave. Sin is odious to God. God created the sign for the souls who enter (not visitors or messengers). Those dead who enter the Inferno are doomed to remain forever. They are unrepentant and are punished forever. Because they died unrepentance, salvation/Divine Grace is not available to them because they rejected it in life (notice how Heaven is never mentioned in the Inferno). The people who entered knew the difference between good and evil and didn’t choose good (God). Therefore, Hell was a deliberate choice.

Hell symbolizes sin.

Dante the pilgrim (and the reader) should not feel sorry for those in the Inferno because they rejected God. Also, remember that Dante indicated that God does not make mistakes so those sinners belong in the Inferno and served their punishments.

LINE 73 Dante will gain understanding during his journey—that is the purpose for his journey…to gain understanding/salvation.

This area (the vestibule) is a passage between the door and the interior of hell, like a foyer is a passage between the front door of a house and the living area proper. We already see punishments—they start even before the doorway. Right outside the doorway are the Opportunists (those who never took a stand in life). While they were alive, they were for neither good nor evil. Now that they are dead, Heaven nor Hell wants them. The opportunists run endlessly after a banner. It never stays in one place just as these sinners never made one firm decision or choice. They bleed from bites and stings. In life, they never felt deeply for anything. Now, they feel pain very deeply. Their punishment is fitting: what they avoided doing in life, they now do in death. Because they did nothing lasting on Earth, they will not be remembered so Dante does not mention their names.

One lesson that Dante the poet is teaching the reader: Refusing to choose is actually a choice in itself. In order to stay out of this part of the Inferno, people must make a stand for good.

The banner is blank. It is a symbol for a cause. The souls here had no cause that they were passionate about; therefore, the banner is blank.

Some editions use the word contrapasso. It means divine punishment or divine retribution.

Charon (the ch is pronounced like a k) is from Greek mythology. He ferried the souls of the dead across the River Acheron. In the Inferno, he tells the recently dead that they are doomed to reside in the Inferno forever and to be continuously punished. When Charon sees Dante, he realizes that Dante is alive and orders Dante to leave. Virgil tells Charon that God has approved Dante’s visit of the Underworld. Charon may or may not have ferried Dante across.

According to the last line of the canto, Dante faints. When he awakes, he is across the river. This is the way Dante the poet transitions the reader to the next canto.

Canto IV: Cirle One: Limbo The Virtuous Pagans

(Notice that Dante and Virgil are DESCENDING since the path goes down. Notice, too, that the circles get smaller and smaller the farther into the Inferno we go.)

Grammar note: In formal US English, farther= physical distance (Simon ran farther than Keith.) further=figurative and nonphysical distances (To prevent further damage to your car, you should stop running into the wall. If the DOW drops further, many investors will loss large amounts of money.)

Limbo is the first circle of Hell. It is a place of sighs rather than shrieks. The souls here are not being punished although they are separated from God. Their punishment for not worshipping God correctly is to be denied knowledge/knowledge of God. Great thinkers reside here. This is where Virgil resides. This is where Beatrice visited to ask Virgil to guide Dante. There are some people that used to be here that are no longer here because Jesus released them during the Harrowing of Hell. According to New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia the Harrowing of Hell “is the …term for the triumphant descent ofChristinto hell(orHades) between thetimeof HisCrucifixionand His Resurrection, when… He brought salvationto the souls held captive there since the beginning of the world.”Notice how Jesus is never mentioned specifically in Hell as it would be inappropriate; however, the reader sees the souls continually blaspheming God.

The three classes of people who are (or were) in Limbo:

  1. The virtuous pagans. These people were good, but they were not Christian (or Jewish in the days before Christ). We learn later that some of these people eventually got to Paradise.
  2. The unbaptized, including infants. (We learn that some of these also got to go to Paradise.)
  3. The people who used to be here, including the Jewish patriarchs, before the Harrowing of Hell.

Remember that Dante is naïve and does not have the understanding and knowledge of God, so it isn’t necessarily true that the people here will remain here always.

The ancient poets here treat Dante as an equal. SO…Dante is comparing himself to such poets as Homer and Ovid (pretty presumptuous, don’t you think (= ).

Some other people you might recognize who are here:

Hercules, Electra, Julius Caesar, Hector, Euclid, and Ptolemy

Notice here as occurs throughout the work, some of the souls Dante encounters are real people and others are fictional.

And now we begin the true torments of Dante’s Hell….

Canto V Circle Two The Carnal/The Lustful

Here we begin the sins of Incontinence (remember: those unable to control themselves and their desires)

Minos is the first judge we encounter. He is the judge of the dead souls. He is a monster with a long tail. When a soul/sinner arrives before him, he wraps his tail about the sinner’s body. The number of times the tail wraps around the sinner shows the number of the circle to which the sinner will be sent. Sometimes Minos will then use his tail to fling the sinner to the correct circle. Minos was a sinner in life. Sin is bestial and monstrous, so Minos is a monster in the afterlife like the other judges and guards in the Inferno.

In this level, we have sinners who abandoned themselves to their passion. As they were unable to control themselves and their lust in life, they are unable to control themselves here. They are continually whipped around by the wind that is lashing them. Those who wanted to be together in lustful relationships in life are now bound together forever in the Inferno. Instead of easing one another’s pain, they just add to each other’s anguish.

Familiar names: Helen of Troy (remember the Trojan War—think back to The Iliad and The Odyssey).

Dante encounters Francesca. She committed adultery in life. She does not seem to realize that she is doomed to eternal torment in Hell, but instead she seems to think that she has had a disagreement with God that can be easily resolved. She does not take responsibility for her sins (she is unrepentant). Dante will feel pity for her but will discover that Francesca does not deserve any pity.

Francesca commits the FALLACY OF SUPPRESSED EVIDENCE. She leaves out information needed to reach an accurate conclusion. She argues that she is innocent, but the reader knows she is guilty. She blames the story of Lancelot but leaves out the following facts:

  1. She and her love Paolo were married…but not to each other!
  2. She is Paolo’s sister-in-law
  3. Her husband caught them together and killed them both.

Dante is so overcome with pity for her that he faints—he is naïve and has forgotten that God does not make mistakes. This will transition Dante (and the reader) to the next circle/canto.

Epic simile (also called a Homeric simile) is an extended comparison that develops over several lines of verse. It is often found in epic poetry (like The Inferno and The Odyssey). Here is an example from Dr. Kip Wheeler at Carson-Newman University:

The following example of an epic simile comes from Homer'sThe Odyssey, as translated by Robert Fitzgerald. The simile is an extended comparison between the way the sea pulls Odysseus out of the rocks and the way a fisherman pulls an octopus out of its lair. Note the clever inversions between land-creatures and sea-creatures:
During his meditation, a heavy surge was taking him, in fact, straight on the rocks. He [would have] been flayed there, and his bones broken, had not grey-eyed Athena instructed him: he gripped a rock-ledge with both hands in passing and held on, groaning as the surge went by, to keep clear of its breaking. Then the backwash hit him, ripping him under and far out. An octopus, when you drag one from his chamber, comes up with suckers full of tiny stones: Odysseus left the skin of his great hands torn on the rock-ledge as the wave submerged him. And now at last Odysseus would have perished, battered inhumanly, but he had the gift of self-possession from grey-eyed Athena.