Dante'S Inferno

Literature is an art. It demands the imagination of the reader, and in return the literature will communicate the message at whatever level is desired. It is not uncommon for many literary works to operate on more than various level; there are facts and truths, which are immediately apparent, and in contrast, the symbolism or allegories that may be present upon deeper investigation and exploration. In works regarding religion or spiritual matters, oftentimes it is very common to find symbolism, and this is very true of Dante's 'Divine Comedy,' a work so full of symbolism that there is only time enough to concentrate on the first two cantos of the first book Inferno.

When putting this work into context so that the symbolism may be appreciated, we must remember that this was written a long time ago. It was written at a time when religious beliefs were different from the way they are practiced and interpreted toady. "In looking at the poems by Dante we need to understand that he portrayed his beliefs exactly as he saw them. Not the physical conditions and the geography of the land, but by way of the condition of the soul in the after life" (Scartazzini 21).

While looking for symbolism within the individual cantos, we must also remember the symbolisms of the book as a whole. The entire work is divided into three separate sections; Inferno is the first, followed by Purgatory and ending with Paradise. The order of this work is symbolic in terms of structure. There is a single canto as an introduction, and then each of the three books is made up of thirty three cantos. This gives us a total of 100 cantos. This number is seen, at this time, by the Christian Church as a number representing perfection (Dante). The way this is calculated is that 100 is 10

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squared, and 10 is also the squared number of 3 plus 1. This is significant as it is the holy trinity of 3, plus the 1 which is seen as representing the unity of God within the trinity (Dante). Therefore, it is obvious that structure is purposefully symbolic so we can assume that there are purposeful symbols in the work for us to find when we start looking at the poem in its sections. The first canto is that where Dante is in the wood, walking towards a hill and meets Virgil; it is right at this early stage where the symbolism starts. At the beginning of the first canto it appears to be spring;

" The time was at the beginning of the morning, and the Sun was

mounting upward with those stars that were with him when Love Divine

first set in motion those beautiful things"

(Dante).

It is interesting and symbolic that the poem starts in a representation of spring, and spring is often seen as the beginning of things, a time when life comes back to the earth and is seen in the old traditions as "a season of creation" (Dante). It is also well to remember that at this time Dante would have believes the sun to be a planet that orbited the earth and not visa versa as we known today (Dante).

So we are starting at the beginning, and the first event that occurs is on his walk he meets three animals " concerning that wild beast with the dappled skin...... of a lion ...... And a she-wolf" (Dante). These are symbolic, although it is not until later (canto XI) that we find out why, and that there forms represent forms that we may associate with hell, which is also the inferno. In the later canto we find that this is a symbolism of the

"triple division of sins" these are the beasts of incontinence, violence and

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finally fraud (Dante).

The landscape is also very symbolic in these first two cantos. The forest, we see as un-welcoming and forbidding. We can look at in the wholeness as well as in the individual symbolism of each aspect. Ralphs (63) tells us that this forest can be seen as symbolism in two ways, representing two perspectives which do not contradict each other but work together. The first is that of the way in which the land is a representation of the world (Ralphs 63). This is almost the same as that which me might seen on the surface level of reading the poem. If we look at the individual parts of the landscape, we can see both their literal as well as symbolic meaning as being appropriate for a symbolic hell. There are dark abysms, jagged rocks, mud, slime, rivers of blood and terrible weather conditions. All of these can be seen as symbolic of the many different aspects of the violence and horrible things in the world. The dark depths and the undesirable places that exist in our world and we interpret as hell on earth as translated into natural landscapes which are just as horrific.

Ralphs notes that the second meaning of the forest and landscape goes deeper, and this time it is seen as the representation of the soul, which is sinful and requires cleansing (Ralphs 63). The entire theme of this work is the sinful nature of man, and how the sin is caused by the connection of man to earthly desires.

The soul may be seen as being subject not only to the internal forces of a man's own desires and personality, but also to external forces. The message in this instance is that salvation, that is getting out of this land, is available only though Christ, as this is an external force that will overcome these obstacles (Ralphs 63).

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This first part of the journey is the soul's physical and spiritual journey into Hell. The depths and horrors which are seen are interpreted by Ralphs as the horrors and depths of the individual's own soul and we can see the demonic dimension of the landscape, giving us another clue to the symbolism and perspective of Hell. The demon or devil, Lucifer, can be seen at the root of all the evil. He was a light bearer, but fell to earth.

The world is also dark and starless, which also is symbolic, but its apparent symbolism also takes further reading into the book. The darkness is also associated with sin and lack of purity. In this part of the poem there is no light, only an absence of light, and as such there is an absence of purity and of love and good, all the things that we would naturally associate with the light. Therefore, to be stuck at this level when one dies can be seen as associated with darkness, despair and pain (Knight 95).

In the second canto Dante shows us he doubts himself, but is sent some help in the form of Virgil: " O Muses, O lofty genius, now assist me! O mind that didst inscribe that which I saw, here shall thy nobility appear" (Dante