The Inferno, Dante Alighieri gives his audience a clear vivid presentation of
what he as a follower of the Christian religion perceives to be hell. Dante
shows that human sin is punishable in various degrees of severity and that this
is dependent on the nature of one’s sinful actions. He sets forth what could
very well be the most fully developed Christian understanding of justice on
earth, and that is; that what we do as human beings will determine what happens
to us in the event of death based on God’s judgment. In writing his poem Dante
uses symbolism, allegorism and imagery among other literary effects to place his
poem analogically to life as it was during his day and age. Dante structures The
Inferno around thirty four cantos. Each of these cantos marks a steady
progression from the mildest to the worst of sins. The cantos depict sinners
under various forms of punishment which are commensurate to the nature of their
sins. Dante categorizes sin into three different categories of fraud,
incontinence and violence. In canto I he mentions three animals namely , a
leopard, a lion and a she-wolf. These animals act as symbolisms for the various
types of sins. The sin’s depicted in canto XVIII are symbolized by the
she-wolf which acts as a symbol for the sins of fraud. The sins of fraud are
placed the furthest from God in the deepest pits of hell, near Satan. In canto
XVIII Dante and his guide Virgil find themselves in the eighth circle, called
the Malebolge. It is in the Malebolge, that each of the kinds of simple fraud
are punished in the concentric ditches. In the first ditch, Dante sees two files
of naked sinners each running in opposite direction, whipped by demons. These
sinners are the panderers and the seducers. Dante recognizes Venedico
Caccianemico, a man he once knew. Venedico in this case is depicted as having
sold his sister, Ghisola to serve the will and lust of another man, Marquis.
Dante at this point uses a fellow contemporary to show what happens when one
goes against the will of God and sins. Venedico betrays his family ties and his
indifference in this act results in his eternal punishment of being whipped by
demons. Also mentioned as having been punished is Jason, who suffers punishment
for having seduced and abandoned Hypsipyle and Medea. For these two sinners
Dante’s allegory revolves around the law of retributive justice where both
Venedico’s and Jason’s psychology’s at the time of committing sin are tied
in with the punishment of whip lashing by demons. Both sinners place their
personal needs and interests above others and are now placed under the whip
lashing and oppressive command of indifferent demons. Dante and Virgil move over
to a bridge and below it, Dante sees the ditch of the flatterers. It is in this
trench that persons who had sinned as flatterers are punished by being made to
wallow in a river of human excrement from which emanates nauseating fumes. Dante
recognizes Alessio Interminelli da Lucca. Allesio is smeared all over with
excrement. Virgil alerts Dante of the presence of yet another sinner, Thas.
Thas is punished in the same way as Alessio, but is made to
alternatively rise and crouch in the river of excrement. Thas is
punished for being a prostitute and for a flattering lie that she told while in
the trade. The punishment that this two consequently suffer is the eternal
stench and filth of the ditch. Thas in this canto perpetuates the image
of ingenuine love which turns out to be a mere outlet for bodily urges and
needs. From the perspective of Thas’ and Allesio’s punishment we see
that they both undergo the process of retributive justice. Flatterers, due to
their abuse of language wallow in excrement which metaphorically symbolizes the
words they used in flattering others on earth. In conclusion it can be seen that
Dante views fraud as a sin that separates human beings from God’s grace and
love. Dante presents to his audience a poem that creates a better understanding
of the consequences of sinful human actions. He bases The Inferno on the
teachings found in the Christian religion and offers to the audience a
typological reading that makes it clear that what will happen to each individual
in the after life will be determined solely by one’s actions on earth.
BibliographyConsulted Faulie, Wallace A reading of Dante’s Inferno , The University of
Chicago Press, 1981 199-123 Alighieri, Dante The Divine Comedy. Inferno, The
Norton Anthology, World Masterpieces. General Ed. Maynard Mack 6th ed. W. W.
Norton and Company ,1992. 1273-1423