After completing Inferno, I am still left
wondering how exactly Dante feels about those condemned to Hell. As discussed
in class, Dante the pilgrim shows remorse for some of the sinners, but also
rebukes several sinners for their wrongdoings as well. As Dante enters Hell, he
is quite cowardly at first and does not handle himself well. He faints several
times from the horrors that he observes and also weeps for many of the souls
trapped there in the first couple of circles. Virgil often rebukes Dante for these
actions whenever Dante shows sympathy for the sinners there. Virgil's reactions
may infer that Dante the poet has no sympathy for those in Hell however; even
Virgil himself shows compassion for some of the souls trapped in Inferno.
When the pair is about to enter Limbo, Dante sees Virgil's completion change
and worries he may be fearful of what is to come. When Dante questions him,
Virgil replies by telling him that he is not afraid and that "[t]he
anguish of people whose place is here below, has touched my face with the
compassion you mistake as fear" (Dante 31). This moment seems out of
character for Virgil as in every other circle he seems to feel that the sinners
are justified for their punishments and praises Dante when he confronts them.
It is possible that Virgil may have these feelings only because Limbo is the
circle of Hell he is doomed in for the rest of eternity. He has also explained
that in Limbo there are also souls that are there simply because they lived
before Christianity. He may feel that those souls, whose only sin was being
born at the wrong time, were not deserving of their fate.
As Dante ventures deeper in Hell, the reader can
see a bit of a transformation in him through his journey. In the first several
circles, Dante generally feels for the sinners and weeps for their fates.
However as Dante enters deeper circles, he seems to harden up. He feels pity
less often and rebukes more souls than he had in the beginning of Inferno.
The last time it is recorded that Dante feels sorrow is in the Fourth Pouch
of the Eighth Circle. He weeps for those who had practiced magic in life and
now have their heads turned completely around. From then on out, he does not
show pity for any more of the souls in Hell.
Another transformation in the poem is Dante's feelings toward Florence.
At the beginning, Dante is found of his city and weeps whenever he hears of the
downfall of Florence. However as his journey continues he starts to feel that
Florence has been corrupted and is not the city he had once adored. In Canto
XXVI, he becomes angry at Florence for the amount of sinners he has seen in
Hell from Florence. He sarcastically states, "Be joyous, Florence, you are
great indeed for over sea and land you beat your wings; through every part of
Hell your name extends! Among the thieves I found five citizens of yours--and
such, that shame has taken me; with them, you can ascend to no high honor"
(Dante 239). This can most likely be linked to his banishment from Florence.
From the way he has described Florence it is likely that Florence was once a
great city when Dante's political party was in power. However after his exile
and his party’s loss of power, the city has become corrupt.
After reading, I feel that Dante the poet thinks those that are in Hell
do deserve to be there. Virgil, Dante’s guide and master, with only one
exception Virgil does not feel compassion for the souls in Hell. As Dante
learns through his journey, he also feels less sympathy and starts to feel that
those souls trapped there are deserving of their fate.
Dante, Alighieri. Inferno. New York: A Division of Random House, Inc, 1980. Print
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