The Inferno

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The Inferno
by Dante Alighieri
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Dante Alighieri

• Born in Florence 1265 Died 1321
• Descended from a well-respected family
• After meeting her only twice (age 9
  and 18), Dante fell in love with Beatrice. He
  eventually marries and has 4 kids.
• To Dante, she symbolizes all that is good, and
  she appears throughout his works. She later
  becomes his guide in Paradisio
• Beatrice died in 1290 (age 24) and Dante fell
  into a state of despair and depression.

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• Florence during Dantes Time
• Growing in greatness and riches, trading in such
  goods as wool, silk, and leather. Florence, like
  the other cities in Italy at the time, was under
  the jurisdiction of Rome.
• Rome itself was divided. Both the Emperor and the
  Pope claimed political authority, and thus Italy
  was divided between the partisans of the Emperor,
  the Ghibellines, and the partisans of the Pope,
  the Guelfs - this created chaos
• The Guelfs gained control of Florence in 1266.
  Dante's family had been associated with the Guelf
  party for a considerable time. In later years two
  sub parties of the Guelfs were created  the
  Whites and Blacks. Both claimed they were Guelf,
  but Pope Boniface VIII sided with the Blacks.

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• Dante was a member of the Whites and a member of
  the government council of the city. Dante soon
  found himself at odds with the Pope.
• In 1300 Dante was exiled. Thus, he was forced to
  spend the rest of his life away from his beloved
  hometown of Florence, and should Dante ever
  return to Florence, he would be burned at the
  stake.
• He began writing The Divine Comedy while in
  exile.

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Structure The Divine Comedy

• The poem is divided into 3 parts Inferno,
  Puratorio, and Paradisio
• Each part contains 100 cantos 33 cantos in each
  section plus one introductory first canto in
  Inferno
• The Inferno is the only canto that takes place on
  Earth.
• Written in vernacular Italian in terza rima,
  which Dante developed

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Why The Divine Comedy?

• There are 2 classical styles comedy and tragedy
• Tragedy was the high style, the style of epics,
  with plots that flowed from a promising beginning
  to a destructive end
• Comedy was the low style, the style of grotesque
  caricatures, with plots that flowed from an
  unhappy beginning to a happy ending
• The Divine Comedy is written in the vernacular,
  considered appropriate only for comedy, and the
  plot mirrors the classical comedy, moving from
  the horrors of Hell to the joys of Heaven.

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Key Terms

• Allegory literary work in which there are two
  levels of meaning the literal level and the
  symbolic level. Characters and actions symbolize
  ideas.
• Terza Rima An Italian for of iambic poetry
  having sets of three lines the middle line of
  each set rhyming with the first and last of the
  succeeding ABA BCB
• Epic Poem a long narrative poem about an
  exalted hero who goes on a quest
• Imagery using vivid words and descriptions to
  paint a picture in the readers mind
• Contrapasso the idea that the punishments in
  hell fit the sins on earth
• Allusion a reference in a literary work to a
  separate literary work

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The Number 3

• 3 divisions of The Divine Comedy
• 3 division of The Holy Trinity in Christianity
• Dantes journey takes 3 days, beginning on Good
  Friday and ending on Easter Sunday
• 3 characters Dante, Virgil, Beatrice
• 3 types of sins
• Incontinence (lack of control over passions or
  desires)
• Violence (vicious and fierce behavoir)
• Fraud (deception)

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Context of The Inferno

• Dante, the character, has wandered off the true
  path and is experiencing a mid-life crisis of
  sorts. As he wanders off the path, he comes
  across the poet Virgil and the entrance to Hell.
  The Divine Comedy documents the physical and
  spiritual journey of Dante, the man as he
  journeys through the Inferno, Purgatory, and
  Paradise.

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Characters in The Inferno

• Dante
• Dante is the poet AND a character in the book
  Dante the poet and Dante the character are 2
  different people. Dante has strayed off the
  path and finds himself outside the gates of
  Hell.
• Virgil
• Dantes guide through Hell and Purgatory Virgil
  represents human REASON
• Beatrice
• Her influence is felt throughout The Divine
  Comedy even though she doesnt appear in The
  Inferno. She will be Dantes guide in Paradiso.

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Themes in The Inferno

• The Perfection of Gods Justice
• Dantes punishments are balanced with the sin.
  There is a correspondence between the souls sin
  on Earth and punishment in Hell - contrapasso
• Evil as the Contradiction of Gods Will
• Dantes narration follows strict doctrinal
  Christian values this is why some sins that
  seem worse than others are actually located above
  those sins (i.e. taking a bribe is worse than
  murder). Sins are judged by the opposition to
  Gods will.
• Storytelling to Achieve Immortality
• By incorporating the stories of various sinners,
  Dante brings their stories to life again through
  his poem hes also hoping to achieve his own
  immortality.

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Motifs in The Inferno

• Political Arguments
• Dante offers a large scale commentary on the
  political nightmare of 14th Century Florence
• Classical Literature and Mythology
• Dantes Hell features a number of ancient
  literary characters and mythological creatures

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• According to Dante.
• There are 9 levels of Hell
• http//danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/utopia/index2.
  html
• http//web.eku.edu/flash/inferno/