The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri - Essay Example

The ‘Divine Comedy’ by Dante Alighieri is among many things a commentary on the Christian church and the many beliefs that he has instigated repeatedly through his writing. It was forthright in its inclination towards the message it conveys for the power of the human intellect to transcend his circumstance and his pursuit for happiness and contentment here on earth. Dante’s use of himself as the protagonist of the story and the satirical representations of known characters, both fictional and not indicates a level of sophistication that may at first seem out of place in the work. He was very much symbolic in his representations and a commonplace deduction of the text would not give it proper justice. In involves a number of underlying themes which makes it one, if not the best work of Italian literature of the Medieval Period, just before the brink of the Italian Renaissance. Dante and His Influences Divided into three parts between Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso, the Divine Comedy’s elaborate discourse on the beliefs of the catholic faith is nothing less than critical at varied glance. Arriving at Inferno, he was met by a variety of characters and the different circles by which the different sinners are classified into. There is no doubt that he served as a great inspiration to the next generations of writers and a principal stimulus into the flourishing of the Italian art of writing towards the next decades following his works. Among them is the Father of Humanism, Francesco Petrarch, whose theme of undying and complicated love is reminiscent of Dante’s as such of Francesca and Paolo in the circles of hell (Corns, p.203). To describe his writing as unorthodox is one that is deeply true when talking about Dante. He was able to transgress the commonalities of the Middle Ages and make his craft something that is unique and not confounded. He was able not to directly attack or condemn the church for its pedantry and severity but provide subtle annotations that concern people in general and does not limit itself to the issue of religion or Catholicism alone. The Ninth Circle of Hell Divided into four divisions, the ninth circle of hell is where traitors are punished. This is also the final circle on Dante’s travels in Inferno before he arrives at Purgatorio. The first division in the ninth circle is that of the traitors to their kindred while the second division is that of the traitors to their country, the third is the traitors to their friends and the final division is for the traitors of their lords and benefactors (Alighieri, trans. Longfellow, pp. 102-110). “How frozen I became and powerless then, Ask it not, Reader, for I write it not. Because all language would be insufficient. I did not die, and I alive remained not; Think for thyself now, hast thou aught of wit, What I became, being of both deprived” (Alighieri, trans. Longfellow, p. 108). On the fourth division he met Judas Iscariot, Lucifer, Cassius and Brutus. They are among the most famous with regard to stories of betrayal of their masters. In this Circle and division, Dante felt a creeping feeling which led him to be more aware of his Guide throughout the travel. The place was considered with “so much evil.” It was an abyss with lopsided floors and an uneasy light emanating through. In comparison, to the first circle also known as Limbo where pagans and the unbaptized are, the ninth circle is lurks of more darkness. “Great grief seized on my heart when this I heard. Because some people of much worthiness I knew, who in that Limbo were suspended” (Alighieri, trans. Longfellow, pp. 21, 110). There is an obvious disparity in terms of the levels of punishment among the sinners in Inferno. As exemplified by Dante, there is a difference in the reprimands given to each sinner. Though he is not in favor of a number of them, he otherwise points out that there is a correlation between severity of judgment and the immensity of the crime committed. As previously quoted, he was perturbed by the idea in the first circle of hell wherein those who are unbaptized and pagans are imprisoned. He does not feel that they deserve to be suspended for eternity for something that is merely a crime against the set rules of the Catholic religion and is not something that is precisely a crime against humanity. In a sensible perspective, there is really no crime committed whether for example a newborn remains unbaptized to his death. It seems inhumane and insubstantial. This is merely a sin against the sacraments and the infant does not deserve punishment for it. Dante, Catholicism and the Middle Ages The doctrines of the Christian church characterizes a spontaneous shifting in the development of the tenets of its beliefs over the centuries. There is an abundant divergence between Catholic orthodoxy as we know it today in comparison to what the religion was previously crusading for during the Middle Ages. This was mainly due to the adaptation of the Vatican of Thomas Aquinas’ writings and maintained beliefs over Bonaventure’s in the nineteenth century. This is something that in retrospect would be highly favorable for Dante (Miller, p. 21). The imagination of Dante in terms of what awaits us when we are in that unknown and feared time when our time comes makes it an enjoyable read. Granted that the novel contains many aspects that would not be the same ideas or beliefs as other people, both in terms of those sharing the same religion or not. But this, I maintain is the best thing about ‘The Divine Comedy’ lets its readers contemplate and formulate their own beliefs. Maybe hell really is like that or there really is a Purgatory or that Heaven is such as he described. Either way, it equips the reader of an understanding that all through his travels, happiness is found here on earth and that we should live for our life here and not according to promised concepts and perceptions that religion imposes upon us. We are the masters of our own destinies and religion is a guide that should not hinder us from our choices or thwart our lives because of its restrictions. It is our constant reminder but it should not rule our lives. As long as there is no crime that we are committing against humanity and even to ourselves then there is no way that religion should tell us that we are living our lives inappropriately. Freewill may just be the best gift God has ever given us regardless of what we are told incessantly. Bibliography Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy. Trans. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Feedbooks, 1306. Bauer, Susan W. The Story of the World. Vol. 1. 2nd ed. Charles, VA: Peace Hill Press, 2007. Corns, Thomas L. A History of Seventeenth-Century English Literature. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. Furia, Carlo A. "Dante Alighieri on the Web." 1997. About.com. 10 May 2009 Miller, James, ed. Dante & The Unorthodox: The Aesthetics of Transgression. Ontario, Canada: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2005. Read More