Discussion Prompt #10
After
reading cantos 16-21, introduce a burning question you've had from the specific cantos that you
believe will help spark discussion during class. Be sure to include an
explanation that details why you think your question is important.
The black demons in canto 21 appear to be extremely evil and malevolent but also have an air of humor and satire. I wonder why Dante decided to describe these horrific demons in a way that makes them appear also comedic. When I first began reading this canto, I was honestly frightened of this image of menacing black demons with pitchforks and whips, and by the end I found them quit amusing and mischievous. It just seems odd that Dante would add a bit of humor in such a graphic and terrifying work. So basically my question is why did he do this?
ReplyDeleteHow does Dante decide who to put in his Commedia? He uses mythology, real people (both friends and enemies), and characters from books/plays/poems. I don’t understand why he would put people he loves and trusts in hell.
ReplyDeleteIt is also unclear why he feels these specific people deserve to be “written” into hell, while he is spared from the torments of the Inferno. He, thus far, has not even been in any real danger. Virgil always protects him, and what Virgil cannot do, he finds an escort to do for him.
Why does the Pilgrim show such contempt for Pope Nicholas III in Canto XIX?
ReplyDeleteWhen the Pilgrim meets other sinners, he seems to pity them or show remorse for the fact that they are in Hell in some way, as he does with Francesca da Rimini and Ser Brunetto. In Canto XX, the Pilgrim even sheds tears for the sinners. Dante writes, “Try to imagine, yourself, how I could have kept / Tears of my own from falling for the sake / Of our human image so grotesquely reshaped” (201). However, in Canto XIX, the Pilgrim essentially berates Nicholas III. He even notes that his reply may have had “too much boldness” (193). In this reply, the Pilgrim says, “Stay where you’re held, / For these are your deserved punishments” (195). While elsewhere in the Inferno the Pilgrim makes no move to save the sinners, neither does he seem to condemn them, but in this canto, he clearly says that he thinks Nicholas III deserved this fate. Since this is so different from his response to other sinners in Hell, I think it’s worth thinking about why the Pilgrim responds to Nicholas III in this manner.
In the notes on Canto XXI, we learn that Dante was banished from Florence for the crime of barratry (407). What significance did this have on Inferno and how Dante writes of this particular sin?
ReplyDeleteI ask this because I can't imagine that since this accusation affected his life so greatly that some of his own views, beliefs, or even possible angst did not somehow leak into the writing of this specific sin. I think that maybe knowing a little bit more on Dante could help us understand how he portrays sins and punishments, especially in relation to this particular canto and sin.
-- Leslie Fox
My burning question is why Dante put popes and other high clergy into Hell. It has always bothered me because putting a pope in hell probably wouldn't sit right with the 14th century Catholic Church. From knowing the Catholic Church's history, they put Galileo under house arrest for saying the world was round, excommunicated Martin Luther for calling for Church reformation, and routinely arrested or executed those accused of heresy. How did Dante escape Church persecution and excommunication, if he even did?
ReplyDeleteJacky Killian
In Canto XVIII I found something extremely odd: one of the souls was trying to hide from Dante and Virgil. Unlike the rest of the Cantos, this soul tries to hide his face and forces Dante to inquire further until the soul is forced to talk. Usually, the souls rush up to Dante fervently, asking about the outside world while investigating why someone alive is in hell. For whatever reason the soul doesn’t justify his sin, but is instead full of guilt: “That tortured spirit thought / To hide himself by lowering his face, / But that did little good…” (Canto XVIII, lines 43-45). The soul goes on to say he has an “avaricious nature” (62) but does nothing about it; he seems to begrudgingly accept his fate while full of woe and sorrow. I question why he was so eager to hide himself; it’s obvious that Dante knows him, but the speaker has known many of the characters within hell and they don’t react the same way that Venedico Caccianemico acts. I think this would be important to discuss because this soul is completely irregular from the other souls we’ve seen in hell; is there a reason that he acts this way? Is it part of his punishment to feel such shame? It states that he’s a pimp, but that seems like far less a crime to be ashamed of then many of the other sins. Why is it that he feels so guilty when many of the other souls don’t?
ReplyDeleteA question that I had while reading these cantos concerned the state of Dante’s sympathy towards the sinners. We see in Canto XIX that Dante shows no sympathy towards Pope Nicholas III and addresses that the pope deserves this harsh punishment in Hell. However, in earlier cantos it is implied that Dante feels at least some sympathy for the sinner’s enduring their harsh punishment. This is implied because the audience felt sympathy towards them as well. For example, when Dante explored the seventh layer and encountered those who had committed suicide, we were sympathetic towards their punishment because they were tortured endlessly even after they tortured themselves to death, and still could not escape the pain.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the scene with the Pope in the third pouch is one of the first instances that we see Dante reacting in such a way to encourage their punishments. My question to Dante is, why does he only begin to resent the sinners, as they get deeper into Hell?
Well it seems as though we had a version of the same question! I'm interested to see how this is answered in class and what you have to say about this question :)
DeleteWell, I had many questions while reading these cantos, but something I am quite curious about is the significance of Dante's increasing pity/sympathy for those who are damned to a deeper circle in Hell. It doesn't really make sense to me. Since the sins become worse as Dante goes deeper into Hell, it would seem as though he should be less sympathetic. But we find that it is the opposite. I don't exactly understand why he feels that way. It would make sense for him to pity those who were punished in Hell for a lesser sin, but he seems to not care much for those in the earlier circles. For example, Dante felt great pity for those he recognized from his time in Florence while in canto 16. Why does he pity them? I'm quite confused.
ReplyDeleteWell my question is more of a personal issue that I am hoping can put some understanding in my knowledge. I guess the question I hhave always found myself asking since we started reading Inferno would be, "How did Dante categorize the sins to determine which sinners would be placed in the cirlces of Hell?" I have wondered if he done research (reading books or talking to other people, since there was no such thing as internet) before he wrote Inferno. For instance, how did he determine how BAD a sin was before he placed the people in certain circles of the fiery pits of Hell? Maybe it was a personal issue for him? Grudges against other people? I'm just throwing some things out here. I guess I am asking this because of my Christian background. I was raised a Southern Baptist and was taught that all sin is equal no matter the circumstance and that there is only ONE Hell. Any explanation to help me understand this more would be great! I also think this would be a good research paper topic if anyone is interested!
ReplyDeleteEmily Embry
The question that I have comes from Canto XVII. When describing the people in this layer, Dante said: "Each had a purse round his neck--adorned/With certain colors and a certain device/Which each of them with hungry eyes consumed" (49-51). I was wondering what the significance of the purses were. Perhaps I am overlooking the answer in the text or maybe I am even over-analyzing the significance this plays in the overall role of the text, but the descriptions just struck me as something that I wanted to know more about.
ReplyDeleteIn Canto XIX Dante encounters Pope Nicholas III who is being punished for simony. Nicholas III indicates that two other Popes, Boniface VIII and Clement V will also be punished for the same sin. I am interested in Dante’s criticism of the papacy, specifically, as the notes indicate, of Popes that were active in his own lifetime. Was this criticism controversial? What was the church’s reaction? Or, was it already known at the time that these men were corrupt and was Dante just going along with the known facts? I feel as though as a whole the reaction to Dante’s work at the time it was written is important to understand Dante’s state of mind as a writer. Did he write with or against the opinions of the time?
ReplyDelete-Zachary Ecton
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ReplyDeleteThe burning question that I have is that by looking at the sin and the punishment, I am coming to the conclusion that the more the sin is thought out and rationalized than the crazier the punishment. What that being said is Dante hinting that we should blindly follow God and the bibles orders without questioning anything? I believe my question is important because as humans we have to think things out and justify the wrong doings in our minds, so that we will not go crazy and it is hard to follow the bible when you see others around you sinning. This will make you feel like you can do the sin too, but your going to justify it to yourself by saying how your different than the other sinner. Christopher Catlett
ReplyDeleteAfter telling such a dark story, why has Dante started to introduce some humor in Canto XXI? He is going deeper and deeper into Hell where worse and worse sinners are being punished and all of the sudden he has this chapter with the gang of demons where they act strange and uncouth for comic relief. I suppose Dante did it in order to lighten the mood for what is yet to come: the final circles of Hell where the darkest of sins are being punished which must have horrific punishments to match the severity of their crimes.
ReplyDeleteOkay now that we have journeyed this far with Dante and Virgil my question is what exactly is Dante's reasoning for the people he chose to write about encountering in hell.
ReplyDeleteMy question actually stems from when I played the video game. The characters you interact with in hell seem relatively random, ranging from poets, to literary characters, to random people who don't seem to be drawn from anything Dante's readers would be familiar with. Was this common for the time period? Now, we all accept The Inferno as a classic, so we are open to the idea of these characters. But how did readers respond to this when it was first published by Dante? Did they find it odd? Was it progressive? I would love to expand on this idea in class!
The burning question I have stems from cantos XVII, as well as a few previous cantos. The souls who are present in each circle of Hell, all appear to be somewhat shocked when they cross paths with Dante, who is still living. So my question is what made Dante so special that he was able to descend into Hell? And should this be seen as a privilege or a curse? To me, it almost seems as though he won a ticket to take a tour of Hell, I don't know if he's touring Hell for the purpose of avoiding winding up there or if he's going to Hell because he's getting acquainted with the surroundings that he will be faced with soon living in for all of eternity.
ReplyDeleteThe burning question that came to mind for me came from canto XVI. If you read this canto carefully, you can see that there is quite a bit of imagery associated with the water that surrounds Dante here, and that he describes things with adjectives that would usually go with water-- words like swimming and dive. I would really like to know if this is a mere coincidence, or if the water in this canto is significant/symbolic. I think this question will prove to be of value for the fact that if the descriptions do prove to be purposeful, there might be something behind the water imagery that we need to know to help provide a better insight to the work.
ReplyDelete--Jordan Cole
The more I read, the more I wonder about the people Dante encounters in each circle of hell. My burning question is: "Is there any particular reason why Dante chose these specific people to encounter in hell? Why does he speak with these people but not someone who is more ordinary and doesn't have a reputation?" I think that by understanding why Dante chose these particular people, would help me to better comprehend their importance and perhaps give a different perspective of "Dante's Inferno".
ReplyDeleteI was curious about the Hypocrites in the 7th pouch. Why do they have to wear the heavy cloaks? What is the significance of this punishment? I would like to know because this is the only punishment I saw that I was confused about how it fit into the contrapasso theme.
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