CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Character Analysis: Dante Alighieri 'The Inferno'

Character Analysis: Dante Alighieri 'The Inferno'

Introduction

The book Inferno by Dante Alighieri provides one a glimpse of the afterlife as it was perceived by Christians during the 14th century. Inferno opens with Dante finding himself lost in some dark woods in the middle of a valley. Dante attempts to climb out of the valley but he finds his way barred by a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf. Dante then encounters the shade of the poet Virgil, who had told Beatrice, Dante's lover, that he would lead Dante out the woods towards heaven. As the pair heads towards the entrance of hell they pass by the Ante-Inferno, where those who never choose a moral extreme are punished along with the neutral angels by having to endlessly chase a blank banner while being chased by flies and wasps. After crossing the river Acheron into hell, Dante passes through the first circle, where the unbaptized reside in relative peace. Virgil and Dante then travel through the second circle of hell where the lustful are punished by having their souls cast about in the savage wind. Reaching the third circle Dante witnesses the gluttonous endure a constant barrage of freezing rain pouring down on them. After crossing into the fourth circle of hell Dante views two opposite groups of men pushing heavy weights in a large semicircle before crashing into each other and reversing direction (Alighieri, 2005). Virgil informs him that the two groups are the avaricious and the prodigal. At the fifth circle the pair runs into the river Styx, where the wrathful are constantly attacking each other using everything at their disposal. Virgil points out that the sullen are also punished in the fifth circle and he tells Dante that the sullen are located at ...