Religious Conflict Of Dante s Inferno - 1570 Words

Jessica Gay World Literature Dr. Schott 9 November 2014 Religious Conflict in Dante’s Inferno Critics Daniel Tompsett and Donald Winchester and literary scholar Nicole Rudick have argued that Dante’s Inferno is a dark and hopeless telling of how we are all relegated to sin and lack the will or righteousness to turn from sin and temptation. Tompsett and Winchester state that, â€Å"The placement of living figures in each section was a judgment and a condemnation, albeit subjective, on both history and the people he knew (Tompsett).† They both agree that Dante is painting a picture of the dredges of society and the torture that they must endure as a result of their inability to turn from sin. They also quote scholar David H. Higgins to say that â€Å"Dante arguably believed he was writing a gospel to convert his recalcitrant age (Tompsett).† Scholar and critic Nicole Rudick confirms this portrayal of dismal hopelessness with her comment, â€Å"Dante created a rigid view of good and evil, showing no mercy for those who did not repent during their lifet imes and sparing no one in his accounting of misdeeds, vice, immorality, and generally inappropriate comportment (Rudick 29).† It is my opinion that the aforementioned scholars and critics are missing Dante’s point. When I read the poem I am overcome with quite the opposite view. I believe that a better way to interpret Dante’s poem is to consider that he was asking each of us to reflect on our waywardness and sin and to come to theShow MoreRelatedDante s View Of Hell And Purgatory1251 Words   |  6 PagesWhen one thinks about the idea of hell, they often find their minds wandering back to the great work of Dante Alighieri in The Inferno, or better known as Dante’s Inferno. In this story, Dante is lead through the nine circles of hell with his tour guide, Virgil the Roman poet to meet the final destination of heaven. â€Å"Major and startling innovations, such as the choice of the poet Vergil as Dante s guide through both hell and purgatory and the i nclusion in the Comedy of characters taken from classicalRead MoreEssay about Sin and Virtue in the works of Freud and Dante1657 Words   |  7 Pagesanother in terms of Sigmund Freuds analysis of religion in civilization and can be further compared to Dantes account of sin and the afterlife. 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