StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Existential Motifs in Medieval Poetry: Insights on Therapeutic Practice from Dante's Divine Comedy - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
This essay "Existential Motifs in Medieval Poetry: Insights on Therapeutic Practice from Dante's Divine Comedy" discusses Dante’s inferno and No exit as that was put forth by Jean Sartre articulating the concept of existentialism in the broadest sense…
Download free paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER96.9% of users find it useful
Existential Motifs in Medieval Poetry: Insights on Therapeutic Practice from Dantes Divine Comedy
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Existential Motifs in Medieval Poetry: Insights on Therapeutic Practice from Dante's Divine Comedy"

Research proposal The books Dante’s inferno and No exit as was put forth by Jean Sartre articulate the concept of existentialism in the broadest sense. This is to say that they bring to the front the constructions and the creations of the human mind. For instance, human beings would easily believe that there is a place called hell where their sins would be punished. This would be influenced by the fact that the human society has already trained the human beings that there is a place called hell where subsequent punishment would be done. For the purpose of this paper, I will focus on the aspect of existentialism relative to notion of the novels “Inferno” and “No exit” as put forth by the above mentioned writers. This is to imply that the things human beings do towards their fellow men can be compared to hell. Subsequently, there may be a fictitious place that is referred to as hell- where the human mind and soul may visit and be punished eternally. Outline Abstract and summary of the project- Brief introduction on the background of the project: This paper aims to draw the functional relationship that exists between the novels the Inferno and No exit which were written by Dante and Sartre respectively. Objective of the research project- Point out the reasons for engaging in the project: The primary and basic aim of the paper is to expound on the concept of existentialism as postulated and put forth by the above mentioned writers. This is to say that, the paper will compare, contrast and juxtapose the arguments addressing the theme of existentialism. Review of literature- Critique the existing body of knowledge that touches on existentialism especially Inferno and No exit. This is to highlight what other writers have said as far as existentialism is concerned. Body of project- Linkages of the concepts of the- main arguments and logic Comparative relationship between the novels No exit and Inferno as they have articulated the concept of existentialism Conclusion- Summarize the main points of the body and the project Work cited sections- References from where I obtained the information Existentialism The term existentialism in the basic and most common sense refers to the philosophical stance and aspect where a person, agent or an individual has the ability and free will to decide his or her own destiny. This is to say that a human being is laden with the power to decide for him or herself the path and line that his or her life would take and follow. This comes against the background and wake of the fact that the world itself is irrational with no deity or any supernatural power that the human are supposed to sojourn to. This is to say that existentialists repudiate and disapprove the presence of any belief system or pattern to which human being ought to align their beliefs to. This is to say that there are no supernatural or metaphysical beings. As a matter of fact and principle, existentialists believe that the value systems such as deities are remotely academic and theoretical in nature. It is as if the non-existentialists believe in abstract concepts and notions because of their inability to face the human reality and actions. Thus, in principle, the existentialists assert that the human beings ought to attach meaning and value to what is tangibly meaningful and sensible to them rather than believe in metaphysical orders and beings. This paper will thus articulate and analyze the existentialist concept and notion in details. A deep focus and attention would be outlined on the theoretical aspects and principles as presented in the works Dantes Inferno and Sartres No exit. To begin with, the story of Dante’s inferno posits a thematic base and outline which alludes to the fact that there is a deity: God who administers justices. This stems from the fact that there is reward and remedy for all the people who live on earth. For those who sin and go against the rules set by God, then there is a place of inferno or burning fire that would consume them. There is an imaginative correlation and creation of the fact that sin is punishable by being thrown in hell. Juxtaposing this line of thought with the theme of existentialism, it is a contradiction. This is so because hell has never been seen by any one, neither has God. Thus, the belief that sin or sinner would be condemned in hell defies the principles and notions of existentialism. In retrospect, there is the feeling that God created Hell so as to punish sin. For instance there is the argument and postulation that the people who levy and charge interest on loans would be condemned beneath a rain of fire, while the bisexuals and the homosexuals at large would be forced to walk on hot sand. In retrospect, these thoughts are skewed towards forcing and making human beings to act in a certain or particular way. Here the notion of free will, choice and the ability to determine the destiny of a person by him or herself does not hold. It is so because God as the Almighty creator already put down in place the patterns of behavior that are irreducible or acceptable. For instance, there are moral codes of conduct that a person is supposed to adhere to. This is a contradiction relative to existentialism because the perceived and intended moral principles may not necessary rhyme with the choice and freedoms that a human person may wish to pursue. It is important to note and record that this theme seems to highlight the fact that God rewards the human actions or sins accordingly in the order or magnitude of the sins. Thus, there is a metaphysical and infinite sense of perfect justice that would be meted out against people who sin-or go against the moral code of behaviors as set out by the creator-God. Subsequently, in several ways, the story of Dante Inferno seems to arrange in order of magnitude (ascending order) that there are different rings and cycles of punishment that would be meted to people. For example a person who takes a bribe, would be condemned to the eight cycle of hell, with completely different punitive circumstances from another sinner say in circle six-who is a murderer. As a matter of finality and principle, this argument seem to assert that evil or sin is sin because it contravenes and opposes the very nature of the will of God, which was basically stipulates care and love of a human being towards another person. Comparatively, existentialism does not specify how human beings ought to relate with another, and instead assigns the free will and power of choice on the individuals. That is, a human person ought to act and do as he or she deems rational and fit without referring to any abstract, academic and theoretical rules and guideline from anyplace or anybody. On the other hand, the story by Jean-Paul Sartre also presents a different school of thought comparative to the notion of existentialism and Dante’s Inferno. It begins on the base that there are three condemned person who are taken to hell by a Valet. From the face value, they expected to be punished and tortured for the things they did or the sins they did commit. Garcin, Inez and Estelle are not willing to confess about their sins or the crimes that they did commit. This is so because there is a sense of fear and pacification in them since they do not know what to expect or the kind of punishment that would befall them for their mistakes and sins (Corrie, 11). Inez however is the of the view that all of them did not end up in the same room by chance or coincidence, rather, their lifestyles and behaviors must have led them to the same room. Garcin is of the opinion that they do not try to make the lives of one another miserable in that room and instead each person concentrate on his or her own businesses. At this point, Estelle requests for a mirror, which symbolically refers to the benchmarks against which to gauge morality and behaviors. This happens because the purported moral requirements and behavioral patterns of human being are not guided by some metaphysical requirement or deity but by the human being themselves. They then decide to confess to one another and gauge what to expect of one another. Garcini goes first and he confesses that he mistreated and cheated on his wife, Estelle cheated on her husband. Inez on the other hand confirms that he cheated with his cousin’s wife. As the time progresses, Inez is angered by the advances the Estelle makes towards Garcini to which he gives in. At the very tail end, Garcini comes to the realization that hell is a indeed other people. This is to stress the fact that the hypothetical hell of sustained suffering could just be a construction of the human mind and nothing else (Coser, 7). This is to imply that the graveness of the things that human beings can do against one another is indeed stressful and tormenting. In order to express the aspect of existentialism, from the novel no exit, the character Inez tries to justify her present existence as meaningful and accessible especially given the fact that she had the choice to either concentrate on the past or focus on the future. This happens when she is in hell, but apparently she was not bothered by the prospects of what would befall her, rather she chooses to base her essence and existence on the present-notwithstanding it was hell. Comparatively, the novel “Inferno” also strives to bring to the fore the connection between the metaphysical with the way humans live their lives on earth. For instance, when Dante made his through hell gates, there was the scary inscription and writings “abandon all hope, you who enter here.” This shows that there was a correlations between metaphysical or supernatural beings and the very existence of the human life. In comparative terms, this argument and notion stipulates that a human being ought to be guided by what is rational and real before acting or relating with one another. For instance, the three souls which were condemned to hell operated on the premise of what they could see and feel as tangible at different points in times. For example, in hell, they awaited a series of suffering and pain because their minds were trained to believe so. However, they could not feel the presence of hell in the physical nature as they expected. On the contrary, the things that the human beings do to one another was horrible and hurtful enough to be compared to hell. A practical case and instance is the continued cheatings on spouses and mistreatment that the human beings, at least the condemned souls did to their spouses. This story postulates the aspect of existentialism because it stresses the fact that there is no outside or metaphysical system of beliefs and beings that have the power to determine the destiny of a person in life or the afterlife. Even in death or hell, it upon the human person to decide the manner and line of actions that one would pursue. For instance, in the novel No exit, Garcini affirms that “hell is other people.” Work Cited Corrie, Sarah. "Existential Motifs in Medieval Poetry: Insights on Therapeutic Practice from Dantes Divine Comedy." Journal of Poetry Therapy 13.1 (1999): 3-16. Coser, Lewis A. "The Study comparative literatures." (1991): 1-9 Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Existentialism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 5”, n.d.)
Existentialism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 5. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/literature/1668717-existentialism
(Existentialism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words - 5)
Existentialism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words - 5. https://studentshare.org/literature/1668717-existentialism.
“Existentialism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words - 5”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/literature/1668717-existentialism.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Existential Motifs in Medieval Poetry: Insights on Therapeutic Practice from Dante's Divine Comedy

Dante: The Divine Comedy Volume 1: Inferno

DANTE: THE divine comedy VOLUME 1: INFERNO The Essay Exploration of the realities about the world Hereinafter as well as the life after death has always been a matter of great interest for the intellectuals, scholars, writers and philosophers, the reflection of which can be found in their sayings, teachings and works.... It is partially because of the religious belief they follow and the Scripture they imitate as a source of spiritual guidance for them; the same is applied with famous epic poem divine comedy written by fourteenth century Italian poet Dante....
2 Pages (500 words) Book Report/Review

Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

In this essay, the author demonstrates how Dante Alighieri has depicted his detailed journey into the hell out of his imagination, religious belief and information he had gathered during his study of the life Hereinafter in his work under the title 'divine comedy.... Virgil, who would serve dante's guide to Inferno, and would lead him towards all the nine circles.... Canto IV explains that the great personalities including Noah and Moses were also in the Inferno, which was granted pardon by Christ during his visit to hell and thus they were shifted from Limbo to Heaven on the basis of amnesty Jesus Christ bestowed upon them....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Dante's Divine Comedy

dante's divine comedy While classic literature contains a nearly bottomless treasure trove of works, perhaps the preeminent work of classical Italian literature is dante's divine comedy.... This essay examines dante's divine comedy in relation to its implementation of a variety of literary techniques.... dante's divine comedy begins with the Inferno.... dante's use of language in these lines further attests to his exploration of religious themes, as the ‘right road' has a specific relation to moral concerns that are reminiscent of religion....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Dante's Devine Comedy

dante's divine comedy The figure of Dante who roams through the infernal reaches of hell encounters a number of characters who endure terrible suffering, apparently because of sins which they have committed during their lives on earth.... This satisfaction at the man's fate shows an element of revenge in dante's depiction.... Commentators have noted that this person's name “Argenti” may have derived from “an ostentatious habit of shoeing his horse in silver (argento)” and that he was a Black Guelph which meant he was a political enemy of Dante (University of Texas, n....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Analysis of Dantes Inferno Part of a Trilogy Known as The Divine Comedy

The paper "Analysis of Dante's Inferno Part of a Trilogy Known as The divine comedy" discusses that purity from sin is the only way to God and that the unification of the church and state is a sinful and disastrous concept which would severely affect the state of the society at the time.... Purity from sin is very important to the author.... The author had just been exiled from Florence and ultimately condemns several political figures with whom he disagreed with, to hell, scattering them around the landscape of the poem....
4 Pages (1000 words) Book Report/Review

Dante: Divine Comedy

A writer of the paper "Dante: divine comedy" claims that written by Dante between 1308 and his death in 1321, divine comedy attained immense approbation for its presentation of the creative and allegorical apparition of the Christian afterlife.... Dante Alighieri's (1265-1321) divine comedy has been considered as the single most fundamental epic poem of Italian literature and the prominence of this illustrious piece has crossed the boundaries of the land, people, and literature to be known as one of the essential pieces of world literature....
6 Pages (1500 words) Book Report/Review

Compare Dante (the divine comedy) and Odyssey

??The Divine comedy' by Dante and ‘Odyssey' by Homer are two such pieces that can be compared.... The Divine comedy is an Italian epic poem, while the Odyssey is a Greek one.... The Divine comedy, for instance starts off after the individual has lived his transient life on earth and progresses towards the permanent life in Heaven.... While The Divine comedy deals with the theology of the Christian faith and the elements of medieval belief as kindled by the Church, the Odyssey delves into the heroics of the Greek hero, Ulysses....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Analysis of Dantes Divine Comedy

The author analyzes Dante Alighieri's classic work The divine comedy in which the poet describes his version of the spiritual life of the soul after death as a reflection of the type of life they led.... The section of the comedy establishes Dante's ideas that the only way to receive God's blessing is through Christian faith.... Many of the people he named in his book were popular figures from both history and myth....
1 Pages (250 words) Book Report/Review
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us