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The Divine Comedy:
Inferno by Dante
Alighieri
- The Single significant
work of the middle
ages
- This emphasizes in the
importance of salvation
and divine love that is
inclusive and tightly
structural
- Genre: Narrative, Epic Poem,
religious, allegory, fantasy
- Language: Medieval,
Italian, Vernacular
- SYMBOLS · Inferno is an allegory; nearly every element
symbolizes some aspect of the theme. Most notably, the
punishments of the sinners correspond symbolically to the
sins themselves.
- *Man´s sin is
symbolized by the dark
woods and night
- *Man´s sin is
symbolized by the dark
woods and night
- NARRATOR · The character
Dante recounts his trip through
Hell, looking back on it after an
indeterminate period of time.
- POINT OF VIEW · As Inferno is an
account of his own experiences, the
character Dante speaks in the first
person from a subjective point of
view, giving the reader insight into
his emotions and motivations.
- TONE · Dante uses a largely
moralistic tone when
portraying the figures and
events in his poem. At times
he also comes across as
sardonic or ironic. With his
elaborately designed
retributions, Dante
expresses a belief in, and
awe for, the perfection of
divine justice.
- TENSE · Past
- SETTING (TIME) · The
evening of Good Friday
through the morning of
Easter Sunday in the year
1300
- SETTING (PLACE) · Hell
- PROTAGONIST · Dante,
the character in the
poem; on an allegorical
level, humankind
- MAJOR CONFLICT · Dante attempts
to find God in his life, while those
sentenced to punishment in Hell
hinder him from the true path.
- CLIMAX · Inferno constitutes only the first third of a
much larger work, The Divine Comedy; for this
reason, and because of its extremely steady linear
plot, Inferno has no real climax. The most
dramatically significant moment in the poem
probably arises in Dante’s encounter with Lucifer, in
Canto XXXIV, a scene that has struck generations of
readers and critics as (deliberately) anticlimactic.
- THEMES · The perfection of God’s justice;
evil as the contradiction of God’s will;
storytelling as a vehicle for immortality
- MOTIFS · Political arguments; allusions to
classical literature and mythology; cities;
the role of fame and prestige in human
life
- FORESHADOWING · Virgil occasionally makes references to
events that occur later in the poem, and the Italian
characters often prophesy Dante’s exile from Florence,
but, on the whole, Inferno contains little foreshadowing.
Count Ugolino’s gnawing on the head of the archbishop in
Canto XXXIII may foreshadow Lucifer’s gnawing on Brutus,
Cassius, and Judas.
- WRITING
STYLE
Formal,
Elevated:
- The work is a complex narrative with many
allusions to biblical stories, classical myths,
history, and contemporary politics;
however, the plot’s symbolism provides
clarity in that it celebrates the ideal of
universalism, where everything has its
place in God’s world, and its ultimate goal
of salvation triumphs over the
contemporary reality of the power struggle
between worldly and religious leaders.
- The first canto of Inferno, is
considered to be an introduction
to the whole work because all
three parts of The Divine Comedy
are present in the first canto’s
symbolic landscape.
- Designed by: Ivon Mirit Molina
Barrios-CAU Barranquilla
- References: Video:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/PGsuTJUL57Q
INFERNO LITERARY ANALYSIS /ITALIAN MEDIEVAL
LITERATURE Dante Alighieri: THE DIVINE COMEDY
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