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Essay on Dante's Inferno
Dante Alighieri was an Italian poet, and one of the ultimate figures of world literature, who was well-liked for the depth of his spiritual vision and for the range of his intellectual accomplishment. Dante's epic masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, was probably begun about 1307; it was completed shortly before his death.
The work is an allegorical narrative, in verse of great precision and dramatic force, of the poet's imaginary journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven. It is divided into three sections, correspondingly named the Inferno (Hell), the Purgatorio (Purgatory), and the Paradiso (Paradise). In each of these three realms the poet meets with mythological, historical, and contemporary personages. Each character is symbolic of a particular fault or virtue, either religious or political; and the punishment or rewards meted out to the characters further illustrate the larger meaning of their actions in the universal scheme. Virgil, who is, to Dante, the symbol of reason, guides Dante through hell and purgatory. The woman Dante loved, Beatrice, whom he regards as both a manifestation and an instrument of the divine will, is his guide through paradise. (Driscoll, Kevin)
Dante attached himself to his interests, and wrote to all the potentates of Italy, and to the Italian people generally, a letter in favor of the emperor. In effect of this letter a decree was issued in Florence which irremissibly banished Dante from his country. The unfortunate issue of Henry's attempt in Italy and the repulse which he met at Florence, together with his death, in 1313, deprived Dante of all hopes of re-establishment. He roved about Italy, a lonely exile, and finally found a welcome at Ravenna, where Guido Novella da Polenta, the lord of that place, who was a liberal patron of letters, kindly, received him. When a quarrel broke out between Ravenna and Venice.................
