The Inferno is Dante Alighieri’s first poem within The Divine Comedy. Dante Alighieri was a poet, writer and political thinker. His works within the Divine Comedy made a remarkable impression on literature at the time from 1308 to 1320. Since then, Dante has been considered the father of modern Italian. Throughout the poem, Dante struggles on his journey to find God. On his way, he is required to go through Hell first. Dante works his way downward by making his way through earth, reaching Hell, and eventually finding himself lost in a metaphorical, dark wood symbolized by sin. Dante shows himself willing to do anything it takes to fulfill his dream of getting to see his lover, Beatrice. Despite what he encounters, his heart follows him through his perils. He is led by another ‘once-upon-a-time’ poet named Virgil, whom he fully commits to with his life in his hands. Despite his sympathetic self, Dante becomes a witness to incidents that make a significant impact on his persona. Specifically the events and people, Dante encounter, all lead to affect his growth as a character in evolving from a softie to a punisher.
During the early stages of his stay in Hell, Dante becomes subject to a variety of affairs. Even at the beginning of his journey, he finds himself weak and lost among new and unfamiliar circumstances. The three beasts, which Dante encounters on his path towards God, set a clear image of the perils of what he is going into and the potential danger of his future, “His head held high and ravenous with hunger – even the air around him seemed to shudder – this lion seemed to make his way against me.” (pg. 31) The three beasts represent Dante’s current physical state- he is surrounded by evil and sin, forcing Dante into a stark realization of his whereabouts. The landscape overall, leads Dante to feel lost and scared: “Here sighs and lamentations and loud cries were echoing across the starless air, so that, as soon as I set out, I wept. Strange utterances, horrible pronouncements, accents of anger, words of suffering, and voices shrill and faint, and beating hands – all went to make a tumult that will whirl…”(pg. 22) As Dante enters Hell, his first impression of Hell is immediately made up of meaningless sounds coming from the sinners. The fact that he does not hear anyone’s voice, suggests that the sinners could have lost their ability to speak and as punishment, are thus no longer human. Constantly, Dante’s impression of Hell is built upon sounds that reinforce the setting of the given environment. ‘so does that blast bear on the guilty spirits: now here, now there, now down, now up, it drives them. There is no hope that ever comforts them – no hope for rest and none for lesser pain.” The sinners are as described with bird imagery, suggesting that they are immune to love and lacks control of their emotions, making them animals and not human. Lost and hopeless, Dante runs into a character that becomes essential to his survival and wellbeing through his journey. “When I saw him [Virgil] in that vast wilderness, ‘Have pity on me,’ were the words I cried, ‘whatever you may be – a shade, a man.'(pg. 64) When Dante is at his lowest, he encounters Virgil. Throughout the poem, it becomes evident that Virgil’s relationship to Dante is crucial for Dante’s survival. After their introduction, Dante embarks ready to do what Virgil asks him to because of the complete and genuine that trust their bond develops into. Despite Dante’s wary mindset, Virgil becomes instrumental in motivating him to continue on his journey.
Specific events and characters that Dante meets on his journey become vital to the development of his character. Virgil is described throughout the poem as Dante’s guide, teacher, master but also as his friend. “I think it well you follow me and I will be your guide and lead you forth through an eternal place. “There you shall see the ancient spirits tried in endless pain,”(pg. 105) Dante gives Virgil his complete trust and in return he is able to rely on him for mental support and safety to continue on his way to reach the end point on his journey. When Dante and Virgil reach the second circle of Hell, the Carnal, they encounter a place deputed to sinners who prioritized their love for others before their love for God. Dante immediately sympathizes and shows pity for those who they come across in this specific circle, especially the souls of Francesca and Paolo. Francesca and Paolo’s relationship did not end on just their own behalf, “Love led us to one death. “In the depth of Hell,”(pg. 103) Dante shows great sympathy towards the couple’s story and it is obvious that it has an impact on his emotions, (pg. 113-114) so heavily that he loses consciousness, “And while one spirit [Francesca] said these words to me, the other [Paolo] wept, so that – because of pity – I fainted, as if I had met my death. And then I fell as a dead body falls.”(pg 137). Dante emerges as an emotional character and at this point especially, he takes pity on those who have been designated to serve their divine retribution of eternal torment and considers it an inhuman form for punishment. Throughout Dante’s interaction with Francesca and Paolo, the reader is able to see Dante’s character evolve from not just feeling lost and scared but now aware, thereby leading him to faint.
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As Dante and Virgil advance further through each circle of Hell, Dante’s attitude towards the tormented souls change as well as his view on how they receive punishment. In the fifth circle of Hell and en route to the sixth circle, Dante and Virgil are met by the soul, Flippo Argenti, another dead soul who was placed in Hell for having committed a sin. “And as we ran on that dead swamp, the slime Rose before me, and from it a voice cried…”(pg. 31) During his conversation with Flippo, Dante’s attitude suddenly changes: “But you, who are you, so fallen and so foul?”(pg. 35) Dante proceeds to ask for Flippo to receive more punishment, “Master, it would suit my shim to see the wretch scrubbed down into the swill before we leave the stinking sink and him.”(pg. 49). Virgil, in response, forces more torment upon Flippo, leaving him ripped apart by other souls in the water. This change in attitude proves that Dante gradually starts to acknowledge the need for divine retribution.
In the beginning of the poem, Dante suffers from his own thoughts but towards the end, he becomes able to acknowledge the suffering of others beyond himself. Thus, Dante becomes less empathetic, as he transcends the circles of Hell. As Dante spends more time in Hell, he becomes more like the sinners that surround him, showing his humanity. Through his journey, Dante explores new sides and emotions of himself such as when his compassion for the lost souls periodically change back and forth between a sympathetic and a callous attitude. The imbalance of his emotions convey that no matter how crucial an experience may be, emotions will always be present. When Dante is presented to the gates of Hell, “ABANDON EVERY HOPE, WHO ENTER HERE. These words – their aspect was obscure – I read inscribed above a gateway… (pg. 1-11), his hope and thereby his previous self is abandoned when he wanders through the gate, accompanied by his master, Virgil. From there, Dante’s attitude towards sinners change drastically from pity and sympathy to believing in the eternal torment and divine retribution are fair and necessary types of punishment, making Dante a punisher himself.
