Works by Dante Alighieri

The Transcendentalism period sparked the authors conviction, that each person had a reason to believe in their own ideas. In the excerpt from “Self Reliance”, the author Ralph Waldo Emerson uses theme in his work to express his belief of discreteness between societal people and one’s decision making. “Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world, (Emerson).” Emerson wants…

Dante’s Inferno, written by Dante Alighieri is a classical poem that tells a tale about Dante and Virgil, who journey through the nine gates of hell on a quest to heaven. What’s very intriguing about this poem is that is based completely off Dante himself and most of the characters are based off real people. This poem started being written around 1300, this was mostly due to Dante being exiled from Florence because of a scuffle with the pope. This resulted in Dante to often rant about the popes…

Canto VIII, Dante and Virgil travel through the fifth circle of hell where they encounter Filippo Argenti, a long time enemy of the Guelph’s, while they are riding a boat on the river Styx. The reader is struck with an image of a wrathful Dante and Virgil and must decide whether or not their actions are justified. Depending on what the reader decides, it shows whether they too are wrathful or not. Within lines 31-66, Filippo comes up from the river to ask who is in hell before his time. Dante…

Conscience plays a big role in a person’s judgement. In Crime and Punishment , after killing two people, Raskolnikov ends up feeling extremely guilty afterwords for pretty much the rest of the book. His consciousness makes itself known by making him very paranoid about others, and even before the murder by questioning why is he thinking of doing bad things. Because of all this guilt and mistrust, he ends up turning himself in. Although, one might argue that he believes he did not commit a crime…

. Looking at the short story “Story of the Hour” from a Marxist point of view, the social structure plays an enormous role. In this story Mrs. Mallard should be grieving not only because she thought her husband was dead, but also since he was the provider of her household. Without him, how was she going to make ends meet and function as if he were still alive? But on the contrary, Mrs. Mallard felt free from the social structure of her being just a wife, who life was her family and husband. She…

his own art and philosophy. It begins when Dante is halfway through his life and, he has lost his way. Not only in his mind, but he now found himself traveling through the dark woods, “Midway along the journey of life, I woke to find myself in a dark wood, astray from the straight path” (Cantos I, 1-3), and the influences from religious figures in his life. When Dante speaks of having strayed from the right path, the reader should not assume that Dante has committed a crime. But instead, we…

1. Capaneus plays an important role in understanding the psychology of the sinners in hell because his rejection attitude toward God represents how the sinners think. Capaneus fought against Thebes, and he is guilty of blasphemy. This is one of the worst sins a person can commit. Because of his sin’s severity, Capaneus have to pay the price with the intensity punishment. Even though it is obvious that Capaneus cannot defeat God, and he can reduce his punishment by admitting his wrong, his pride…

Luckily, Dante so quickly and easily followed me into this journey, but it perplexes me how this can be the same person Beatrice implored me to help. I listened and continue to execute exactly what Beatrice wished. I write this as the naive boy happens to lie on the ground after seeing shades a couple steps beyond Hell’s doorway and experiencing an earthquake. Based on Beatrice’s words, I expected this guy to have a little more maturity, but who knows in this day and age. This fool should have…

wood of wilderness, savage, and stubborn / (the thought of it brings back all my old fears) / a bitter place! Death could scarce be bitter” (1.1-6) In these very first lines of Inferno from the Divine Comedy by Dante, there is a foreshadowing of another dark wood to come ahead. When Dante and Virgil reach the second ring of the seventh circle of hell. They are met with the Woods of Suicides, where the souls that denied their bodies by committing suicide, and are now trees and bushes that are…

Dante was born in 1265 in a family deeply involved in Florentine politics, His mother died a few years after he was born. At age 12 he was arranged to be married with a daughter of a family friend whose name was Gemma Donati. They married around 1285 but he was in love with Beatrice Portinari. Beatrice would be a huge influence on the Divine Comedy. Dante and Beatrice met when she was 9, it was thought to be love at first sight. They knew each other for years and he secretly loved her from afar.…