Journeying Abandonment

Type :

School essay

Pages :

3 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

10/19/2007

Category :

Philosophy & literature

Sub category :

Literature

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Summary :

Introduction
The most famous monsters that Dante meets
The Minotaur trapped for his entire life
Pholus' virtuousness
The willingness of the monsters to submit themselves to the level of steeds
Conclusion
Works cited

Abstract

Dante's Inferno, while a fictionalized version of the dichotomy of Heaven and Hell, is in many ways an accurate portrayal of the doctrines of Christianity. However, this Hell he creates is a Hell the Bible never expected. Influenced by the growing mistrust of the Pope throughout his native Florence, he never hesitates to write with personal opinion in the forefront. He burns Church officials next to petty thieves, and his self-righteous pursuit of salvation creates an animosity toward sin, especially the sins of other less devout individuals. The Inferno is a vivid painting of eternal torment, punishments directly influenced by the crimes with a touch of Dante's repulsive imagination. However, he is also quick to make his passion for the human body clear: he is completely disgusted by the disfiguration of any fellow man. His hatred of non-human shapes, echoed in the xenophobic attitude of the Church, is glorified by his use of monsters in his Inferno, monsters that are all distortions of humans. These pre-Christian monsters, presented as horrendous entities in contrast to living creatures, never had a chance for Heaven, and Dante never gives them a chance for redemption. Limbo is a place for virtuous pagans; Dante presents the monsters in the Inferno as purely blasphemous. He assumes this judgment to be common sense, that anything not created by God in his very likeness can never deserve sympathy. Yet a modern world, separated from Roman Catholic control, looks beyond original sin to declare damnation. Dante fails to prove that the monsters in the Inferno belong there beyond reason of their foreign birth, and in the numerous contradictions throughout, he proves the opposite.