Progression of Evil in Dantes Inferno Essay - 784 Words

As Virgil leads Dante through the layers of Hell, they come across evildoers who are trapped in the personification of their own sinful personalities. Their tortures are extreme versions of their sins on earth. Dante imparts his own moral standards to the reader by portraying a hierarchy of evil that corresponds with his disapproval of the sin. As the pair of observers descends farther and farther into the pits of Hell, the punishments they see grow less and less bearable. While the evil in the first layers of Hell is simple, sometimes invoking pity in Dante, the lower levels of Hell punish souls for more complex and condemnable sins. It would be interesting to see a system of political justice based upon Dantes values.†¦show more content†¦The fourth circle of upper hell contains the hoarders and the spendthrifts, whose wills were too weak in life to manage their assets. Aware only of their own needs on earth, they each work towards their own goal in Hell, pushing a ro ck. They are forced, however to cope with like-minded souls and collide rather than cooperating, which results in eternal frustration. Every indulgent soul in upper hell is punished according to his own personality. There are no demons to force them to do anything. They bring the punishment on themselves by eternally acting out a version of their sin. After passing through the City of Dis, Virgil and Dante enter Nether Hell, where violent and heretical sinners are punished. Dante portrays these sins of corrupt will as more evil and deserving of worse punishment than the weak-willed sins of upper hell. Souls who, during life, were violent against their neighbors boiled in a river of blood. Suicide cases are trapped in the form of trees, unable to scream unless gauged by horrible birds. The violent against God are sprawled face-up on burning sand, eternally confronting the proclaimed enemy. Even within an individual circle, some sinners are punished more than others. Among the violent against God, Capaneus is more severely punished than his peers because of his pride. He continues to be blasphemous, even in death, declaring, That which in life I was, in death I am. His stubbornness and pride in death causesShow MoreRelatedDante’s Inferno in Milton ´s Paradise Lost1326 Words   |  6 Pagesbeen made that Danteâ€⠄¢s Inferno glimmers through here and there in Milton’s Paradise Lost. While at first glance the two poems seem quite drastically different in their portrayal of Hell, but scholars have made arguments that influence from Dante shines through Milton’s work as well as arguments refuting these claims. 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