Dante Inferno
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“Dantes Inferno” by Dante Alighieri is one part of the Dvine Comedy written about the afterlife. The Inferno deals with Dantes journey through the nine levels of hell guided by the Poet Virgil. On his way through the nine levels Dante encounters many souls damned to hell, notably the damned lovers Paolo and Francesca. What is interesting is the empathy Dante appears to experience for these two despite their damned state.
Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta are punished together in hell for their adultery: Francesca was married to Paolo's brother, Gianciotto ("Crippled John"). Francesca's shade tells Dante that her husband is destined for punishment in Caina--the infernal realm of familial betrayal named after Cain, who killed his brother Abel, for murdering her and Paolo. Francesca's eloquent description of the power of love emphasized through the use of anaphora, bears much the same meaning and style as the love poetry once admired by Dante and of which he himself produced many fine examples. This provides an adept reason for the more sympathetic light Dantes views the lovers in.
One thing commonly found throughout the Divine Comedy is the character Beatrice. Although the details of her life remain uncertain, it is known that Dante fell passionately in love with her as a young man and never fell out of it. She has a limited role in Inferno but becomes more prominent in Purgatorio and Paradiso. In fact, Dante’s entire imaginary journey throughout the afterlife aims, in part, to find Beatrice, whom he has lost on Earth because of her early death. It is entirely possible that Beatrice is a representation of spiritual love in a way.
It is entirely possible that this is the reason Dante experiences empathy for the lovers are as simple as that. It is shown that rearely in any other case does Dantes experience empathy or even simple pity for others. It is shown when he is in the Wood of the Suicides “When it ran dark with blood /it cried again: ‘Why do you tear me? / Have you no pity in you?”(Dante XIII: 34-36), when Dante unwittingly torments the Pier della Vigna.
While Dante clearly shows his empathy for the two damned lovers it he does not stretch that desire to the reader. The reader is expected to view things from a less emotional standpoint and to see the damned souls for what they represent. In some ways it acts as a warning of what comes of a life of sin. Again drawing from those who do violence against themselves or their own property--suicides and squanderers (more self-destructive than the prodigal in circle 4) those inhabit the second ring of the seventh circle, a horrid forest.
“So faithful was I to that glorious office / that first I lost my sleep and then my life.” (Dante XIII: 62-63). The soul speaks of his devotion to his duty and how a woman “'inflamed all minds against me. “(Dante XIII: 67) and it was this in part which drove him to suicide as evinced by the line “'My mind, in scornful temper, / hoping by dying to escape from scorn,” (Dante XIII: 70-71). The man fearing the hatred and scorn of the people turned against him chose suicide as a way out.
Dante's emotional reactions to the shades in the seventh circle range from neutral observation of the murderers and compassion for a suicide to respect for several Florentine sodomites and revulsion at the sight and behavior of the lewd usurers. It is his compassion that is to be noted here clearly. Although writers of classical Rome admired by Dante allowed, and even praised suicide as a response to political defeat or personal disgrace, his Christian tradition emphatically condemned suicide as a sin without exception. Dante's attitude toward Pier della Vigna in Inferno 13 and his placement of famous suicides in other locations (Dido, for example, in circle 2) suggests a more nuanced and compassionate view.
Part of what is occurring here is Virgils questioning of the soul trapped “inside such gnarled wood. And tell us, if you can, / if from such limbs one ever is set free.”'(Dante XIII: 89-90). Dante is filled with pity for this soul and seeks a way to aid him. This pity is shown purely from his perspective as again the reader is not expected to feel for the damned instead they are entreated to his punishment of “The Harpies, feeding on its leaves, / give pain and to that pain a mouth.” (Dante XIII: 101-102). The line speaks of the mythical Harpy beasts that nestle in the woods tormenting those who have taken their own lives.
While it is shown that Dante does indeed feel compassion for these damned souls despite their plight. While he is not moved by their punishment he is moved instead by their strength of character, Paolo and Francesca for the love they shared despite its adulterous nature is still a true love, and Pier della Vigna was an accomplished poet much like Dante himself, a man who gave all to the state, and much like Dante received nothing but scorn for it. This is why Dante empathizes with these souls because he has experienced the same trials as them.
While Dante does experience empathy it is in no way translated to the reader. While Dante is clear in his feelings for the souls he does not wish to dilute it the imagery or to say that the souls are not deserving of their fate. In this he is clear that these souls have earned their punishment through their sins. However he also brings perhaps a deeper view of what exactly those sins are. He provides a more nuanced view of each sin that is perhaps deserving of it. Sins like love, no matter its form.
Sources
Alighieri, Dante. Dantes Inferno. Princeton: Princeton University, 1997. Canto V. Web.
Alighieri, Dante. Dantes Inferno. Princeton: Princeton University, 1997. Canto XIII. Web.
Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta are punished together in hell for their adultery: Francesca was married to Paolo's brother, Gianciotto ("Crippled John"). Francesca's shade tells Dante that her husband is destined for punishment in Caina--the infernal realm of familial betrayal named after Cain, who killed his brother Abel, for murdering her and Paolo. Francesca's eloquent description of the power of love emphasized through the use of anaphora, bears much the same meaning and style as the love poetry once admired by Dante and of which he himself produced many fine examples. This provides an adept reason for the more sympathetic light Dantes views the lovers in.
One thing commonly found throughout the Divine Comedy is the character Beatrice. Although the details of her life remain uncertain, it is known that Dante fell passionately in love with her as a young man and never fell out of it. She has a limited role in Inferno but becomes more prominent in Purgatorio and Paradiso. In fact, Dante’s entire imaginary journey throughout the afterlife aims, in part, to find Beatrice, whom he has lost on Earth because of her early death. It is entirely possible that Beatrice is a representation of spiritual love in a way.
It is entirely possible that this is the reason Dante experiences empathy for the lovers are as simple as that. It is shown that rearely in any other case does Dantes experience empathy or even simple pity for others. It is shown when he is in the Wood of the Suicides “When it ran dark with blood /it cried again: ‘Why do you tear me? / Have you no pity in you?”(Dante XIII: 34-36), when Dante unwittingly torments the Pier della Vigna.
While Dante clearly shows his empathy for the two damned lovers it he does not stretch that desire to the reader. The reader is expected to view things from a less emotional standpoint and to see the damned souls for what they represent. In some ways it acts as a warning of what comes of a life of sin. Again drawing from those who do violence against themselves or their own property--suicides and squanderers (more self-destructive than the prodigal in circle 4) those inhabit the second ring of the seventh circle, a horrid forest.
“So faithful was I to that glorious office / that first I lost my sleep and then my life.” (Dante XIII: 62-63). The soul speaks of his devotion to his duty and how a woman “'inflamed all minds against me. “(Dante XIII: 67) and it was this in part which drove him to suicide as evinced by the line “'My mind, in scornful temper, / hoping by dying to escape from scorn,” (Dante XIII: 70-71). The man fearing the hatred and scorn of the people turned against him chose suicide as a way out.
Dante's emotional reactions to the shades in the seventh circle range from neutral observation of the murderers and compassion for a suicide to respect for several Florentine sodomites and revulsion at the sight and behavior of the lewd usurers. It is his compassion that is to be noted here clearly. Although writers of classical Rome admired by Dante allowed, and even praised suicide as a response to political defeat or personal disgrace, his Christian tradition emphatically condemned suicide as a sin without exception. Dante's attitude toward Pier della Vigna in Inferno 13 and his placement of famous suicides in other locations (Dido, for example, in circle 2) suggests a more nuanced and compassionate view.
Part of what is occurring here is Virgils questioning of the soul trapped “inside such gnarled wood. And tell us, if you can, / if from such limbs one ever is set free.”'(Dante XIII: 89-90). Dante is filled with pity for this soul and seeks a way to aid him. This pity is shown purely from his perspective as again the reader is not expected to feel for the damned instead they are entreated to his punishment of “The Harpies, feeding on its leaves, / give pain and to that pain a mouth.” (Dante XIII: 101-102). The line speaks of the mythical Harpy beasts that nestle in the woods tormenting those who have taken their own lives.
While it is shown that Dante does indeed feel compassion for these damned souls despite their plight. While he is not moved by their punishment he is moved instead by their strength of character, Paolo and Francesca for the love they shared despite its adulterous nature is still a true love, and Pier della Vigna was an accomplished poet much like Dante himself, a man who gave all to the state, and much like Dante received nothing but scorn for it. This is why Dante empathizes with these souls because he has experienced the same trials as them.
While Dante does experience empathy it is in no way translated to the reader. While Dante is clear in his feelings for the souls he does not wish to dilute it the imagery or to say that the souls are not deserving of their fate. In this he is clear that these souls have earned their punishment through their sins. However he also brings perhaps a deeper view of what exactly those sins are. He provides a more nuanced view of each sin that is perhaps deserving of it. Sins like love, no matter its form.
Sources
Alighieri, Dante. Dantes Inferno. Princeton: Princeton University, 1997. Canto V. Web.
Alighieri, Dante. Dantes Inferno. Princeton: Princeton University, 1997. Canto XIII. Web.