Can anyone help me understand Dante's Inferno?

Question

Could anyone give a me a quick guide to help me understand it a little more?

yes well cliffnotes is an obvious answer but i wanted a personal view of the story and what you thought it meant.

please do not tell me to try other things i want a really persons view of the story.

Answer 1

Wow, quite a tall order in a small amount of space. Here is a little bit to get you started... Dante's inferno is the first part of the pilgrim's (Dante) voyage through the three stages of the afterlife: Inferno (hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory) and Paradiso (Heaven). The inferno starts with dante in his mid thirties lost in a dark forest (which indicates that he felt as if he needed guidance in life and he needed to reconnect with God which Dante later describes as Divine light full of love "luce divina piena d'amore"). The inferno is divided into various circles "gironi". It is shaped like a cone so as the pilgrim travels further down, he is travelling into the center of the cone. The deeper the circle the most heinous the sin comitted by the sinners in that circle. There are nine circles:
First: Limbo
Second: Sinners overcome by lust
Third: Gluttons
Fourth: Sinners obsessed with material goods
Fifth: Slothful sinners (lazy or those who did not take action when they should have)
Sixth: Heretics
Seventh: Violent sinners
Eight: Fraudulent sinners
Ninth: Traitors

As Dante enters the underworld he encounters Virgil in Limbo (limbo is where good souls who are unbaptized, and therefore cannot enter the kingdom of heaven stay - They are not subject to any particular punishment apart that of being excluded from the presence of God). Virgil becomes Dante's guide through hell.

As Dante travels through the various circles of hell, he describes the various punishments that the sinners are subjected to. The punishment is always related to the sin committed (what is called the Contrappasso). He also encounters various famous personalities of the time as he travels through the afterlife. Dante's inferno serves as a means of social commentary by the author as he places in hell various political and religious personalities of the time.

At the bottom of hell there is Lucifer, who is stuck a hole in the ground that he formed as he fell from heaven. He has the three greatest sinners of all time in his mouth: Judas, Brutus and Cassius. The Pilgrim and his guide escape hell by climbing down Lucifer's fur.

The entire Divine Comedy (all three books together) is written in verse (Terza rima). It was the first high text to be written in vernacular (Italian - at the time the language of Florence) instead of Latin.

That's the gist of it, but I recommend you read it as it is a masterpiece. I would read it either in original languge (if you can) or in a good, modern translation.

Good Luck

Answer 2

Dante wants to write a work explaining his view s on religion, history, politics, even language. Of course there are two other parts to the Divine Comedy, the Purgatorio and the Paradiso and to get his complete meaning you need to read all three. The Inferno is the most interesting however. There are all sorts of ways to understand this complicated work. For one, Dante wants to find the wisdom which will bring him to God. He has wandered off the true way, ("for the strait way was lost") but his old love, who actually he never even spoke to, is in Heaven and another saint comes to her and asks her to help Dante. She manages to get Vergil the great Latin poet, from whom Dante says he learnt the beautiful style which gave him honour to leave Limbo, the part of Hell where good pagans have to spend eternity, and lead Dante explaining everything as they go, to the top of the mount of Purgatory where he will hand him over to Beatrice who will show him paradise at the centre of which is the Holy Trinity, in the vision of which is man's true happiness. Vergil leads him through Hell, first through Limbo, and then through the circles of those who have been carried away by desire, (for example the famous lovers Paolo and Francesca) then those where the violent are, then the exercisers of treachery and finally the traitors. In the centre of the Earth the Devil sits chewing Judas Iscariot. Dante and Vergil climb up the devil and emerge to a sea on the other side of the earth where they can see once more the stars. People disagree on how much of all tghis is allegory. Obviously some of it is.

I hope that is some help but what you need is a good commentary or a teacher. I'd love to teach you but I am in Great Britain. Maybe we could exchange a few emails.

Answer 3

That is one of my favorite books. This space is to small to explain it. Did you have problems with understanding any particular inferno? You can personally email me for any questions. In briefness, hell is split in different infernos according to the sin. As Dante gets lower into the realms its got hotter. Satan is at the bottom, with three other persons. These are the sinners that can never be redeemed. The persons who committed suicide are also the ones that can never be forgiven. If you notice a pattern that each time Dante gets lower and lower into the inferno, the sinners become more angry and continue to blame God for being there. Since this book was written so early, remember that the text is obsolete. Keep a dictionary in handy and make notes with every word you are not familiar with. What I did was take notes according to each inferno. Write down what happened, what sin got them there, what main characters were in the inferno, and why did that character get there? This should be very helpful.

Answer 4

One very pedestrian view could be similiar to Christmas Carol. Dante's friend comes back to show Dante the levels of Hell and Heaven and all in between in an effort to have Dante renounce what wicked ways he has. "If you commit these sins this is what will happen to you. If you be a good Christian this will happen to you."

On a more metaphorical level, it could be viewed as a commentary by Dante on the times in which he lived.

These obviously are some very shortened answers.

Answer 5

i read the book " the 10th circle" by jodie picoult. the stoory was about how the onne parent was a lecturer and she taught dante and the father was a comic book writer and he drew the circless. The book is about how they go throuh all 9 circllew in a pesonal way an dthen they go to a new one which picoult made up which is th tenth circle.You miight wanna read the ook if you like Dante Picoult has an innteresting view on it

Answer 6

the Inferno about one man's journey through hell (and then eventually purgatory and heaven) in order to find "God" again. Dante, as the character (as seen in the 1st canto), has lost the path of righteousness or the path to his salvation. Thus, he is given the chance to change his ways by travelling through the horror of hell which is, as conventionally perceived, the ultimate end of a life of sin.

Answer 7

Try cliffnotes

Answer 8

Try Wikipedia.

Answer 9

if its only for literature i dont imagine it will be tht complicated, yet when your gonna ought to interpret it and stuff cuz in philosophy there are so so so such an excellent number of stages of it. it relies upon on the criteria your instructor asks you for.

Answer 10

Ask Faust!