Inferno Analysis

Let’s face it, you can’t really discuss Hell and all its inhabitants without illuminating something about the society that produces such evildoers. So Dante’s personal crisis and...

We’re going to go out on a limb here and say that the Inferno wins the competition for coolest setting of all time. Hands down. Not just because it’s Hell, the most intense of all place...

In our "Character Analysis" of Dante, we’ve discussed how it’s important to distinguish between author-Dante and character-Dante. Here’s why: Our narrator is primarily character-D...

The Inferno is in verse. It rhymes. And has a meter (terza rima). D you need any more convincing that Inferno is a poem? As for the epic part, Dante is talking about a man’s choice between go...

Dante cares deeply about the moral thought processes of mankind, having personally suffered as a result of others’ sin. He was exiled from his hometown. We know the intensity of his feelings...

There’s very little that’s easy and accessible about Dante’s style. By "formal," we mean that Dante adheres to a very rigid literary form. In this case, epic conventions include t...

Dante’s Divine Comedy, which traces the spiritual journey of souls, actually consists of three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. Inferno is the first part. The story starts off in the...

Dante has been loosing his way. He needs to tour Hell so he can get back on the righteous path. (Inferno in its entirety)Dante needs help in a bad way because he is lost in a dark wood, symbolizing...

"Abandon every hope, ye who enter here."Dante has a rather special case of midlife crisis. He’s lost in the woods. Which is, of course, allegorical. He has lost the true path to God and now w...

Dante is rescued by Virgil within the dark wood. They enter Hell. In the first five circles, Dante shows an excess of compassion for the incontinent sinners. Towards the end, Dante rebukes Filippo...

Dante was twelve years old when he first met Beatrice. He immediately fell in love. His close friend, Guido, ended up marrying her.Dante’s party of White Guelphs were attacked while he was ou...

People aren’t actually having sex in Hell, though they’re certainly there for doing it. There are, however, stories of sex. In fact, the whole first circle is devoted to the lustful. In...

Virgil is Dante’s guide, first mention (Inf. I, 79)…Homer (Inf. IV, 88)Aristotle, Ethics (Inf. XI, 80)Aristotle, Physics (Inf. XI, 101)Aesop (Inf. XXIII, 4-7)Charon (Inf. III, 94-99)Aen...