Tag: Inferno

The Depiction of Love and Women

Throughout The Divine Comedy by Dante and Il Canzoniere by Petrarca, women and love are portrayed in very similar ways that intrigued me. During this course, I loved reading these particular texts because these authors’ portrayals of love and women were very enlightening and movie-like. They portrayed women as very delicate goddesses, which is my most preferable way to read about women. Growing up, I loved to read fairy tales about princesses falling in love and happily ever after. In these texts by Dante and Petrarca, they brought me back to my younger reading days, and they stuck with me a lot more because of that.

In The Divine Comedy, Dante writes and vividly describes his journey through hell in search to finally reach heaven. In Inferno, the poem about hell, he describes his path through the different circles of hell. He is guided by a Roman poet by the name of Virgil, who was sent to him by his love, Beatrice. Each circle represents a different sin. There was a circle for gluttony, wrath, heretics, and many more. However, before Dante entered the gates of Hell, he was unsure if he should do it or not. It was his love and devotion to see Beatrice that motivated him to take on his journey. Beatrice wanted him to take on this journey, so she along with two other women sent for Virgil. For instance, in Canto 2 of the Inferno, Beatrice states, “O Mantuan Shade, in courtesy complete, whose fame survives on earth, nor less shall grow through all the ages, while the world hath seat; a friend of mine, with fortune for his foe, has met with hindrance on his desert way, and, terror-smitten, can no further go, but turns; and that he is too far astray, and that I rose too late for help, I dread, from what in heaven concerning him they say. Go, with thy speech persuasive him bestead, and with all needful help his guardian prove, That touching him I may be comforted. Know, it is Beatrice seeks thee thus to move. Thence come I where I to return am fain: my coming and my plea are ruled by love. When I shall stand before my Lord again, often to him I will renew thy praise.” This pledge from Beatrice shows how much she truly loves Dante and wants him to get guidance while he goes through hell. She said that she is coming to him out of love for Dante, which was very pure hearted. Dante then states, “When of these words she spoken had the last, she turned aside bright eyes which tears did fill, and I by this was urged to greater haste. And so it was I joined thee by her will. As flowers, by chills nocturnal made to pine and shut themselves, when touched by morning bright upon their stems arise, full-blown and fine; so of my faltering courage changed the plight, and such good cheer ran through my heart, it spurred me to declare, like free-born generous wight: alert in service, hearkening her true word! Thou with thine eloquence my heart has won to keen desire to go, and the intent which first I held I now no longer shun. Therefore proceed; thou art my guide, Lord, Master; thou alone!’ Thus I; and with him, as he forward went, the steep and rugged road I entered on.” Dante’s response was very heartwarming and sweet to read because he knew that it was destined for him to go on this trip because Beatrice wanted him to and because he knew that he had the chance to see her in the end. His love for her as well and Virgil and God made him determined to start and continue his journey. In addition, in Canto 5, Dante enters the Second Circle of Hell, which is for the sin of lust. Dante met a woman named Francesca da Rimini who he felt very sorry for because she gave into lust and desire. He mentioned how him and Beatrice’s love is chaste, which was virtuous and eventually led him closer to God. This was very significant to me because it proved how serious and deep Dante and Beatrice’s connection was, and it contrasted from the sinful love that Francesca gave into.

In continuation, Il Canzionere by Petrarca also had a very evocative depiction of love and women. In this story, the main theme is the many love poems/letters that Petrarca wrote for his love, Laura. In my opinion, his love for Laura was the strongest out of all the texts we have read. He had a very profound passion for Laura and it was very obvious while reading the poems. I was very intrigued and drawn into the poems about Laura because it radiates divine feminine energy. For example, in poem 90 of Il Canzoniere, Petrarca states, “She’d let her gold hair flow free in the breeze that whirled it into thousands of sweet knots, and lovely light would burn beyond all measure in those fair eyes whose light is dinner now. Her face would turn the color pity wears, a pity true or false I do not know, and I with all love’s tinder in my breast; it’s no surprise I quickly caught on fire. The way she walked was not the way of mortals but of angelic forms, and when she spoke more than an earthly voice it was that sang: a godly spirit and a living sun was what I saw, and if she is not now, my wound still bleeds though the bow’s unbent.” This poem is very crucial to the theme of love and it is a very vivid description of the way that Petrarca feels about Laura. When he talks about her eyes and her angelic forms, it makes women seem so delicate and fragile which I really enjoyed reading from a male perspective. During this course, I came to realize that from my experience, the way love was depicted in ancient literature was way deeper and more passionate than the way it is depicted in stories now. This was one of the reasons why I enjoyed continuing to read the texts in this course. All the elements and aspects are much more intense and even though at times it was hard to follow on, the passion from the authors always came through, and especially Petrarca. The Editors of the Encyclopedia Britannica did a summary on Il Canzoniere and made Laura a literary subject in their analysis. The Encyclopedia Britannica states, “The poems treat a variety of moods and subjects but particularly his intense psychological reactions to his beloved. Many of his similes, such as burning like fire and freezing like ice, beautifully stated in the sonnet beginning ‘I find no peace, and all my war is done,’ were to be frequently repeated by sonneteers of Elizabethan England and later became poetic cliches. Some of the poems express the very simple, human wish to be with her and to be treated kindly. After Laura’s death Petrarch’s poems continued on the same themes, expressing his sorrow and describing her to return to him in dreams.” This quote from The Encyclopedia is very important because it explains how captivating Petrarca’s tactics were in the poems he was writing about Laura. The quote even says that his similes were later on used by different poets and eventually his quotes became cliche because of how often they were being used. 

To conclude, The Divine Comedy by Dante and Il Canzoniere by Petrarca portray love and women in very similar and fascinating ways. Both authors have very strong characters and passion for the women they are idolizing and it made their texts way more intriguing to read and analyze. Their portrayal of love was like a fantasy in a fairytale, and the way they depicted women brought out their use of great vocabulary and literary tactics in their writing, which made those connections feel stronger. 

References: 

  • Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Laura”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Laura-literary-subject. Accessed 21 December 2021.
  • Petrarca, Francesco, and Mark Musa. Selections from the Canzoniere (Poem 90) Oxford [Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1999. Print.
  • Dante, Alighieri, and Mark Musa. Dante’s Inferno. Canto ll; Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1971.

The depiction of Love in Inferno

In the Inferno, Love is depicted in many different forms. Dante’s motivation to make his journey through hell was because of the love Beatrice, who is in heaven, had for him. The reason why she left heaven was because she wanted Virgil to guide Dante through hell. (see Inf. 2, 133-142) Besides Beatrice, Dante’s startling journey through hell was continuously motivated by the love he had either for Vigil, Beatrice, or God. When Dante enters hell, he realizes that it was made by God himself. The love that God had was the force that organized hell and made Dante’s poem come to life.

There are various types of love that Dante goes through and provides in his poems. For instance, Francesca da Rimini was one of the people that Dante felt a lot of pity for. She gave into lust and desire. (see Inf. 5, 127-138) On the other hand, Dante and Beatrice had chaste love, which was virtuous and led him closer to God. He also included Sodomites in his vision of hell, which has to do with people who engage in homosexualiy. There were many sinners who Dante came across that pursued some type of bad love or desire rather than the love of God, which is what mattered to him the most. Myrrha, a figure from Greek mythology, is someone who had an excessive desire for her father. She is an example of many people in hell who have not loved their families or nations enough like the traitors in the ninth circle attest. 

The different perversions of love that Dante provides in the Inferno prove how strong the force of love is. The love he and Beatrice had for each other made him want to continue the frightening journey through hell which in itself is very valuable. When he got to hell, above the entrance, there was an inception that said “the power, and the unsearchably/high wisdom, and the primal love supernal.” This specified that hell was created by God. As Dante proceeded his journey, he felt pity for all the sinners who did not love the right way and who fell for lust and desire because he cherished the love of God. He realized that many of the sinners that were there went after a bad type of love or desire, which contrasted heavily in comparison to the love Dante and Beatrice had for each other.

Christianity vs. Paganism

In Dante’s series of poems, he incorporates paganism views and spins them to fit into his views of Christianity. Paganism is a term initially used in the fourth century by early Christians as a way to depict people in the Roman Empire that practiced ethnic religions other than Judaism or polytheism. In inferno, aside from biblical figures, there are a lot of mythological creatures and greek and roman figures as well. However, he still incorporates them in a way that still follows his Christian beliefs and ideologies.

One instance is when Dante meets Virgil. Virgil was born before christ making him pagan, but that did not matter to Dante. Dante was a very Christian person, therefore he would not have liked him nor gotten along with him. However, Dante makes him out to be a good man and respects him enough to call him an admirable poet. (Cantos 1, lines 79-87) However, in true Dante fashion, he still manages to depict how Virgil being pagan affects him by then letting him say that he was not able to lead him past hell. He still sinned at the end of the day, therefore he is confined to hell. (Cantos 1, lines 121-126)

This carries into visiting the first circle in hell as well. Virgil tells Dante that the souls in the first circle were either born before christ, did not get baptized, or did not practice Christianity. These people did not in fact sin, they just didn’t live by Christian ideologies, and therefore they were sent to the part of hell with the least amount of suffering. They still were not going to make it to heaven though, they were in a “limbo” as Virgil described it. (Cantos 4, lines 31-42)

Dante also incorporates pagan mythological creatures through most cantos into his Christian hell such as Charon (Cantos 3) In this cantos he also encounters souls that seemed to be neutral in the sense that they did not do much evil, nor did they also do much good as well. Dante’s sense of justice is punishment to complete a sin, therefore they followed a blank banner and were stung by hornets and wasps while naked. Meanwhile, worms intake their tears and blood. (Cantos 3, lines 34-32 and  61-69) All in all, Dante incorporated a ton of paganism and Christianity views and/or figures in Inferno, which ultimately were spun for his ideologies.


Durling, Robert M, and Ronald L Martinez. The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri.: (Inferno). Vol. 1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Print.

La Macabra Punizione di Ugolino

Gustave Doré´s Ugolino and Ruggieri

Ugolino della Gherardesca viene punito insieme all’arcivescovo Ruggieri degli Ubaldini nell’Antenora, la seconda parte del cerchio nono. Qui vengono puniti i traditori della patria. Ugolino, che sta mordendo la testa di Ruggieri, si ferma dal suo macabro pasto e si pulisce la bocca con i capelli della sua vittima prima di divulgare la sua tragica storia. È morto affamato insieme ai suoi giovani figli a causa del tradimento da parte dall’arcivescovo Ruggieri. Il fatto che Dante ci presenta i figli di Ugolino come ragazzi assai giovane può essere deliberato per sottolineare due vittime innocenti nel conflitto e che tanto Ugolino come Ruggieri sono disposti a sacrificarli per ottenere vantaggi politici. Nel caso di Ugolino, specificamente, il suo successo nella politica diventa più grande e importante che il suo proprio amore per la sua famiglia e che lo parta a tradire gli stessi.(XXXIII, 1-71) A questo punto nella vicenda di Ugolino viene il silenzioso indizio della sua punizione. Ugolino fu dichiarato il gran traditore di Pisa. Partito dalla sua patria come ghibellino poi tornato come guelfo, Ugolino sembra di aver tradito i suoi compaesani dopo l’acquisizione di Pisa. Quando, secondo le note dell’Inferno nell’edizione di Robert M. Durling, Ronald L. Martinez, Robert Turner, al suo ritorno a Pisa, Ugolino trama la detronizzazione del suo proprio nipote, Nino Visconti, e cercò un’alleanza con Ruggieri. In questa prima parte si può capire che Dante mette a Ugolino al nono cerchio per il suo tradimento al suo partito (i ghibellini) e allo stesso tempo si capisce perché Ruggieri viene inserito qui insieme a lui. Però resta ancora la questione del cannibalismo. Allora, Ugolino è tradito da Ruggieri e viene imprigionato nella Torre della Muda insieme ai suoi figli. Dopo nove mesi di prigionia, i figli muoiono uno dopo l’altro alla fine solo il conte rimane vivo. Ugolino, cieco a causa dalla fame, rantola sopra i cadaveri dei figli per due giorni (XXXIII, 72 – 74). ¨Poscia, più che ´l dolor, poté ´l digiuno. (XXXIII, 75) Ed ecco qui la linea che magari ci rivela ciò che accade quando solo Ugolino rimane in vita. Sembra che Ugolino ci stia proprio ammettendo che in quei ultimi giorni la sua fame abbia avuto più forza che il proprio dolore d’aver perso i suoi figli. Detto questo ed insieme alla maniera in cui Ugolino sta mangiando la testa di Ruggieri sembra che il conte, nei suoi ultimi attimi, abbia risolto al cannibalismo di modo che possa allungare la sua vita. Questo è proprio indicativo del contrappasso che Dante gli attribuisce, come in vita il conte s´ha mangiato i propri figli ora nel inferno lui passa la sua eternità divorando al responsabile della sua sfortuna.