Dante's Inferno And Hope

Words: 1208
Pages: 5
Open Document
The article titled “The place of despair and Hope” was written by Harvard graduate Angus Fletcher. I found him to be a highly credible source based off of his extensive educational background, experience, and literary awards . Within this piece he centers on what is the meaning of hope and despair in literature. He explains his reasoning or perspective through numerous examples of literary works including the book Dante’s Inferno .I thought to myself what sane person would agree to descend to hell in any accord. What must one possess to be so courageous and enduring. Then it came to me HOPE could be the answer I was looking for. I was quiet curious in how hope could have served the characters of ‘’Dante’s inferno “. I was persistent …show more content…
My article did not only explain hope but its attachment to despair. In which “despair mates with hope” in other words they belong together. The excerpt explains that through despair can spring hope. Forming a relationship between the two that Further emphasizes the need of hope when enduring despair. Furthermore, hope became a form of strength for Dante, without hope he would not have been able to endure the decent to hell and find his way to paradise. hence the infamous phrase “YE WHO ENTERS HERE ABANDON ALL HOPE” . To Dante hope was a way of seeing things or a particular attitude “ the two are usually consider states of mind”….Generally see despair as the consequence of imprisonment, and hope as the dream of liberation. Dante’s inferno…..sees most sharply and precisely the link between despair and depth. ….despair is death, absolute in it’s unforgiving blockage of hope. This is despair. In other words, being imprisoned forever from the grace of god is despair. The deeper the depths in hell the further you are away from hope ;from heaven. In dntes inferno the character Dante must have hope in order to survive the passage and find his way to heaven. Hope served Dante as a way of seeing and believing he could find his way to …show more content…
The author explains the virgin Mary’s preemptive role in Dante’s inferno. I decided that this article was essential to my research due to its explanation of faith in Dante’s inferno. I have been curious of how this was presented in the book. Faith seemed like a vital component in Dantes inferno However in my reading it seemed to be vaguely represented. In the excerpt……I found that faith was represented as several feminine figures in the book Dante’s inferno by the characters The virgin Mary and Beatrice. For example, “ The blessed Mother (Virgin of Mar) ……does not speak once” However, her role is most important for she initiates Dante’s journey in hopes to” to act as Dante’s Guide”. The Virgin Mary indirectly guides Dante into the path of heaven by testing his faith as well as helping him enhance it. “ Mary…. Has understood the cries as one of her faithful one who is on the literal and figurative cusp of spiritual death, and responds with compassion: she intercedes. She invokes help the help of one that is truly dear to the
Show More

Related Documents: Dante's Inferno And Hope

Dante: Divine Comedy and Dante Essays

VIRGIL'S INFLUENCE ON AND IN DANTE'S INFERNO Dante Alighieri was born in Florence, Italy in 1265. In his life, he created two major books of poetry: Vita Nuova and The Comedy. The Comedy, which was later renamed The Divine Comedy, is an epic poem broken down into three books in each of which Dante recounts his travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. The first installment of The Comedy, Dante's Inferno, is an especially magnificent narrative. He narrates his descent and observation of Hell…

Words 1528 - Pages 7

Dante: Christianity and holy Spirit Essay

Jake Lane Medieval Literature Mrs. Crisler March 17, 2014 Dante’s Inferno Compared to the Bible Dante describes Hell in a fictional way that does not completely go along with God’s word in the Bible. Both books suggest that every sin deserves a punishment equal to the sin. Dante’s Inferno clearly suggests that the followers of God that lived before the birth of Jesus were condemned to Hell and were going to be brought to heaven by Jesus at a later time. The Bible gives a subtle idea that patriarchs…

Words 792 - Pages 4

Compare And Contrast Everyman And Dante's Inferno

reckoning. The second quote comes from the story Dante’s Inferno when he wakes up in a place in which he does not recognize. On page four he states “... I went astray from the straight road and woke to find myself alone in the dark wood”. The dark woods represent an area in hell. After reading the two quotations above or even both stories Dante’s Inferno and Everyman the difference between the path can be conveniently identified, showing that Dante’s journey started when he awoke in the dark woods…

Words 1153 - Pages 5

Analysis Of Dante's Inferno

life on earth, he needed to experience hell in the inferno. Dante’s depiction of the inferno would imply that we have a cruel and unjust God but personally he is anything but cruel. He creates a place of divine justice for the sinners in the deeper parts of hell, however, the only unfair punishment is that of the unbaptized and the pagans. There’s no reason why Moses and Noah should be anywhere near the inferno even if their punishment is not being able to be in…

Words 1683 - Pages 7

Dantes Inferno Intro Power Point Essay

The Divine Comedy A Classical Quest through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise Paradis o Dante’s Structure: The Quest For Salvation Inferno Purgatori o DANTE ALIGHIERI  Born in Florence, May, 1265.  His family was old and of noble origin, but no longer wealthy.  He probably spent a year at the University of Bologna as part of his education, studying the Trivium and the Quadrivium, typical of Medival curriculum. BEATRICE As customary, Dante had an arranged marriage in his youth to Gemma…

Words 3578 - Pages 15

Dantes Inferno Paper

Jess Foderaro Dr. Ali Western Heritage II May 1, 2014 Essay One: Inferno In this paper I will discuss Canto three of Dante’s Inferno, where Dante the poet presents a character named Charon. It is misleading to think that the character is punished because of how he was originally assigned the job as the ferryman, as a superficial reading might suggest. Charon has “lost the good of the intellect” (3.18) in the following sense that he is being used as an essential “tool” to help the deceased sinners…

Words 824 - Pages 4

Dante's Inferno Research Paper

Florentine by his wife’s distant relative and ended up in Bologna where he failed to make Italian a serious literary language in hopes of unifying all of the Italian territories. Dante was then also exiled from Bologna from which he then traveled around for some time until he got to Padua in August of 1306. Some of Dante’s works include The Divine Comedy, Convino, Inferno, Purgatorio, De monarchia, Le Rime Eclogues, Paradiso,…

Words 309 - Pages 2

The Unreal City In The Burial Of The Dead

characterizing the city both in terms of the “brown fog” that surrounds it, as well as in terms of the deadened state of its population: the civilians are described as shades or revenants, and the portrayal is interspersed with references to Dante’s Inferno. This correspondence between form (i.e., external states) and content (i.e., internal states) is also reflected in two characters in particular, namely, Mr. Eugenides and Lil— these characters are portrayed as being immoral due to their sexual…

Words 746 - Pages 3

How Did Rome And Roman Influence In Dante's Divine Comedy?

Rome and Roman ideology have a significant influence throughout Dante’s Divine Comedy, as is evident from the appearance of multiple Romans in all three parts of the afterlife, Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. In the Comedy, it is apparent that Rome is favored by God, though there is also evidence that Rome has strayed from its former glory, and not for the better. Ultimately, Dante does make a case as for what Rome has done wrong, and what must happen should it return to greatness. As Dante journeys…

Words 1718 - Pages 7

How Is Contrapasso Used In Dante's Inferno

In Dante’s Inferno, Contrapasso was one of the many themes that was presented throughout the entire poem. Dante is guided by Virgil in which they travel through the many rings of the Underworld. Virgil is chosen because his wisdom and knowledge in which he leads Dante along their journey through hell. Contrapasso meaning “the punishment that fits the crime”. Each ring of the Underworld displayed various punishments of the sinners which reflected the theme. Also the rings become smaller and smaller…

Words 626 - Pages 3