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The Inferno Essay
Dante's The Inferno, is an epic poem that has thrilled and informed the common man for centuries. He portrays a vivid description of one man's journey through hell and back with the past poet Virgil at his side. This epic has lead many through the depths of Medieval Christianity, displaying its importance on every society since then. With this description, man is awakened to the ethical, political, social, and philosophical aspects of Dante's time, later introducing the Renaissance era. Society in the Middle Ages consisted of two focuses; survival and God. These focuses lead many to forget the developed areas of knowledge and reason before their time. This society's people were believed to be laborers, or otherwise known as the hands of God, as displayed in their art work and literature. All actions were taken not for themselves but for God alone. This was described clearly, by Dante's witnessing of the thirteenth circle of hell containing the suicides. Those within this circle committed an act completely self centered, altering their intentions from God to themselves, leading them to a circle lower then murder. God and the church were not only a primary religious focus, but a structured hierarchy system for all society to follow. With God at the absolute highest position, his principles created an ethical map structuring nine circles of hell along with a social structure in the Middle Ages. This social structure was a fixed hierarchy where individuals never questioned there status or holding in society. People were content with their placement never wanting to move up or succeed in life. If so, it could be taken as a selfish act where one cares more for themselves then God. They believed each individual was placed at their standing to spread and develop the love and wisdom for the Christian God. Any action could be taken as an offense to God, which lead many into both religious and legal issues. However the biggest punishment was not placed on Earth but rather in hell, where their soul was condemned to a perfect punishment for all eternity. Life
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The Inferno Essay

on Earth however, was a very unstructured legal situation often causing chaos during the Middle Ages. This was controlled by the thought of afterlife, frightening many into acceptable social and religious behavior. Life for many was torture itself, but the thought of living in paradise for eternity kept many striving and succeeding for God's acceptance. "Midway on our life's journey, I found myself in dark woods, the right road lost," explained by Dante, living in a world filled with sinners of all types. These are the individuals who strayed from the right road, otherwise known as God's path, into the dark woods leading to hell. Those individuals as Dante explains include himself. During the period of transformation from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, God's dignity and divine plan were lost. Causing Dante to reinforce theology and God's power over mankind to the Medieval society by explaining his journey. However sins continued to became more and more of an acceptable behavior. Dante recognizing this in himself took the journey through hell leading him back to the path of righteousness, allowing others to read and learn from his journey as well. Sinners at this time covered a varied and wide range, as punishment each were judged and placed in hell by their direct affect on God, causing a funnel like cone structure in hell. Each sin was organized into one of the three degrees of sin; incontinence, violence, and fraud. With these areas of sin, each sinner was strategically placed in a specific area of punishment where their individual actions were addressed. As people began to transfer from the City of God to the City of Man, more self centered acts were taking course in society. Sins such as gluttony, were witnessed by Dante, known as the over consumption to attain one's own pleasure rather than the necessity of survival. As more and more people began to think of themselves rather than God, evil actions arose from loss of control of natural appetites and desires. Like incontinence, violence or brutishness was also addressed in hell, and met with a suitable punishment. These acts arose from the attraction to things that repulsed a healthy soul. People such as heretics and actions such as murder and suicide were all
The Inferno Essay 3

The Inferno Essay

described by Dante during his journey. Due to the lack of social hierarchy in the current society, religious hierarchy controlled such acts of violence. During Dante's expedition in the third degree of sin, fraud, he came upon Francesca in the seventieth circle, who had been condemned for seduction. "One day, for pleasure, we read of Lancelot, by love contained... Alone, suspecting nothing, at our leisure... And so was he who wrote it; that day we read... No further." As she explained her affair with Paolo. Sins of all sorts were punished, and although they may appear to be harsh and unfair, Dante quickly realized the importance and significance of each punishment and how it relates to God and his all-knowing greatness. "I did not open them- for to be rude to such a one as him was courtesy." Stated by Dante explaining his encounter with Fra Alberigos who he displayed no compassion for after understanding the will and plan of God. This continued as he traveled through the area of fraud where many sinners were condemned for the act of tampering with one's emotions. This was a society that used an act used to persuade others into one's favor. By doing so, people were taking an almost god like power of controlling others, directly affecting God most closely. The society, in which Dante resides in, has meaning, reason and order. As Dante understood more and more of God's will and power, he slowly began to understand God's divine order. The divine order is knowledgeable and achievable. However in this order, every individual is given opportunities of free choice. Therefore allowing every individual in society to willingly submit themselves to any realm or circle in heaven or hell in which they desire. They do so by using reason and logic to a certain extent, however this may only take you so far until faith intervenes, as displayed by the virtuous pagans in circle one. After the release of Dante's The Inferno, an explosion of ripple effects took place in the then Middle Ages, eventually transforming to the Renaissance era. With this new era clerical focus switched to secular and man was once again important. One's objective in life was to expand and develop the humanities, rather than the importance
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The Inferno Essay

of God. This ripple has eventually led to our present day, where God no longer stands as the primary focus in society, but one's self is the main concern. Life as we know it is a journey in development of yourself and the evolement of one's own character. Although God and the Christian beliefs are still prevalent, its importance in society has dimmed and many have begun to question the idea of religion and afterlife. One no longer sees life as a temporary structure, but an opportunity to succeed and achieve as much as possible in a lifetime.

The Inferno Essay

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