Dante is a good studenT

Dante is a good student

Dante is a good student

Thesis statement

One of the ways Dante's Inferno can be read is as the account of the education of the main character, Dante, through the efforts of Virgil, his "Guide and Teacher" (V.120). Given just the Cantos you have read for class, do you believe that Dante is or is not a good student? Whatever position you argue, make sure to consider the opposing side.

Introduction

Mainly, the distinction between author-Dante and character-Dante is that author-Dante writes to us from the future. He can be identified as the real-life Dante, having already (allegedly) skilled Hell and now mirroring on his life-changing experience.

One way we can tell author-Dante apart from character-Dante is that the previous drops signs about things that will happen to his feature self. And all of the sinners' prophecies just happen to come true. Of course, what's advised "prophecy" to character-Dante is history to author-Dante. Basically, we can gaze at author-Dante as a more mature and slightly jaded type of character-Dante.

Analysis

Dante retains an alarming lot of admiration for Virgil. He expresses this in water imagery - it's an unusual way to display love, but hey, he's a poet. His very first words to Virgil compare him to a "fountain / that freely pours so wealthy a stream of talk" and later he calls Virgil "the ocean of all good sense." Dante tints this wonderful image of information and discovering that can flow from one source to the other and, therefore, is open to any person who makes the effort to unlock the dam. But all metaphors apart, both share an earnest mutual respect.

The two have a large deal in common. Both are epic poets. Both come from the boot-shaped peninsula now called Italy. Both are very worried with the meaning of piety. So they have items to talk about. Dante performances the role of a good scholar - asking inquiries, hearing to sinners' stories, and imitating Virgil. Virgil acts the part of the sage lecturer, while Dante's your usual overachiever.

Dante discovers at lightweight pace and Virgil makes the mistake of…well…failing at the barriers of Dis. So after Canto IX, Dante starts sassing off to Virgil. It happens in Canto XI, then afresh in Canto XXVI, and furthermore in Canto XXIX. You get the idea. He's not rude, but his "yes, sensei" mind-set is gone. Along with his ...