Dante Alighieri's Rings of Hell in the Inferno

In the Inferno by Dante Alighieri, readers are introduced to the various rings of Hell and the sinners who inhabit them. Dante works to lay out a complete system of justice, so that those who have sinned are punished in an appropriate manner. Indeed, Dante demonstrates quite an imagination as he seeks to establish a correlation between the sin that has been committed and the punishment that takes place. In most cases, there is a sense that the punishment fits the crime. However, there are some instances in which the penalty laid down by Dante seems too extreme for the transgression committed. Thus, while the lustful and those who were violent against their neighbors seems to receive punishments that are appropriate to the crime that they have committed on earth, the punishment handed down to those who committed neither good nor evil but instead lived their lives without choosing either side seems extremely harsh.

When Dante reaches the Second Circle of Hell, he observes the punishment that is bestowed upon those who have sinned in lust. These individuals are caught up in an "infernal storm, eternal in its rage,/sweeps and drives the spirits with its blast:/it whirls them, lashing them with punishment" (V 31-33). There is no light in this area of Hell either, and the Lustful are thus condemned to suffer forever in this dark, relentless storm, without no hope of ever finding true comfort.

This punishment certainly seems appropriate for those who have sin

Related Essays

Dante Alighieri's poem The Divine Comedy .... Ugolino gnaws relentlessly at Ruggieri's skull and "show[s] with every bestial bite [his] hatred for the head [he is] devouring" (366). .... Alighieri, Dante. .... (3043 12 )

Don Quixote & Dante .... of purity that, if breeched, damns the breecher(s) and sends .... Alighieri, D. Inferno .... (Canto V). http://www.carthage.edu/departments/english/dante/frames/framesetll .... (1664 7 )

Punishment & Transgression in Medieval Literature .... K., and Lawall, S. (1992). The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. New York. WW Norton & Co. Alighieri, D. (1969). The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri. .... (997 4 )

Category: Literature - D