Never in my life have I read something (or heard of anything for that matter) so intricate, detailed and lengthy. As the book goes on we learn name after name and sin after sin of countless people. Dante seems to playing god as he describes which sins are more dastardly (>>>>>>>>>). Which seems odd and a bit contradictory since one of his motives of "Inferno" seems to be to humiliate and tarnish the name of those who defy god.
This may be a stretch, but isn't he actually committing a sin by judging others when the one true judgement of people that matters comes from God? Let me know your thoughts on this.
Now for my main point, what is his motive for all of this?
Is he trying to entertain people by offering a description of what is perhaps one of the most mysterious and important circumstances of humanity?
Do you think that he truly believed that his depiction is exactly what hell is like?
Was he simply trying to further a political agenda by "exposing" all of the sins of his enemies and people who didn't share his beliefs?
A combination of things? Or something else? I look forward to reading y'all's ideas and explanations for this wacky and twisted masterpiece.
-Cam
Interesting point! God definitely makes a point of saying that vengeance is his alone to take (Deuteronomy 32:35), so perhaps Dante is sinning by pronouncing judgement on these people. Maybe it doesn't count because it's a glorified political cartoon?
ReplyDeleteI think was designed to be very entertaining. Who doesn't love to hear juicy gossip? Who wouldn't love a sneak peak (even if purely fictitious and imaginative) into a world they only got glimpses of in the bible? Who doesn't love to hear that people they don't like got what was coming to them? Wouldn't you want to know everything people were saying about you behind your back - the good and the bad? Dante knows this, and I think he drew on those desires to craft a book that everyone would want to read.
Yes, judgment against our peers is definitely a sin. The ironic thing is that no one ever addresses that so it keeps on happening. I'm Catholic and a lot of the people within my church have basically taught that if you aren't the perfect Catholic, you are going to hell no matter what. I like that you brought this up because it brings light to us that maybe Dante isn't as reliable as we may just assume going into the story. Only God can judge and Dante definitely crosses some lines through this piece of literature.
ReplyDeletePeople as a whole can agree how interesting hell is. It is the fear and curiosity about the unknown that makes a piece like The Inferno so popular and interesting.
The Inferno is definitely an intricate and lengthy tale. In my opinion, it works well though here, because it adds a suspense the deeper they go into hell, the more you wonder what they will encounter in the next ring.
ReplyDeleteAs for his own judgement of the sinners, although he is technically also sinning by judging them, I think it could be sort of a loophole because these people have already been judged by God. So, when Dante tells them they deserve it, etc, he's basically agreeing with and siding with God's judgement. If anything, God would probably have been more likely to not be happy about Dante questioning his judgement of those he felt pity for. It's certainly an interesting thought. I'm Catholic as well, so I know that the belief is that only God knows whether someone is going to Hell or Heaven, and humans can't predict it, however it's a bit different with Dante because he's just making comments on the fact that they're already there, which he's seen with his own eyes.
Now, did he truly believe his own depiction of hell was completely accurate? Only he can say, but I would guess that he combined "real" aspects of it with his own inventions for the sake of an entertaining story. It is a comedy after all, so in the end, he can't really expect us to take it TOO seriously, as he doesn't teach us any lessons the hard or disturbing way that a tragedy would.
In my opinion, Dante wrote this work to facilitate the acceptance of Humanism as an up and coming ideology. Dante, as a Humanist himself, was pushing for the acceptance of other ideas that did not solely belong to Christianity. I can't speak to how much Dante believed what he was saying, but I don't think that was his motive for writing this. Rather, I think his motive was strictly to propose certain things and promote the ideals of Humanism.
ReplyDeleteThat may be overstating a valid point, Nic. Humanist, yes, but as a religious reformer, Dante was seriously ablaze with righteous wrath against the sins of the Church, and the desire to save people from themselves. No question he believed every word, I think...
DeleteThis is one of the more elaborate and so interesting pieces of work that I have read also. I think that his main motive for writing this work, was a combination of entertaining, advancement of political matters, and to confer with his belief of what hell looks like. Of course, if we in his time period, we would have a better understanding of exactly how this would have helped him within the political field. Looking back now, we can speculate on the history that has been logged. I mean he walks through hell with Virgil, of course this would entertain many people. As to what he describes in hell, I think he took a very long time to conceive and weave the whole landscape together. Especially with each level pertaining to a sin. Whether he believed this exactly I am not sure, but I think this is what he pictured just as we all have our own depiction of hell. By judging each person he meets, I do believe he is sinning, but that just may be something he was willing to do to advance his political agenda.
ReplyDeleteIt is my belief that, one day, someone in the sinners said something to Dante that really pissed him off, and to retaliate, he wrote the inferno dragging them and everyone around them. Of course there probably is a more in depth reason for writing, but in my belief, sometimes people do things just to do them, and this type of petty behavior fits dante well.
ReplyDeleteIt was definitely a combination of all the factors you mentioned, with his desire to defame his political enemies at the forefront. Without the conflict between the Guelphs, I doubt this book would have been written. He chose hell as the setting because it was culturally relevant at the time (and still is today). It was also his genuine belief that these people would end up in hell so, in his mind, he was prophesying more than he was writting fiction. We can tell this because of the date in which the "story takes place". He purposefully set it several years before all of the incidents to make a point. I'm not sure entertainment was on Dante's mind when he wrote The Inferno. I feel, because of its political and personal undertones, that it was meant to horrify and shock the reader while simultaneously molding their opinion of his enemies. We may read it for pleasure now, but this story was and is a weapon and should be treated as such.
ReplyDeleteYour questions are very similar to my own thoughts when I read The Inferno. Why does Dante get to act as a judge? In my post, I asked why Dante judges whether or not the people's sentences in Hell are just (through his display of scorn or compassion). But here, you make another great point: Dante doesn't just judge them after they are there, as the author, he puts them there! I was considering him a judge based on his position as protagonist of The Inferno, but you have extended his judgement based on his position as author. He's even more of a judge than I realized.
ReplyDeleteI think that Dante uses his role as author to judge everyone that we read about in Hell. Because of the unknown elements of whatever happens after we die, it makes sense that writers and readers alike would be fascinated to tackle the huge topic that it is. Dante does this in a very detailed manner, which draws a lot of public attention. It is also a creative list of grievances. Nobody makes it through life without some kind of grudge or complaint about other people. Given Dante's circumstances, it makes perfect sense that he would be rather upset with a long list of people. Since outright libel would reflect poorly on him as a person and as a writer, incorporating his complaints into a work makes more sense if he wanted to vent to more people without bringing his own character into question since they are all just "part of a story."
ReplyDeleteYou laid down an interesting challenge, Cam. On your one point about Dante assuming the prerogative of God alone (the judgment of souls), though, while there is more than a little of settling old grudges, Dante's punishments are actually based on received Church doctrine concerning the relative seriousness of all possible sins.
ReplyDeleteAlice's point that, AS THE AUTHOR, Dante is actually the one determining every soul's placement in Hell, is undercut by doctrine--but not where it comes to Dante's enemies. There he rather maniacally takes the gavel himself and brings it down where it is most gratifying...
You are one hundred percent right. This story is very very long, and has many details throughout the entire thing. You are also right about Dante committing a sin when he is judging people because like you said. It is a sin for anyone to judge someone unless they are God, and Dante obviously isn't God. I like how you mention that he might be trying to exploit people to help himself. I think it is a very good observation.
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