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Sky O’Brien
Professor Heidi Snow
ENGL 178
7 October 2015
Contrasting perceptions of immorality in Dante Alighieri’s Inferno
Inferno is the first part of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, a 14th-century
epic poem that tells the allegorical story of the character Dante’s journey through
Hell with Roman poet Virgil. Within Inferno, Dante the poet constructs Hell as
having Nine Circles where sinners abide following their death on Earth. Dante
encounters a different sin at each circle and discovers that the severity of the
punishment for sinners increases as he journeys deeper into the depths of Hell.
Interestingly, Dante the character’s reaction to sinners and their punishment is
inconsistent as he journeys across the circles of Hell, and this paper argues that
his occasional sympathy for immorality challenges Dante the poet’s construction
of an unforgiving Hell.
The reader is introduced to Dante the character’s sympathetic attitude
towards sinners in Canto V. Dante and Virgil are making their way through the
Second Circle of Hell (Lust) when Dante asks if any of the sinners will talk with
him, “I raised my voice: ‘O wearied souls / If it is not forbidden, come speak with
us’” (V.80-81.95). In this instance, Dante’s courteous request to hear their stories
alludes to his sympathetic attitude towards their being in hell. As a group of
sinners make their way over to Dante and Virgil, Dante notes, “As doves,
summoned by desire… / so did these leave the troop where Dido is” (V.8285.95). Dante the poet’s delicate, innocent language, such as “dove” and “desire”,
highlights Dante the character’s good-natured interpretation of these sinners.
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Dante’s sympathy for the sinners in the Second Circle of Hell is reinforced
when one of the women, Francesca, tells Dante that her presence in Hell was the
result of her love and desire for a man to whom she was not married. Upon
hearing this, Dante becomes overwhelmed by the circumstances in which
Francesca was sent to Hell, and he “…weeps with grief and pity” (V.117.97). He
then faints, communicated to the reader when Dante says, “I swooned as if in
death / And down I fell as a dead body falls” (V.141-142.99). Despite her
infidelity and violation of the seventh commandment, which is punishable by
eternity in Hell according to Dante the poet, Dante reacts with heartfelt
sympathy. For example, when Dante faints, it appears that he cannot
comprehend why God would punish someone for experiencing love and desire,
and as a result, the reader links Dante’s sympathy for these sinners with his love
for Beatrice (referenced in II.70.29). However, Dante’s sympathy for sinners who
have committed crimes of desire contrasts with the unforgiving Hell constructed
by Dante the poet when he writes
Through me the way to the city of woe,
Through me the way to everlasting pain,
Through me the way among the lost.
Abandon all hope, you who enter here.
(III. 1-3,9.47).
In this example, the juxtaposition of Dante the poet’s unforgiving Hell
(“city of woe” and “everlasting pain”) with Dante the character’s previous
sympathetic response highlights the flaws of human nature: regardless of our
beliefs about the just punishment of immorality, human emotion causes us to
respond sympathetically to those whom we believe to be treated unfairly.
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However, there are also examples in the text where Dante the character supports
Dante the poet’s unsympathetic construction of Hell by condemning the sinners
and their immorality.
In Canto VIII, Dante’s contemptuous reaction to sinners who have
committed crimes involving anger and sullenness contrasts significantly to the
sympathy and pity he expressed toward Francesca and the lustful in the Second
Circle of Hell. This is exemplified when Dante encounters Filippo Argenti, saying,
“I know you, for all your filth” (VIII.39.151), communicating to the reader that
the two have met before and that Dante is aware of Argenti’s crimes. Rather than
asking Argenti to share his story, Dante, pitiless, scorns the man and says to
Virgil, “Master, I would be most eager / to see him pushed deep down into this
soup / before we leave the lake” (VIII.52-54.151). Although the reader may not
have contextual knowledge of Argenti’s character, the fact that Dante is “eager”
to see him suffer suggests that the two share a bitter history on Earth, and also
highlights a change in Dante’s character from earlier on in the poem: confidence
has replaced fear and he now openly condemns the sinners in Hell. In turn,
Dante’s lack of sympathy for sinners who have committed crimes only
marginally worse than the those committed by sinners in Canto V further
highlights his inconsistent views about the punishment of immorality, and
supports Dante the poet’s unsympathetic construction of Hell. For example,
Dante’s advocacy of Argenti’s punishment is highlighted when he says, “Soon I
watched him get so torn to pieces / by the muddy crew, I still give praise / and
thanks to God for it” (VIII.58-60.153).
Why should those who have committed crimes involving love be treated
any less than those who have committed crimes involving anger and sullenness?
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What does this say about Dante the poet’s construction of Hell? In response to
these questions, it could be argued that Dante’s prior experience or association
with sinners, as well as his empathy for the crime they committed, influences his
reaction to their immorality and appropriateness of the punishment, while
Dante’s construction of Hell can be regarded as harsh, uncompromising, and
ordained by God.
Furthermore, Dante the character’s unsympathetic reaction to a group of
sinners in Canto XIX reinforces Dante the poet’s unforgiving construction of Hell
and highlights the character’s inconsistent response to immorality. In this Canto,
Dante and Virgil are walking amongst the simoniacs - people who bought or sold
ecclesiastical privileges, such as pardons or benefices - in the Third Pouch of the
Ten Malebolge (the Eighth Circle of Hell). Dante expresses his love for God’s
retribution when he says, “O Supreme Wisdom, what great art you show / in
Heaven, on earth, and in the evil world, / and what true justice does your power
dispense!” (XIX.10-12.345). In this example, Dante’s profound advocacy of God’s
power to punish those who have wronged, and his disapproval of those who
have misused ecclesiastical privileges, is clearly communicated through Dante
the poet’s use of language, such as “Supreme Wisdom” and “true justice.”
Whereas Dante sympathises with sinners in the Second Circle of Hell, his
strong belief that God’s justice is correct now influences his scornful response to
the punishment of those in the Eighth Circle of Hell. For example, Dante shows
no sympathy or pity for Pope Nicholas III whose punishment sees him stuck
headfirst in a pit while flames lap at his feet and Hell slowly consumes his body
(XIX.22-30.345), overall offering support for Dante the poet’s unforgiving
construction of Hell. By comparing Dante’s response to sinners in this canto with
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his response in Canto V, the reader recognises that his views about the
punishment of immorality are inconsistent throughout the poem, whereby the
sympathy of the character does not always match the condemnation by the poet.
The character Dante’s inconsistent views about the punishment of
immorality are once again highlighted in canto XX. As Dante and Virgil enter the
Fourth Pouch of the Ten Malebolge, they come across a group of people whose
punishment is to walk with their heads facing the opposite direction and tears in
their eyes, explicitly described by Dante when he says, “I saw into what strange
contortions / their chins and chests were twisted / Their faces were reversed
upon their shoulders” (XX.11-13.361). Words in this quote such as “strange
contortions”, “chins”, “chests”, “faces”, and “shoulders” create imagery of
suffering and pain, and provide the reader with the necessary tools to visualise
God’s wrathful punishment. Dante then expresses sympathy and pity for the
sinners in his direct address to the reader:
Reader, so may God let you gather fruit
from reading this, imagine, if you can,
how I could have kept from weeping
when I saw, up close, our human likeness
so contorted that tears from their eyes
ran down their buttocks, down into the cleft.
(XX.19-24.361).
In this example, the line “how I could have kept from weeping” conjures feelings
of distress in the reader and highlights Dante’s sympathetic response to their
punishment, while “so may God let you gather fruit” functions as a discreet
warning for living souls, or readers, who foretell the future to repent while they
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can in order to avoid being sent to this pouch in the Eighth Circle of Hell.
Furthermore, “human likeness” supports the argument raised earlier that
Dante’s sympathetic response to the sinners is shaped by his prior experience,
which, in this case, is his experience of life as a mortal human being.
Inferno is an epic poem that explores the character Dante’s journey
through Hell and his experience of God’s retribution from an onlooker’s
perspective. As the reader travels with Dante through the poem, it becomes clear
that his response to the punishment of sin in each circle of Hell is varied and, in
some places, inconsistent with the unforgiving hell that Dante the poet has
constructed. This paper has used careful analysis and explication of Cantos V,
VIII, XIX, and XX to support the idea that Dante’s sympathetic response to some
sinners (Circle Two and Pouch Four in Circle Right) and contemptuous response
to others (Circle Five and Pouch Three in Circle Eight) is founded on an
inconsistent view of whether or not God’s punishment is befitting of the crimes
committed by the people in Hell. Finally, the relationship between Dante the
character’s inconsistent views about the punishment of immorality and Dante
the poet’s unforgiving construction of Hell forms the subtext of the poem and
highlights a powerful essence of human nature: our response to constructs of
evil is unpredictable, inconsistent, and founded on subjectivity and personal
experience.
Alighieri, Dante. Inferno. Trans. Robert Hollander and Jean Hollander. New York:
Anchor Books, 2002. Print.