Ms. Horn
Humanities 241
12/4/2016
Throughout the epic poem of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, the reader is constantly exposed to rich symbolism and recurring themes and issues of politics, religious views, human nature, and moral dilemmas of what truly constitutes right from wrong in the eyes of God. Each of these signify both personal references to Dante’s life and experiences and characterize the times, culture, and religious fears and ideals of 13th century Italy, a society and culture dominated by strong catholic beliefs. Dante 's portrayal of Hell in the Inferno is undisputed masterpiece of visual and allegorical imagery, enhanced not only through extensive use of figurative language, but through the means of gruesome …show more content…
Dante was born in the year 1265 to the city of Florence in modern day Italy during the later dark ages of western Europe. Belonging to a prestigious family he believed to have descended from the ancient romans with an alliance and strong support in the papacy, Dante was trained in literary arts and surrounded by politics at an early age. Through his family’s political connections and status, by the age of 12 he was he was promised in marriage to Gemma di Manetto Donati, the daughter of another powerful and influential family of Florence. But by this time Dante had already fallen in love with another, a young woman by the name of Beatrice Portinari, whom he met at the age of 9. Years after he wed Gemma he claimed to have had meetings with Beatrice, possibly indicating an affair. It is interesting to note that he wrote several sonnets to Beatrice but never once mentioned his wife Gemma in any of his poems. The death of Beatrice plays an important role as the driving initial motive and purpose of his character’s journey in the Divine Comedy, but could also be considered the spark that inspired this entire writing in the first place. After Beatrice 's death, Dante continued to hold a deep love and respect for her, he would withdraw into intense study and began composing poems dedicated to her memory. She was, without question, one of the driving factors behind his works. The society itself Dante was created in played a crucial role in his writings as well. This was a Catholic society in the dark ages, prior to the Renaissance, a time period during the Crusades in which Catholic Church and the Papacy ruled much of western European society, a belief system that laid out the very foundation and framework for this writing. Dante also had a strong political standing within his