Dantes Inferno Essay - 856 Words

Dantes Inferno It was sometime in the middle of the 17th century that British cleric Thomas Fuller wrote, He that falls into sin is a man; that grieves at it, is a saint; that boasteth of it, is a devil. If Fuller was right, where does one place Dante, the pilgrim who bravely wandered where no man had wandered before? Certainly, the sojourner precisely written by the poet of the same name was a man. Certainly, also, he repented his sinful ways (how could one not after braving not only the depths of Hell but later the stretches of Purgatory and the many waters of Heaven?), but he was no saint. Indeed, Inferno itself can be easily construed as a boast of sorts—made it through hell, met Lucifer, bought the t-shirt. But in reality,†¦show more content†¦In Canto 3, Dante is so overwhelmed by his surroundings that overcame all feeling in me [ln 135] and he faints, saying dramatically, I fell like one whom sleep is taking [ln 136]. Not much later, in Canto 5, the traveling duo comes upon a pair of lovers, condemned to an eternity of suffering due to a small case of incontinence. Dante is overcome with sympathy as he listens to their story, and promptly blacks out again, this time with even more dramatic flair: for pity I fainted as if I were dying, and I fell as a dead body falls [ln 141-142]. Before he hits the dust, he manages to express his sympathy to Francesca, one of the lovers: Francesca, your sufferings make me sad and piteous to tears [ln 116-117]. This sense of pity is an important indicator of his progress, or lack thereof, through Hell. At this, the beginning of his journey, Dante identifies with the condemned and thus has not only sympathy, but empathy toward them. He understands a life of sin and can picture himself in their place. As time goes by and the pilgrims journey continues, Dante gets hardened against the strife and pain inflicted upon the sinners. Of course, seeing enough of anything begets tolerance, but in Dantes case his lessening sympathy shows lessening empathy as well. His thoughts and ideals have become progressively more pure and pious, and hes started to lose his identification with the life of sin and contempt. Virgil encourages his displacementShow MoreRelatedThe Story in Dantes Inferno910 Words   |  4 PagesIn the story Dante’s Inferno we as readers get to experience hell in a whole light. Throughout the narrative we find out that hell is not only what we know of it from the Christian bible . According to Dante Hell is a complex situation that is nothing like anything we have read earlier. There are many people who have read at least some portion of the Holy Bible. Whether it be because of personal reasons or educational ones, the holy bible most read (and sold) books in existence. Through readingRead MoreDantes Inferno Essay1447 Words   |  6 PagesAt the start of the poem we find Dante in the dark forest(Inf. 1.2). 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