What Dreams May Come and Inferno by Dante Alighieri have many points that tie them together, yet there are many others that show the individualism between each component. The film and the epic poem are, agreeably similar, but many differences are in place between them. Similarities between the two include the introduction of a guide in the form of someone that the character trusts, the fact that both Dante and Chris have to make a journey through places of divine creation to get to their hearts’ desire, and a tone that ends up giving knowledge. Differences in the two are actually comparable to the similarities that the two share: Dante makes his journey to Paradiso whilst Chris goes down to “hell,” and both texts convey very different tones
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This tells the viewer that although it seems as if the characters do not have an effect on the universe around them, they really do have some control over what goes on around them, even if the effect is not expected.
Inferno and What Dreams May Come are complementary in that both Chris and Dante have trustable guides to help them on their journeys. In Inferno, Dante travels through the Inferno and undertakes the pilgrimage to Paradiso. He has no idea how he comes to be in Inferno, other than that he is walking through a dark forest before meeting his guide, Virgil, who tells him of each circle and ‘bolgia’ before Dante finds himself in an unfavorable position (Alighieri 1055). Contrastively, in the film, Chris …show more content…
In Inferno, this is not found until later in the Inferno, that Dante needs to see why these sinners are in his hell and for what sins and maybe help prevent others from following along in the sinners’ footsteps. His other purpose is because Beatrice sent for him; she awaits him in Paradiso. Chris’s reason for his journey is that he needs to save his wife, and help her realize that she has violated the “natural order” of life and nature. Dante’s journey through Inferno is important to the setting of the book because it can be assumed that his journey takes place during the Easter weekend, an important time within Dante’s religion, giving a bigger purpose to the prevention of sin. Chris’s death and subsequent journey has no set “time,” but it has happened after a pivotal moment in Chris and Annie’s lives—the deaths of their children, and Annie’s depression afterwards—and so his death forewarns of an event similar to what happened after their children’s deaths happening to Annie, once again. Contrastively, Dante’s and Chris’s journeys are in opposite ways; Dante goes “up” through Inferno and to Paradiso, while Chris’s journey is “down” from “heaven” to “hell,” signifying a difference between the source material and the
This tells the viewer that although it seems as if the characters do not have an effect on the universe around them, they really do have some control over what goes on around them, even if the effect is not expected.
Inferno and What Dreams May Come are complementary in that both Chris and Dante have trustable guides to help them on their journeys. In Inferno, Dante travels through the Inferno and undertakes the pilgrimage to Paradiso. He has no idea how he comes to be in Inferno, other than that he is walking through a dark forest before meeting his guide, Virgil, who tells him of each circle and ‘bolgia’ before Dante finds himself in an unfavorable position (Alighieri 1055). Contrastively, in the film, Chris …show more content…
In Inferno, this is not found until later in the Inferno, that Dante needs to see why these sinners are in his hell and for what sins and maybe help prevent others from following along in the sinners’ footsteps. His other purpose is because Beatrice sent for him; she awaits him in Paradiso. Chris’s reason for his journey is that he needs to save his wife, and help her realize that she has violated the “natural order” of life and nature. Dante’s journey through Inferno is important to the setting of the book because it can be assumed that his journey takes place during the Easter weekend, an important time within Dante’s religion, giving a bigger purpose to the prevention of sin. Chris’s death and subsequent journey has no set “time,” but it has happened after a pivotal moment in Chris and Annie’s lives—the deaths of their children, and Annie’s depression afterwards—and so his death forewarns of an event similar to what happened after their children’s deaths happening to Annie, once again. Contrastively, Dante’s and Chris’s journeys are in opposite ways; Dante goes “up” through Inferno and to Paradiso, while Chris’s journey is “down” from “heaven” to “hell,” signifying a difference between the source material and the