The images of the last cantos stood out to me the most. When I imagine Hell, images of fire and a feeling of heat come to mind; however, the last cantos discussing the final circles of Hell were cold and icy. The final image of Lucifer with his three heads and three sets of flapping wings are hard to be overlooked. What struck me the most about this were the three sinners that he was constantly chewing. Of course Judas and his betrayal of Jesus would be the worst sin in history. I think it is a little extreme that Brutus and Cassius take second place in the “worst sin” category, although it would be understandable for Dante to think this because of his Roman heritage.
I found the poem to be strangely intriguing. I say this because I have never really thought about Hell to the great extent that Dante writes about it. Although I am no expert on Hell, the poem seemed to paint an accurate picture of the aspects that Hell would be embrace: suffering, pain, and torture.
The canto that stood out most to me was definitely Canto XXXIII. I remembered the guy chewing on the other guy’s head from when I read Inferno earlier in the semester, and I thought it was cool in a gruesome and macabre way. And I am definitely all for gruesome and macabre things. (It was also really great that it was Halloween when I read it too.) I’m pretty sure that we didn’t read his story, though, or if we did, I don’t remember it, and I think I would remember. It was pretty much really depressing, but I really liked when Ugolino said, “And then the hunger had more / Power than even sorrow had over me” (lines 71-72). I don’t know how it’s supposed to read in the Italian, but I liked those lines a lot because of how understated they were. Dante doesn’t come out and say this guy ate his kids, but Ugolino definitely ate his kids, which you can tell from those two lines. And apparently, I like this because I’m a horrible person.
In general, I liked the Inferno a lot. It had the right mix of punishments, religious elements, mythology, and horror-type things for me. We had to read parts of Purgatorio and Paradiso in World Lit, and they were just not as interesting. There’s just something about Hell, I guess; although, that doesn’t necessarily extend to Paradise Lost for me. I thought Inferno was easier to read than I was expecting, and I particularly liked this translation. The one in the anthology for World Lit was much more confusing, and I thought this one did a better job of putting the text in plain, modern language that was easier to make sense of.
One Canto that stood out to me was Canto XIX where we see Dante begin to stop showing sympathy to the sinners, and rather act harshly towards them. This was the Canto where Pope Nicholas was found in Hell in the third pouch and Dante addresses that he deserves his harsh punishment. It is explained that his soul burned in flames redder than the others for his act of simony on earth. Simony is described as an act of making a profit out of the sacred things of the church. With Pope Nicholas’s hierarchy in the church, this sin is seen to be unjustifiable as Dante explains that he deserves this punishment and encourages the wrath of his torment. This canto stood out to me because previously in scenes similar to the seventh layer where Dante encountered the victims of suicide, his responses toward them show more sympathy as he saw them suffer endlessly, both on earth and in eternity. Dante’s Inferno left me overall utterly impressed. This poem was so particularly written and thoughtfully constructed, taking Dante twenty years to complete. I am blown away that nothing in this poem is of coincidence and that every sinner and layer of Hell was placed intentionally to further the extent of the themes and symbols throughout the piece. The overall theme that I saw playing out beautifully in this piece with depictions of torment and misery was Dante’s belief in divine justice, and that sinners on earth will pay for their sins accordingly in Hell.
As most have already said, the last few cantos certainly stand out as gruesome and page-turning. From XXIV on I was thoroughly mystified up until the very last page. I especially enjoyed Canto XXX, where souls tear into each other with their teeth; this brutality is disturbing but intriguing, and it’s one soul’s example that really caught my attention: “’That one is the ancient soul / of Myrrha the infamous, whose love was drawn / Toward her father beyond what’s honorable. / She engaged in sin with him by falsifying / Herself as someone else…” (Canto XXX, Lines 35-39). Not often do you see women lusting after their fathers, but, as in Oedipus, it seems more fitting of the man to crave his mother. The violence and deception of her sin is both cunning and macabre. Also, it’s absolutely amazing to see the lowest layer of hell as ice. It makes much more sense than the fiery hell that we’re used to; instead, it represents the lack of emotion and fire in their decisions. They were brutal and cold and deserving of such cold punishments. I find this idea of hell much more becoming of the sins they actually committed.
This poem was certainly worth reading. I thoroughly enjoyed the layers of hell far more than I would have thought. It’s very interesting to learn and dissect the nature of the sins and why Dante would make some worse than others. I also enjoyed reading about the intricate relationship that Virgil and Dante eventually end up with; Virgil becomes a stern but loving father figure which is interesting to analyze. I would certainly read this over and over again to find new and interesting things that I missed before. I really enjoyed “Inferno!”
After finishing Dante’s Inferno the cantos that really stick out to me are Canto XXI where they met the troop of demons and Cantos XVI through XVIII. This first canto just does not fit in with the cantos around it where the mood is dark and Dante and Virgil are facing peril, but this canto contains humor. The reason Cantos XVI through XVIII stand out in my mind is because of the half man half serpent creature named Geryon. The creature is just so strange and I believe that these are the chapters were Dante begins to get to the serious places of Hell. I have never read the poem before and only loosely knew the plot. Now that I have finally read it, I can say that it truly is an interesting poem. I cannot think of anything else that I have read that would compare to it. When reflecting upon Inferno, I realize that Dante was really making a bold move by writing about Hell during the medieval period. Anything even somewhat controversial seemed to always be declared heretical.
When I look back onto the poem, I can't really say that much stood out to me-- it all read pretty much the same and I really enjoyed all of the poem. However, if I had to pick just one canto that stood out to me, I think that it would have to be the first canto, as it does a great job, in my opinion, of setting the reader up for the entire poem.
Overall, I do have to admit that I did indeed like Dante's Inferno. to be honest, I did not think that I would care for it at first, and thought that I would only make my way through the poem by forcing myself to read each line in a pain-staking manner. I am happy to report that this was not the case, and I really thought that "Inferno" was quite amazing and interesting. I would definitely re-read it again so that I could catch things that I did not catch the first time that I read it.
Looking back on the poem, I feel a lot more informed about what was going on. In my other class (World Lit) we read it and didn't go into depth or detail about what was happening and the significance of each Canto. The thing that stood out to me the most, and I think another classmate touched on this, but when I picture hell I think of a hot, gruesome, sweaty, place full of fire and a lot of vivid reds and oranges. In the last few Cantos my mind was completely blown when Dante described it as cold and icy. Not at all how I expected it. I enjoyed reading it a second time and going into detail about it. I feel more informed and a lot less confused.
The particular image and canto that stood out to me are the images in canto XXII where a Navarrese outsmarts the demon souls out of punishment for a second. My overall impression of the poem is that it was okay. I do think it was great how Dante incorporated a lot of material outside of Christianity to give his poem more meaning. Christopher Catlett
I thought I would be bored out of my brain reading Dante's Inferno fully for a second time. I'm glad I was wrong. This second read wasn't as terrifying as the first, was just as enlightening, and kind of exciting. I remember pointing things out and jumping in my seat saying, "Ah! This part makes so much more sense." One of my favorite images from the Inferno was the image of the Gate of Hell. I imagined it speaking in a deep, dark voice. The hairs on my neck stood up. Of course, seeing the souls frozen in Lake Cocytus was pretty scary too. Not being able to move period is a terrible punishment. The loss of control terrifies me, and knowing there is no escape from Hell is all more terrifying.
Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed this poem. The fact that it took so long to write all of it shows me how important each person/event/sin was to Dante. What struck me the most was that each new person and the sin they committed were completely relatable to today's society, even though this was written centuries ago. As I read through the poem, the one particular character that stood out to me was Francesca. Even though she was at the beginning, she remained in my mind through most of the poem. It is difficult to grasp some of the messages and images being portrayed in the poem, but I believe that was Dante's point. Some things were clearer than others, and those are the ones I will remember. Overall, I had a positive experience with Inferno.
Oh, what a vague and difficult questions to answer. It is hard to isolate what Canto or images I really loved the most from Dante’s Inferno, because the poem is littered with the stuff! So I’m going to go ahead and limit myself to a single canto and image that really stuck with me as I read through Dante and Virgil’s adventure. This Canto would be thirteen, the Canto in which they reach the forest containing bushes and trees that represent the individuals who have taken their own lives. I think Dante is obviously a beautiful poet, but this was the part that stuck out as the most striking and clever throughout the piece. I loved the setting of this dark forest that contains whispering souls that can only be heard once a part of them is broken off. But, the overarching idea that the punishment of suicide is having one’s identity stripped was ingenious on Dante’s part. It is easy for me as a reader to believe that some holy power was see that as fitting punishment. I can imagine a God being offended by somebody willing to give up the life he gave them, and therefore taking it away from them forever as punishment. It is for this reason that Canto XIII stuck out as my favorite from the Inferno!
I love Inferno in its entirety, and find it hard to pick one image or canto over another. I guess the imagery of the 12 creatures or demons really stick out and appeal to me as well as the cantos of level 7 (XII-XVII) dealing with all three circles of violence, circles 1 and 3 in particular, and the 9th level (XXXI-XXXIV) for the sins of betrayal. I’m not sure if those levels stick out to me because I could be a little sadistic, or because those are the sins I’ve dealt with the most in my life because of my military career. My overall impression of Inferno is that it is a fabulous work of medieval literature and an immensely pleasurable read all on its own, but combined with Purgatory and Paradise, it becomes something unparalleled. In my opinion, one simply cannot get the full greatness of Dante’s journey without reading Divine Comedy in its entirety.
Canto XI stood out to me the most as it began to break down how and why certain souls were being handled the way they were according to sin. Although, I had often thought about the ideal of hell in a variety of ways, before reading this particular canto I never thought about "organizing" sin. I had always been taught that all sins are equal and no sin was viewed as any worse than another. That never made sense to me and I always secretly disagreed. For some reason, the idea of categorizing different sins due to their nature made perfect sense to me.
Overall, Dante's Inferno was so interesting to me. From the moment I read canto I, I knew that I was going to get along with this poem just fine. I didn't have to fight with it and all of the imagery present in this poem is rich and leaves a lasting impression on your mind and in your imagination. I could re-read this poem just for leisure and that is not something that happens often for me with required readings.
The images that stick out the most for me is the boiling blood river and the trees that were those who committed suicide. I have enjoyed reading the poem in this class because this translation and this approach was different from other times I have read Inferno for class. I have enjoyed the discussion of the poem as ideas and characters were pointed out that I really had never gave very much thought to.
There are so many images that stood out to me from “Inferno”: souls encased in ice, souls boiling in blood, a soul gnawing on the skull of another, souls torn in half, souls turned into trees, and the devil himself with his three faces and sets of wings, chewing on Judas, Brutus, and Cassius. The image that stood out to me the most, however, was that of the souls transforming into reptile-like creatures. Since I was a child, I have always been fascinated with the idea of metamorphosis (changing into a werewolf, for example). Something deep within me is captivated by the thought of that, and extremely terrified of it at the same time.
This was my first time reading Dante’s “Inferno” and I felt that it was a real page turner (quite literally). I found myself between each canto fighting to continue to the next one rather than stopping to read the notes! This has been the most enjoyable “assigned reading” I have ever read. I want to read it again and find things I missed in my initial reading of it (I won’t be selling this book back). I also would like to read La Vita Nuova sometime in the future.
I really enjoyed reading Dante's "Inferno". I had to read it for another course this semester, but reading it in 299 has proven to be beneficial to me. In this course, I was able to analyze and dissect the poem more deeply and gain a better understanding of it. As a whole, I was fascinated by the idea of contrapasso and the complexity of Hell's organization. All the layers and sub-layers were intriguing. I feel like a main reason I was anxious to keep reading this poem was because I wanted to see what sin Dante viewed worse than the previous one.
This poem is abundant with imagery. There were times where I even cringed because of how disgusting the punishment was to me. One example of this was in canto 3. The sinners were described as having their skin "galled by wasps and flies, blood trickling down the face,/ Mingling with tears for harvest underfoot/ By writhing maggots" (55-57). That just sounds disgusting.
The images that stood out to me in Dante's Inferno are the many gruesome, yet allegorical punishments that the damned souls endured in hell. Dante was mostly fair when dishing out punishments for the various sinners, making the punishment ironically fitting for the sin they committed. I still can remember Canto V quite clearly so I suppose it stood out. The story of Francesca and Paolo really tugged at my heart-strings. I sympathized with their characters, which was the intention of Dante. I think he probably made their story so pitiful because he wanted readers to understand that even something like love, which feels so right can be sinful when committed in an adulterous manner. My overall impression is much less fire and brimstone than I expected. The tales of the sinners really made the book less gory. Dante's allusions make it incredibly interesting to read because it does feel like an autobiographical tale. It is obviously impossible for that to be so, but his meetings of mythological characters versus real people skew one's logical factors and makes it hard to tell the reality from the fiction. For those reasons I really enjoyed reading Inferno.
I had read Inferno last semester in World Lit but it was a very quick overview and we skipped some of the cantos. I loved reading it this semester and really digging into the details. The poem is rife with excellent imagery and symbolism. Parts that most stood out to me were the various punishments, as I was always curious to the meaning behind them. I'm going to read Purgatorio and Paradiso over winter break most likely.
I personally believe that the first three cantos are the most interesting. I feel as though Dante captures the essence of the Christian faith with in the first three cantos and lays the foundation for understanding the rest of the poem and his categorizations. Overall I really loved the "Inferno" and the way Dante really capture the imagery of his interpretation of Hell. I feel as though Dante was revealing that love is a greatest force and inevitably lead him to salvation.
The images of the last cantos stood out to me the most. When I imagine Hell, images of fire and a feeling of heat come to mind; however, the last cantos discussing the final circles of Hell were cold and icy. The final image of Lucifer with his three heads and three sets of flapping wings are hard to be overlooked. What struck me the most about this were the three sinners that he was constantly chewing. Of course Judas and his betrayal of Jesus would be the worst sin in history. I think it is a little extreme that Brutus and Cassius take second place in the “worst sin” category, although it would be understandable for Dante to think this because of his Roman heritage.
ReplyDeleteI found the poem to be strangely intriguing. I say this because I have never really thought about Hell to the great extent that Dante writes about it. Although I am no expert on Hell, the poem seemed to paint an accurate picture of the aspects that Hell would be embrace: suffering, pain, and torture.
The canto that stood out most to me was definitely Canto XXXIII. I remembered the guy chewing on the other guy’s head from when I read Inferno earlier in the semester, and I thought it was cool in a gruesome and macabre way. And I am definitely all for gruesome and macabre things. (It was also really great that it was Halloween when I read it too.) I’m pretty sure that we didn’t read his story, though, or if we did, I don’t remember it, and I think I would remember. It was pretty much really depressing, but I really liked when Ugolino said, “And then the hunger had more / Power than even sorrow had over me” (lines 71-72). I don’t know how it’s supposed to read in the Italian, but I liked those lines a lot because of how understated they were. Dante doesn’t come out and say this guy ate his kids, but Ugolino definitely ate his kids, which you can tell from those two lines. And apparently, I like this because I’m a horrible person.
ReplyDeleteIn general, I liked the Inferno a lot. It had the right mix of punishments, religious elements, mythology, and horror-type things for me. We had to read parts of Purgatorio and Paradiso in World Lit, and they were just not as interesting. There’s just something about Hell, I guess; although, that doesn’t necessarily extend to Paradise Lost for me. I thought Inferno was easier to read than I was expecting, and I particularly liked this translation. The one in the anthology for World Lit was much more confusing, and I thought this one did a better job of putting the text in plain, modern language that was easier to make sense of.
One Canto that stood out to me was Canto XIX where we see Dante begin to stop showing sympathy to the sinners, and rather act harshly towards them. This was the Canto where Pope Nicholas was found in Hell in the third pouch and Dante addresses that he deserves his harsh punishment. It is explained that his soul burned in flames redder than the others for his act of simony on earth. Simony is described as an act of making a profit out of the sacred things of the church. With Pope Nicholas’s hierarchy in the church, this sin is seen to be unjustifiable as Dante explains that he deserves this punishment and encourages the wrath of his torment. This canto stood out to me because previously in scenes similar to the seventh layer where Dante encountered the victims of suicide, his responses toward them show more sympathy as he saw them suffer endlessly, both on earth and in eternity. Dante’s Inferno left me overall utterly impressed. This poem was so particularly written and thoughtfully constructed, taking Dante twenty years to complete. I am blown away that nothing in this poem is of coincidence and that every sinner and layer of Hell was placed intentionally to further the extent of the themes and symbols throughout the piece. The overall theme that I saw playing out beautifully in this piece with depictions of torment and misery was Dante’s belief in divine justice, and that sinners on earth will pay for their sins accordingly in Hell.
ReplyDeleteAs most have already said, the last few cantos certainly stand out as gruesome and page-turning. From XXIV on I was thoroughly mystified up until the very last page. I especially enjoyed Canto XXX, where souls tear into each other with their teeth; this brutality is disturbing but intriguing, and it’s one soul’s example that really caught my attention: “’That one is the ancient soul / of Myrrha the infamous, whose love was drawn / Toward her father beyond what’s honorable. / She engaged in sin with him by falsifying / Herself as someone else…” (Canto XXX, Lines 35-39). Not often do you see women lusting after their fathers, but, as in Oedipus, it seems more fitting of the man to crave his mother. The violence and deception of her sin is both cunning and macabre. Also, it’s absolutely amazing to see the lowest layer of hell as ice. It makes much more sense than the fiery hell that we’re used to; instead, it represents the lack of emotion and fire in their decisions. They were brutal and cold and deserving of such cold punishments. I find this idea of hell much more becoming of the sins they actually committed.
ReplyDeleteThis poem was certainly worth reading. I thoroughly enjoyed the layers of hell far more than I would have thought. It’s very interesting to learn and dissect the nature of the sins and why Dante would make some worse than others. I also enjoyed reading about the intricate relationship that Virgil and Dante eventually end up with; Virgil becomes a stern but loving father figure which is interesting to analyze. I would certainly read this over and over again to find new and interesting things that I missed before. I really enjoyed “Inferno!”
After finishing Dante’s Inferno the cantos that really stick out to me are Canto XXI where they met the troop of demons and Cantos XVI through XVIII. This first canto just does not fit in with the cantos around it where the mood is dark and Dante and Virgil are facing peril, but this canto contains humor. The reason Cantos XVI through XVIII stand out in my mind is because of the half man half serpent creature named Geryon. The creature is just so strange and I believe that these are the chapters were Dante begins to get to the serious places of Hell. I have never read the poem before and only loosely knew the plot. Now that I have finally read it, I can say that it truly is an interesting poem. I cannot think of anything else that I have read that would compare to it. When reflecting upon Inferno, I realize that Dante was really making a bold move by writing about Hell during the medieval period. Anything even somewhat controversial seemed to always be declared heretical.
ReplyDeleteWhen I look back onto the poem, I can't really say that much stood out to me-- it all read pretty much the same and I really enjoyed all of the poem. However, if I had to pick just one canto that stood out to me, I think that it would have to be the first canto, as it does a great job, in my opinion, of setting the reader up for the entire poem.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I do have to admit that I did indeed like Dante's Inferno. to be honest, I did not think that I would care for it at first, and thought that I would only make my way through the poem by forcing myself to read each line in a pain-staking manner. I am happy to report that this was not the case, and I really thought that "Inferno" was quite amazing and interesting. I would definitely re-read it again so that I could catch things that I did not catch the first time that I read it.
--Jordan Cole
Looking back on the poem, I feel a lot more informed about what was going on. In my other class (World Lit) we read it and didn't go into depth or detail about what was happening and the significance of each Canto. The thing that stood out to me the most, and I think another classmate touched on this, but when I picture hell I think of a hot, gruesome, sweaty, place full of fire and a lot of vivid reds and oranges. In the last few Cantos my mind was completely blown when Dante described it as cold and icy. Not at all how I expected it. I enjoyed reading it a second time and going into detail about it. I feel more informed and a lot less confused.
ReplyDeleteEmily Embry
The particular image and canto that stood out to me are the images in canto XXII where a Navarrese outsmarts the demon souls out of punishment for a second. My overall impression of the poem is that it was okay. I do think it was great how Dante incorporated a lot of material outside of Christianity to give his poem more meaning.
ReplyDeleteChristopher Catlett
I thought I would be bored out of my brain reading Dante's Inferno fully for a second time. I'm glad I was wrong. This second read wasn't as terrifying as the first, was just as enlightening, and kind of exciting. I remember pointing things out and jumping in my seat saying, "Ah! This part makes so much more sense." One of my favorite images from the Inferno was the image of the Gate of Hell. I imagined it speaking in a deep, dark voice. The hairs on my neck stood up. Of course, seeing the souls frozen in Lake Cocytus was pretty scary too. Not being able to move period is a terrible punishment. The loss of control terrifies me, and knowing there is no escape from Hell is all more terrifying.
ReplyDeleteJacky Killian
Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed this poem. The fact that it took so long to write all of it shows me how important each person/event/sin was to Dante. What struck me the most was that each new person and the sin they committed were completely relatable to today's society, even though this was written centuries ago. As I read through the poem, the one particular character that stood out to me was Francesca. Even though she was at the beginning, she remained in my mind through most of the poem. It is difficult to grasp some of the messages and images being portrayed in the poem, but I believe that was Dante's point. Some things were clearer than others, and those are the ones I will remember. Overall, I had a positive experience with Inferno.
ReplyDeleteOh, what a vague and difficult questions to answer. It is hard to isolate what Canto or images I really loved the most from Dante’s Inferno, because the poem is littered with the stuff! So I’m going to go ahead and limit myself to a single canto and image that really stuck with me as I read through Dante and Virgil’s adventure. This Canto would be thirteen, the Canto in which they reach the forest containing bushes and trees that represent the individuals who have taken their own lives. I think Dante is obviously a beautiful poet, but this was the part that stuck out as the most striking and clever throughout the piece. I loved the setting of this dark forest that contains whispering souls that can only be heard once a part of them is broken off. But, the overarching idea that the punishment of suicide is having one’s identity stripped was ingenious on Dante’s part. It is easy for me as a reader to believe that some holy power was see that as fitting punishment. I can imagine a God being offended by somebody willing to give up the life he gave them, and therefore taking it away from them forever as punishment. It is for this reason that Canto XIII stuck out as my favorite from the Inferno!
ReplyDeleteI love Inferno in its entirety, and find it hard to pick one image or canto over another. I guess the imagery of the 12 creatures or demons really stick out and appeal to me as well as the cantos of level 7 (XII-XVII) dealing with all three circles of violence, circles 1 and 3 in particular, and the 9th level (XXXI-XXXIV) for the sins of betrayal. I’m not sure if those levels stick out to me because I could be a little sadistic, or because those are the sins I’ve dealt with the most in my life because of my military career. My overall impression of Inferno is that it is a fabulous work of medieval literature and an immensely pleasurable read all on its own, but combined with Purgatory and Paradise, it becomes something unparalleled. In my opinion, one simply cannot get the full greatness of Dante’s journey without reading Divine Comedy in its entirety.
ReplyDeleteCanto XI stood out to me the most as it began to break down how and why certain souls were being handled the way they were according to sin. Although, I had often thought about the ideal of hell in a variety of ways, before reading this particular canto I never thought about "organizing" sin. I had always been taught that all sins are equal and no sin was viewed as any worse than another. That never made sense to me and I always secretly disagreed. For some reason, the idea of categorizing different sins due to their nature made perfect sense to me.
ReplyDeleteOverall, Dante's Inferno was so interesting to me. From the moment I read canto I, I knew that I was going to get along with this poem just fine. I didn't have to fight with it and all of the imagery present in this poem is rich and leaves a lasting impression on your mind and in your imagination. I could re-read this poem just for leisure and that is not something that happens often for me with required readings.
The images that stick out the most for me is the boiling blood river and the trees that were those who committed suicide. I have enjoyed reading the poem in this class because this translation and this approach was different from other times I have read Inferno for class. I have enjoyed the discussion of the poem as ideas and characters were pointed out that I really had never gave very much thought to.
ReplyDelete-- Leslie Fox
There are so many images that stood out to me from “Inferno”: souls encased in ice, souls boiling in blood, a soul gnawing on the skull of another, souls torn in half, souls turned into trees, and the devil himself with his three faces and sets of wings, chewing on Judas, Brutus, and Cassius. The image that stood out to me the most, however, was that of the souls transforming into reptile-like creatures. Since I was a child, I have always been fascinated with the idea of metamorphosis (changing into a werewolf, for example). Something deep within me is captivated by the thought of that, and extremely terrified of it at the same time.
ReplyDeleteThis was my first time reading Dante’s “Inferno” and I felt that it was a real page turner (quite literally). I found myself between each canto fighting to continue to the next one rather than stopping to read the notes! This has been the most enjoyable “assigned reading” I have ever read. I want to read it again and find things I missed in my initial reading of it (I won’t be selling this book back). I also would like to read La Vita Nuova sometime in the future.
-Ann Reagan
I really enjoyed reading Dante's "Inferno". I had to read it for another course this semester, but reading it in 299 has proven to be beneficial to me. In this course, I was able to analyze and dissect the poem more deeply and gain a better understanding of it. As a whole, I was fascinated by the idea of contrapasso and the complexity of Hell's organization. All the layers and sub-layers were intriguing. I feel like a main reason I was anxious to keep reading this poem was because I wanted to see what sin Dante viewed worse than the previous one.
ReplyDeleteThis poem is abundant with imagery. There were times where I even cringed because of how disgusting the punishment was to me. One example of this was in canto 3. The sinners were described as having their skin "galled by wasps and flies, blood trickling down the face,/ Mingling with tears for harvest underfoot/ By writhing maggots" (55-57). That just sounds disgusting.
The images that stood out to me in Dante's Inferno are the many gruesome, yet allegorical punishments that the damned souls endured in hell. Dante was mostly fair when dishing out punishments for the various sinners, making the punishment ironically fitting for the sin they committed.
ReplyDeleteI still can remember Canto V quite clearly so I suppose it stood out. The story of Francesca and Paolo really tugged at my heart-strings. I sympathized with their characters, which was the intention of Dante. I think he probably made their story so pitiful because he wanted readers to understand that even something like love, which feels so right can be sinful when committed in an adulterous manner.
My overall impression is much less fire and brimstone than I expected. The tales of the sinners really made the book less gory. Dante's allusions make it incredibly interesting to read because it does feel like an autobiographical tale. It is obviously impossible for that to be so, but his meetings of mythological characters versus real people skew one's logical factors and makes it hard to tell the reality from the fiction. For those reasons I really enjoyed reading Inferno.
I had read Inferno last semester in World Lit but it was a very quick overview and we skipped some of the cantos. I loved reading it this semester and really digging into the details. The poem is rife with excellent imagery and symbolism. Parts that most stood out to me were the various punishments, as I was always curious to the meaning behind them. I'm going to read Purgatorio and Paradiso over winter break most likely.
ReplyDeleteI personally believe that the first three cantos are the most interesting. I feel as though Dante captures the essence of the Christian faith with in the first three cantos and lays the foundation for understanding the rest of the poem and his categorizations. Overall I really loved the "Inferno" and the way Dante really capture the imagery of his interpretation of Hell. I feel as though Dante was revealing that love is a greatest force and inevitably lead him to salvation.
ReplyDelete~ Leta Summers
ReplyDelete