Brandon A. Perez
Mrs. Courtney Doherty
AP English Composition 1001420M
23 February 2018
The Inferno Literary Analysis Essay
Dante Alighieri, author of the book The Divine Comedy, was born in Florence in 1265 and came from a noble but impoverished family. He first met Bice Portinari, who he called Beatrice, in his early years who then died in 1290. In order to cope with her sudden death, Dante studied philosophy and theology and to also write La Vita Nuova. Throughout his life he has been involved in the conflicts of the Guelfs and Ghibellines, which had alternating control of power in Florence and alternating chances to exile the opposing party. Dante affiliated with the White Guelfs and when the Black Guelfs came into power, the White Guelfs …show more content…
Dante proceeds to the fourth circle guarded by Plutus, the god of wealth, where he witnesses the shouting shades who clash huge rolling weights by their chests. These are the Prodigal and the Miserly, who hoarded and wasted in their life on Earth. Dante and his mentor progress to the fifth circle into the swamp-like river Styx which possess the Wrathful who tear and mangle each other. Descending to the sixth circle, where they must enter the City of Dis to continue, Dante and his guide are denied of entry and requests help from the heavens in order for them to be given permission to enter (Alighieri et al. 151). They eventually continued their journey, in which, upon entering the City of Dis, the two encounters the Heretics, who disobeyed the strict instructions of the Christian church, and are punished by being kept forever in inflamed tombs. Similar to the Lustful, the circle of the Heretics shows an example of Dantean contrapasso because during their lifetime, the Heretics believed that the bodies of those who die have their souls die as well. This goes against the belief of the afterlife in the religion of Christianity and therefore the souls die metaphorically in hell by having them in flaming
Mrs. Courtney Doherty
AP English Composition 1001420M
23 February 2018
The Inferno Literary Analysis Essay
Dante Alighieri, author of the book The Divine Comedy, was born in Florence in 1265 and came from a noble but impoverished family. He first met Bice Portinari, who he called Beatrice, in his early years who then died in 1290. In order to cope with her sudden death, Dante studied philosophy and theology and to also write La Vita Nuova. Throughout his life he has been involved in the conflicts of the Guelfs and Ghibellines, which had alternating control of power in Florence and alternating chances to exile the opposing party. Dante affiliated with the White Guelfs and when the Black Guelfs came into power, the White Guelfs …show more content…
Dante proceeds to the fourth circle guarded by Plutus, the god of wealth, where he witnesses the shouting shades who clash huge rolling weights by their chests. These are the Prodigal and the Miserly, who hoarded and wasted in their life on Earth. Dante and his mentor progress to the fifth circle into the swamp-like river Styx which possess the Wrathful who tear and mangle each other. Descending to the sixth circle, where they must enter the City of Dis to continue, Dante and his guide are denied of entry and requests help from the heavens in order for them to be given permission to enter (Alighieri et al. 151). They eventually continued their journey, in which, upon entering the City of Dis, the two encounters the Heretics, who disobeyed the strict instructions of the Christian church, and are punished by being kept forever in inflamed tombs. Similar to the Lustful, the circle of the Heretics shows an example of Dantean contrapasso because during their lifetime, the Heretics believed that the bodies of those who die have their souls die as well. This goes against the belief of the afterlife in the religion of Christianity and therefore the souls die metaphorically in hell by having them in flaming