Notes on Dante's "Inferno" for literary couse fm Taylor Univ

DANTE’S INFERNO
2-17-98, Notes by Alexa Weber

In a nutshell, Dante’s Divine Comedy is the story of Dante’s journey through Hell (The Inferno), Purgatory (Pugatorio), and Heaven (Paradiso). The journey begins on Good Friday, 1300, when Dante gets lost in a dark woods where his trip is stalled by a leopard (symbol of worldly pleasure), a lion (symbol of ambition), and a she-wolf (symbol of avarice). (Jeremiah 5:6 -- ) Virgil comes to his aid and warns him to take a different route for the she-wolf will devour and kill anyone who tries to pass. Virgil takes him on this trip through Hell and Purgatory and then another guide will take him from there for Virgil (symbol of human reason) is not allowed to enter Heaven.

Dante was an orthodox, medieval Catholic. His world was that of politics, theology, and learning. Hebelieved in concepts such as the “seven deadly sins” in Purgatory and the “seven virtues” in Paradise. The scheme of Paradise is based on Ptolmey’s geocentric solar system.

The Comedy is a poem with 100 cantos and each division (Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso) has 33 cantos. The first canto of the Inferno is the introduction to the entire Comedy.

The three levels of Dante’s hell are:
Incontinence:
1. Not restrained; uncontrolled: incontinent rage.
2. Lacking normal voluntary control of excretory functions.
3. Lacking sexual restraint; unchaste.
Violence:
1. Physical force exerted for the purpose of violating, damaging, or abusing: crimes of violence.
2. The act or an instance of violent action or behavior.
3. Intensity or severity, as in natural phenomena; untamed force: the violence of a hurricane.
4. Abusive or unjust exercise of power.
5. Abuse or injury to meaning, content, or intent: do violence to a text.
6. Vehemence of feeling or expression; fervor
Fraudulence:
1. Engaging in fraud; deceitful.
2. Characterized by, constituting, or gained by fraud: fraudulent business practices.
(see footnote for reference[1])

Canto 1 explains how Dante came to be on this journey (see above). “Midway in life’s journey” he was distracted and strays from the True Way into the DarkWood of Error (worldliness). He did not know how he came to go off course, for his mind wasn’t clear and he was tired. He sets out to climb the Mount of Joy, lit by the sun (symbol of Divine Illumination) but his jouney is stalled by a leopard (symbol of worldly pleasure), a lion (symbol of ambition), and a she-wolf (symbol of avarice.) Vigil comes to meet him and leads him from error through human reason. In order to get by these beasts he must descend through Hell (The Recognition of Sin) then back up through Purgatory (The Reunciation of Sin) and then he may reach the Light of God on the hill.

Canto 2 is the introduction to the Inferno. Dante feels unworthy of the vision and uneasy about going and he invokes the muses. Instead, Beatrice (symbol of divine love and Dante’s inspiration for the Inferno) comes to him to help and solace him. Virgil explains that Beatrice came to him to ask that he guide Dante through hell, for it takes more than divine love to make it; Dante needed human reason as a guide. Beatrice was sent with prayers of the Virgin Mary (symbol of compassion) and St. Lucia (symbol of divine light). With Heaven’s concern and Virgil’s guidance, Dante is assured that nothing could happen to him. Rachel appears in this chapter and is a symbol of the Contemplative Life.

Canto 3. They pass through the gate of hell where they see the souls of the opportunists, those who were not evil or good but simply lived for themselves. They are not in hell or out of hell, just destined to remain eternally unclassified, forever pusued by wasps and hornets. Dante stresses that Hell is for those who choose it and they also choose their punishment by their lives. Those who choose to live lives of violence are violently punished. In Hell the punishment fits the sin. At the end of this chapter they cross the river Acheron on the ferry of Charon into the first circle of hell.

Canto 4. Dante and Virgil travel through Limbo, the woods where those who led perfect lives, such as Homer, Cicero, Seneca, Socrates and Plato, but were born before the coming of Christ and were not baptized. (The “virtuous pagans.”) Their only sadness comes from not being able to see God. Dante “swoons” when Virgil recounts the good people living in Limbo.

Canto 5 is the real beginning of hell. The second circle, where the ruthless Minos sits as judge and the lustful are punished. Here Dante meets Franchesca and swoons with pity for her and her lover who are forever together tossed by winds in hell, yet are miserable.
[1]The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition copyright © 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from INSO Corporation. All rights reserved.