Dante’s Inferno is considered one of the best works of humanity. In Inferno, Dante literally puts all kind of men into hell for their sins; from great kings to slaves, from every type of ethnicity, race, country and anything else a man identifies by. Based on Christian doctrines of his time, Dante has taken revenge over all kind of figures that he knew by. Furthermore, Inferno is filled with allegories and represents a deep literature. In this essay, we will discuss about the uses and significance of allegories in Inferno.
Hidden beneath The Divine Comedy, we can find Dante’s emphasis of the number “three”. Often times, we can find the number being used to categories the realms of dead; the three beasts that stop a man from achieving salvation (lion, wolf and leopard; the ultimate demon with three heads (Dis); three ladies to pray for protagonist; and so on. “O, what a marvel it appeared to me, when I beheld three faces on his head! The one in front, and that vermilion was;” (Inferno, 34.37-39). This stanza is when Dante the pilgrim and his guide, Virgil, see Dis for the first time. Dante sees a giant with three faces, Dis, in front of him. Here, …show more content…
These allegories come in form of punishments lesser than necessary because they are considered important to the society. In one case, the two poets meet Francesca de Rimini and her lover, Paolo, in Hell. Paolo was the brother of Francesca’s husband. One day, they were reading Lancelot where the characters fall in love. These two people also thought they were alone and innocent of suspicion and thus they kiss each other. Francesca’s husband gets suspicious of their behaviours and kills them (Inferno 5. 126-132). Later we can see that Francesca’s husband is even deeper hell. Thus, this proves that Dante, although punishing the lovers for their affair, shows sympathy by placing them in somewhat lower circle of
Hidden beneath The Divine Comedy, we can find Dante’s emphasis of the number “three”. Often times, we can find the number being used to categories the realms of dead; the three beasts that stop a man from achieving salvation (lion, wolf and leopard; the ultimate demon with three heads (Dis); three ladies to pray for protagonist; and so on. “O, what a marvel it appeared to me, when I beheld three faces on his head! The one in front, and that vermilion was;” (Inferno, 34.37-39). This stanza is when Dante the pilgrim and his guide, Virgil, see Dis for the first time. Dante sees a giant with three faces, Dis, in front of him. Here, …show more content…
These allegories come in form of punishments lesser than necessary because they are considered important to the society. In one case, the two poets meet Francesca de Rimini and her lover, Paolo, in Hell. Paolo was the brother of Francesca’s husband. One day, they were reading Lancelot where the characters fall in love. These two people also thought they were alone and innocent of suspicion and thus they kiss each other. Francesca’s husband gets suspicious of their behaviours and kills them (Inferno 5. 126-132). Later we can see that Francesca’s husband is even deeper hell. Thus, this proves that Dante, although punishing the lovers for their affair, shows sympathy by placing them in somewhat lower circle of