Dante’s Inferno: The Propelling Plot In the Inferno by Dante Alighieri, the character Dante, a poet, goes on a journey through hell with a poet named Virgil. Together, they descend through the nine circles of hell and learn about the sins of the souls that reside there. Dante begins his journey through hell as a naïve, sympathetic, man, but as the story progresses we see a dramatic change in the way that Dante views things. It seems unusual, in a place such as Hell, that Dante would sympathize with any of the sinners in the poem. Although Dante understands that Hell is a place for sinners, he still cannot help but sympathize with people who have committed specific sins. Nevertheless, by allowing his protagonist Dante to develop his views
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His pity and sorrow for the unfortunate souls that reside in hell, directly mirrors that of the authors. Since the author Dante created what he believed to be hell in the Inferno, we know that he feels that being unbaptized and lustful, is far less of a sin than those who are violent and fraudulent. The character Dante’s first occurrence with sorrow is in the second ring of hell, which is arguably the first true self causing sin, lust. His interaction with the damned soul was Francesca Da Rimini, whom emotionally compels Dante with her story of her affair, which lead to her death and ultimately her damnation. He speaks of her in gentle terms such as “those two swept together so lightly on the wind and still so sad.” (Inferno, Canto V,) It is ironic that in a place as dark as hell Dante can view some of the damned as light. As a result of the character Dante’s pity for the lustful souls the author, I think, is letting his readers know that it is ok for us to also feel sympathy for some of the souls in this circle, and others as the poem progresses. This allows Dante to use the development of his character to tell the readers when, and why they should feel sympathy for souls that are damned to hell by the almighty God for committing terrible
His pity and sorrow for the unfortunate souls that reside in hell, directly mirrors that of the authors. Since the author Dante created what he believed to be hell in the Inferno, we know that he feels that being unbaptized and lustful, is far less of a sin than those who are violent and fraudulent. The character Dante’s first occurrence with sorrow is in the second ring of hell, which is arguably the first true self causing sin, lust. His interaction with the damned soul was Francesca Da Rimini, whom emotionally compels Dante with her story of her affair, which lead to her death and ultimately her damnation. He speaks of her in gentle terms such as “those two swept together so lightly on the wind and still so sad.” (Inferno, Canto V,) It is ironic that in a place as dark as hell Dante can view some of the damned as light. As a result of the character Dante’s pity for the lustful souls the author, I think, is letting his readers know that it is ok for us to also feel sympathy for some of the souls in this circle, and others as the poem progresses. This allows Dante to use the development of his character to tell the readers when, and why they should feel sympathy for souls that are damned to hell by the almighty God for committing terrible