In life there is suffering. There has always been suffering and there will always be suffering; it is part of what makes us human. This is something that has been known for much longer than any of us have even been a part of the human experience. It is something that both Dante Alighieri and William Shakespeare took note of hundreds of years ago and something that both of them thought was a topic important enough to explore through their respective writings Dante’s Inferno and King Lear. With these works being written hundreds of years apart, there are of course some different approaches to the idea.…
Feasts have always held cultural and symbolic significance in Western Society particularly in the country of Italy. As early as the Romans, a banquet or convivium(Latin for “living together”), represented not only a social gathering but a measure of taste and status (Raff). Medieval banquets were no exception to this rule. During this time period such banquets were often of religious origin and represented important social gathering (Rouff); therefore, any interruption of social, political, or moral norms relating to hospitality was viewed as particularly alarming in the context of medieval Italy. In Dante’s Inferno, such crimes of deceit in the context of hospitality are designated to the ninth circle of hell, the lowest circle of hell.…
However, there is a particular emphasis put on the representation of religious figures in the story. Rather than revering the clergy, Dante uses their sins to critique the Catholic Church. While there is a certain level of anonymity when describing…
Dante started to fear the sinners who were in these lower circles, and also he encounters Giants who were another scary creatures that Dante the Pilgrim must fight and overcome, but Virgil reassures him. However, in some instances, Dante becomes scared when Virgil, himself, shows signs of weakness and confusion. Dante believes Virgil, because he symbolizes human reason and wisdom, to help him to go through the Hell, and when his guide shows signs of weakness, Dante the Pilgrim becomes angry, uncertain and fearful. For example, when “Malacoda” deceives Virgil in eight circle of Hell, Dante the Pilgrim becomes uncertain about Virgil’s intentions and qualities. And here we should understand that Dante the Author made this confusion on purpose, so as to show the fallibility and limitations of pure…
Pier delle Vigna was inappropriately charged with the attempted murder of Frederick II, Holy Roman emperor and king of Sicily. He was conspired against by envious people who wanted to see an end to his greatness. Once charged, Pier was jailed, beaten, and had his eyes viciously removed from his skull, blinding him. He saw no hope for his future, and therefore ended his life, by bashing his head against the wall until his brain leapt from his cranium. Pier was the victim of political envy, which is why Dante was so piteous of him in Inferno, Canto XIII.…
Throughout the Inferno, Dante Alegheri uses his relationship with Virgil, his sympathy towards the lustful, and his punishments of Caiaphas and the clergymen to reflect on his personal criticisms of human reason, his definition of good and evil, and man's responsibility.…
The people Dante meets in hell were sent there because they did not lead a virtuous life and they were punished for…
And certainly, by labelling the sinners as dogs, Dante is reminding that if one ignores his logic and succumb to his animalistic desire, he is failing God and wasting the gifts that he granted. Soon after identifying the sinner as Filippo Argento, in rage, Dante asks Virgil to grant his whim, “to see the wretched scrubbed down into the swill before we leave this stinking sink and him’” (VIII, 50-51), which Virgil happily gratifies it. So when Argenti is immediately attacked by the other Wrathfuls, the fact that Dante “praise[s] and thank[s] God for it” (VIII, 57), proves that This again reinforces the concept of divine justice by showing that the cruel and unusual punishments that Dante designed are not merely to shock onlookers. Using contrapasso, which means justice in which one’s crime is used to punish him, Dante makes the Wrathfuls attack each other; and consequently, only Filippo Argenti is being targeted, just as Alighieri was targeted and exiled by the other…
The Divine Comedy is a three part series, written by Dante Alighieri, which describes the frustrations he felt, while in exile, pertaining to Florentine politics. The first part in the series, The Inferno, depicts Dante’s pilgrimage into the underworld of Hell. The epic describes Dante’s descent in an attempt to get back on a spiritual path. The Inferno was created with the purpose of telling the politics of Florence and combining ideas of Pagan and Greek religion (“Literary Background”). Dante’s work also portrays his hatred for the corrupt politicians of his era, as he sends them to Hell for the sins they have committed (“Historical Background”).…
“Arrogance is thinking you are above someone else, confidence is knowing no one is above you.” (Habeeb Akande). Although both Tom and Yetta live in New York during the same period, their lifestyles are very different. Tom does not have a job and acquired his riches from “old money” (inherited wealth), allowing him to live in his mansion in East Egg. Under his circumstances of his lavish lifestyle, he becomes arrogant/prideful.…
Dante Washington, one of the urban disadvantages in the study, was one of their success story. Dante is employed, has a degree and his own home in Baltimore. He defied the statistic of a 25 year long research project that was turned into a book. “The Long Shadow”. He played basketball there using a makeshift crate.…
After being exiled from Heaven, Satan suddenly awakens in Hell, chained near the lake of fire. He finds Beelzebub next to him and begins a discussion about their fate and new path for himself and his followers. Satan and Beelzebub escape from the lake of fire and praise themselves about it. Then the monologue of Satan begins. The verses of 242 to 263 emphasize the theme of hierarchy and order in the universe and Satan’s disobedience and revolt against it.…
This theme centers more in the middle part of this novel. For example, the writing of the letters from Dante to Ari (and occasionally Ari to Dante). Of course, this happened over a long time, but one particularly notable letter was on page 184-185. Dante wrote, “If I want to write you, then I’ll write to you. And if you don’t want to write to me, you don’t have to.…
It is evident that Augustine and Dante are much like many authors as they too explore spirituality in their writings. Augustine’s book Confessions and Dante’s Purgatorio both see humans as pilgrims on a journey that either brings them to God or away from God. These books have challenged readers, like myself, as they draw insight from them to apply to their own spiritual journey. In these books there are many themes that apply to Augustine and Dante’s spiritual journey.…
One of the events in his narrative brings us to an Italy where Lorenzon is rarely present—an Italy where all of the adversities that fail to touch Lorenzo in his bubble persevere. On a ride in Rome, Niccolo places different elements of a failing Italy in front of Lorenzo’s eyes to taunt him. On this car ride, Lorenzo encounters a Lazio supporter which symbolizes a Facist reaction towards the government. Dirty cobble stones are also a representation of the Italian governement’s failure to improve the sanitary conditions of public areas. However, the most striking event that signifies a collapsing Italy is the confrontation between Lorenzo’s mother and Teodoro.…