The Symbolism in the Punishment of Sin in Dante's Inferno

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The Symbolism in the Punishment of Sin in Dante's Inferno     Inferno, the first part of Divina Commedia, or the Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri, is the story of a man's journey through Hell and his observance of the punishments incurred as a result of committing sin. In all cases the severity of the punishment and the punishment itself, has a direct correlation to the sin committed. The punishments are fitting in that they are symbolic of the actual sin; in other words, “They got what they wanted.” (Literature of the Western World, p.1409) According to Dante, Hell has two divisions: Upper Hell, devoted to those who perpetrated sins of incontinence, and Lower Hell, devoted to those who perpetrated sins of malice. The divisions of Hell are also split into levels corresponding to the sins committed. Each of the levels and the divisions within levels 7,8, and 9 have an analogous historical or mythological figure used to illustrate and exemplify the sin.The first of the two divisions of Hell is Upper Hell. Upper Hell is the area inhabited by those who committed sins of incontinence or lack of self-restraint. This lack of self-restraint comes in the form of many sins ranging from sex to mood. Before delving into the sins of incontinence, one must first look into the first inconsistency of the Inferno. This inconsistency is found in the Vestibule of Hell. The Vestibule of Hell contains the trimmers and the neutrals. Although almost all other sins mentioned in the Inferno are of an ethical, universal standpoint, the ones mentioned here are sins only from the Christian point of view. These neutrals are the people who either showed no partisanship or did not take sides. Lines 37-39 and 46-50 read: They are joined with that choir of wicked angels         who were neither rebellious         nor faithful to God, but for themselves. They have no hope of death,         and their blind life is so debased         that they are envious of every other lot. The world does not grant them any fame;         pity and justice alike disdain them. Eternal penalty for the sin of neutrality, of never taking a stand and risking the pain involved in showing one's true self, is to be exposed in totality and suffer deadly pain in perpetuity as evidenced in lines 64-66: These wretches, who had never really lived,         were naked and stung constantly         by hornets and wasps that were there. Circle one of Hell is reserved for those whose only crime is living before Christianity and therefore not worshipping God as is deemed proper by God. These shades are the unbaptised infants and virtuous pagans who came before Christ. Virgil explains the sin in lines 34-39: ...they did not sin, but having merit         was not enough, for they lacked baptism,         which is a portal of the faith you hold; and if they lived before Christianity         they did not worship God rightly;         among such as these am I myself. and in lines 40-42, the penalization: For such defects, not for other faults         are we lost, and afflicted only         in that we live in longing without hope. The punishment here is ceaseless longing, longing without hope, for God's forgiving grace. The moral is that without God and his forgiveness, even the virtuous man is doomed to eternal damnation. Virgil is here used as the example of the doomed man of virtue. Circle two shows the penalty deemed fitting for those committing crimes of lust. Those who allow themselves to succumb to the winds of passion are doomed to forever ride winds, not of passion but of torment as evidenced in lines 31-33: The infernal storm which never stops         drives the spirits in its blast;         whirling and beating, it torments them. All of the shades found here are carnal sinners. Examples cited are those such as Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Achilles, Paris, and Tristan. Dante speaks with Francesca da Rimini and learns of how, in a moment of passion induced by a love story about Sir Lancelot and Guinevere of Camelot, she found herself intertwined with her brother-in-law. There was no premeditation and no time for the repentance which would have given her absolution from her sin, as she and her lover were both murdered in the act. Canto six is devoted to the third circle of Hell. The third circle is reserved for those in which the sin is gluttony. Those people guilty of committing this disfiguring sin are doomed to spend eternity in a condition which is so full of filth it can by likened to a pig sty. For lovers of luxury this sentence is particularly displeasing in that all the senses are assailed. Lines 6-9 explain the filth in which
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the gluttons must forever exist: I am in the third circle of the rain,         eternal, accursed, cold, and heavy;         its amount and kind never change. Large hailstones, dirty water, and snow         pour down through the dark air;         the ground that receives them stinks. The punishment of living in a sty is fitting for the gluttons because as when alive they will forever be in death, overeating, filthy, pig-like monstrosities. The example given in this canto is of a soul nicknamed "Ciacco" (the pig). He has earned his nickname in the land of the living and so must live in the ...

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