I’m choosing the theme of “Bad Guys” for this week’s essay
topic because I read Dante’s Inferno and pretty much every single character in
this story is a bad guy. This varies a little bit from what we usually think of
as bad guys because in this case they aren’t really antagonists, they’re just
sinners. The ghost of the poet Virgil is guiding the storyteller, Dante,
through the various levels of Hell. As they progress through the circles of
Hell the punishment for the bodies they see there get progressive worse in
conjunction with the severity of the sins they committed while living.
Therefore, essentially everyone in Hell was a “bad guy” to some extent!
The thing I found most peculiar was who each circle of Hell
contained and what sins were deemed more severe than others. Even those that
were Christians and lived good lives were in Hell because they did not get
baptized, which is why Virgil is there. The “rankings” I found most surprising
were the 6th, 7th, and 8th circles of Hell,
which were the heretics, the violent, and the fraudulent, respectively. One
would think that heresy would be the farthest thing from going to Heaven and
that harming people through violence would be worse than the non-physical forms
of harm, such as lying and thievery.
A level of sympathy is definitely formed for some of the
beings in Hell, but others not so much. It’s pretty obvious that most of the
characters deserve to be where they are but the punishment definitely seems
severe sometimes, such as being submerged in boiling blood or going on forever
getting your head chewed on.
It definitely seems like some of the “bad guys” learn their
lesson, except that doesn’t really help them out here. Virgil is remorseful for
his situation and others stop to tell Dante what they did and seem shameful
about it, but even if they are not remorseful they are still stuck in Hell for
eternity, which is depressing!
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| Found this to be a good summary. |
Bibliography:
Dante's Divine Comedy translated by Tony Kline (2002). Dante's Inferno Unit.
Hey Jeremy! Great analysis of Dante's Inferno. I have actually not read this unit, but I have read other student's storytelling of it so I have a general idea. I remember hearing the rings of hell back in high school, but I must have forgotten that it was related to Dante. I also agree that it is strange how some of the circles are ordered. Not to mention, the punishments are a bit strange as well. After looking at the picture you included, I noticed something interesting. Did you notice that the circles are similar to the seven deadly sins? I googled a little bit about it and there actually is a relationship between the two. Maybe if you have free time, you can take a look at it! I found it pretty interesting.
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