Research Paper On Dantes Inferno

During the Interactive Oral presentation, we received information about Dante’s life and his affiliation with two main political factions the Guelph and the other being the Ghibellines. Many Florentines including Dante were affected by the Guelph-Ghibelline conflict. This conflict was the political division at Florence of the loyalty between Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy. The Papacy, held the Pope as head of the Roman Catholic Church, during this time, the Guelph often received advice from the Pope in order to defeat the Ghibelline. This helped me understand why Dante used symbolic imagery and the severity of the sinners’ punishments he placed in Hell. For example, Pope Boniface VIII was a major figure in Dante’s political life, he betrayed the White Guelph and exiled Dante for his personal benefit. …show more content…
Earlier on before reading The Inferno, typical depictions of Hell centered on the idea of a dark pit, adorned with fire and torture. However, in Canto XXXIV Dante describes Hell as a frozen icy lake. In relation to religion, the ninth circle of Hell is farthest from the light of God. In duration of Dante’s time period, everyone was very religious and the government was controlled and up-held by the Church. The Church wanted to make sure the rules were constantly being followed. Dante Alighieri’s epic poem, the Inferno is an example of cultural control, it could be used to persuade people of Christianity to live a faithful life devoted to God by not committing sins such as Lust, Betrayal, Pride, or Envy or in return if you betray God, you will be sent to the lowest part of Hell according to your sin to perish for