6.+The+Inferno

Directions: your group is responsible for compiling and creating responses to all sections and will be graded on the completeness and accuracy of the information provided. In addition, your response must include material covered in class, not information "cut and pasted" from on-line study guides. Assignment is worth 100 points. Remember, you are helping your classmates by providing a complete response.

1) Plot Summary (no more than 250 words please): One day Dante awakens to find himself in a dark wood, where a leopard, a lion, and a wolf prevent him from escaping. However, the poet Virgil appears and offers to guide Dante out of the wood, which requires traveling through Hell. At the gates of Hell, Dante sees the Undecided, souls who never made choices between good and evil in life, and who are now being eternally stung by wasps and flies. Dante then sees the Virtuous Pagans, who lived good lives, but were born before Christianity. Dante then travels to the 2nd through 5th circles of Hell, which hold the souls whose sins result from incontinence. These are the Lustful, Gluttons, Hoarders and Spendthrifts, Wrathful, and Slothful. He then travel through the City of Dis, and witnesses the punishment of the Heretics. The 7th circle holds the souls whose sins were that of violence. These are the Warmakers, Tyrants, Murderers, Suicides, Blasphemers, Sodomites, and Usurers. Dante is brought next into the 8th and 9th circles of Hell, which are the worst sins of all: Fraud or Malice. The sinners of simple fraud are the Panderers and Seducers, Flatterers, Simonists, Soothsayers, Grafters, Hypocrites, Thieves, Evil Counselors, Sowers of Schism, and Falsifiers. The sinners of complex fraud are the Traitors to Kin, Country, Guests, and Lords and Benefactors. Dante eventually is brought before Lucifer, who chews on the worst perpetrators of fraud: Judas, Cassius, and Brutus. Lucifer is not a powerful being, but a helpless sinner frozen in ice. Dante and Virgil climb down Lucifer’s legs, passing through the Earth’s center, and are able to escape Hell, although Virgil must stay behind.

2) Major Characters, Description, and Relationships:

3) Literary Terms discussed in class (including a brief definition and how they relate to the text): The Inferno was an epic poem, it concerned the touchy subject of souls in hell and the beliefs of christianity, mount purgatory, and heaven. The Inferno was the first part of the Divine Comedy with 34 cantos in this section. This is the form of poetry that Dante chose to write all three sections in. The way that the souls were punished in each circle. These are all different forms on sin that the souls in hell eternally had committed on earth and are now receiving their punishment for it.
 * Epic Poe****m**- lengthy narrative poem; concerning a serious subject with details of heroic deeds and events significant to a specific culture.
 * Divine Comedy**- three parts altogether: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso; 33 cantos per section and 1 introductory canto which makes 100 cantos in all.
 * Terza rima**- stanzas of three lines with the first and third lines rhyming and the second line rhyming with the first line of the next stanza.
 * Contrapasso**- just punishment of a sin.
 * Concupiscenc****e**- the quality of an evil act that is directed at physical pleasure as its goal.
 * Malice**- offenses in which there is an intellectual joy in inflicting evil.
 * Lust**- inordinate desire for the pleasure of the body.
 * Gluttony**- inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.
 * Gree****d-** the desire for material wealth/gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual.
 * Sloth**- avoidance of physical or spiritual work; inertia of the soul and will
 * Wrath**- is manifested in the individuals who spurns love and opts for fury
 * Envy**- desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation
 * Pride**- excessive belief in ones' own abilities which interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God.

4) How has the writer created meaning? In other words, what choices has he/she made in plot structure, point of view, character, setting, tone, style and/or symbol in order to convey meaning?:

Dante’s Inferno is full of symbolism and deep meaning. For example, many of the author’s personal beliefs were on display throughout the poem. Dante placed Muhammad, an Islamic Prophet, in Hell which shows the Christian undertones of the work. Also relating to Dante’s religion, homosexuals were placed in Hell as they were seen as “violent against nature.” Dante’s personal judgments also could be seen throughout the poem as many people from his life on earth were in Hell. One of the most prevalent sources of meaning in the Inferno were the contrapassos or the way in which the author related the punishment in Hell to the sin committed. For example, in the seventh circle, those who committed suicide had to take the form of trees because they did not respect their bodies on earth. Other examples included murderers who had to eternally drown in a river of blood. This punishment fit because these people spilled the blood of others so now they must drown in spilled blood. There are literally hundreds of examples of symbolism and meaning throughout Dante’s Inferno.

5) Themes/Motifs(at least 4):

6) Quotes from the text that capture major themes (at least 3): 1. "Midway on our life's journey, I found myself In dark woods, the right road lost." These are the opening lines of the book. They show that dante is confused and uncertain about his beliefs which is why he is writing this story. He says "the right road lost." showing he does not know what to believe in anymore and the rest of his "journey" from now on will be through the circles of hell.

2. "through me you enter into the city of woes through me you enter into eternal pain through me you enter the population of loss... abandon all hope you who enter here." This is the first thing Dante sees at the gates of hell. It tells him that the souls here will suffer eternal pain and suffering. There will be no escaping hell and once your soul is there you can never get out. You will be punished for the sin you committed on Earth. "Abandon all hope" shows once entering into hell you will have no control over your soul since you took advantage of your privilege on earth.

3. "Where we came forth, and once more saw the stars." This is the last line of the Inferno. It shows some hope for Dante. He is no longed stuck in hell witnessing the sins and confusion, but can now see the stars. It also shows he could be getting closer to recognizing his beliefs in God and his hope to get to heaven now that he has witnessed all of hell.

7) Interpretive Questions (at least 3): Traitors are placed below murderers in the Inferno. Why did Dante choose order in regard to the severity of sins?

Why did Dante have pity for some souls in Hell but not for others?

Provide examples of how the punishments in Hell fit the sins committed on earth.

Why did Dante choose Judas, Brutus and, Cassius as the greatest sinners of all?

8) Historical/Social/Philosopical Influences on text (include relevant author biography): Dante was born in Florence, Italy in 1265. He was involved in the political turmoil in Florence, and was banished by the political faction, the Black Guelphs in 1302 for being a member of the opposing faction, the White Guelphs. Originally, the Guelphs supported rule of the Papacy in Italy, and the Ghibelline party supported imperial power. However, the Guelph party split: the Whites wanted to break Florence away from Papal control, but the Blacks wanted to share power with the Pope. Dante was in favor of imperial rule, and opposed Papal control of the state, and thus The Inferno contains several examples of his commentary on this matter. One of the most obvious is his placement of Pope Boniface (and many other popes) in Hell. People involved in the Guelph/Ghibelline conflict appear far down in Hell, such as Mosca, whose counsel caused the feuding of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. Dante is particularly cruel to Bocca, who was a Ghibelline who pretended to be a Guelph in order to easily take over Florence. Count Ugolina and Archbishop Ruggieri were also members of the Guelph party who betrayed one another to take control of the party. Also, making Cassius and Brutus two of the three worst sinners can be explained through Dante’s political and philosophical beliefs. He favored imperial power in Italy, but in his opinion, the murder of Caesar caused the Roman Empire to fall, which crushed Italy’s imperial power. This also stopped the spread of Christianity to the world, which Dante felt was a terrible thing.