Document Title: Dante’s portrayal of the inferno and purgatory

Paper code: 13060

Dante’s portrayal of the inferno and purgatory

Question: Compare and contrast Dante’s portrayal of the inferno and purgatory. What conclusions do you draw?

Dante’s Inferno and purgatory

The realm of Purgatory appeared briefly at the end of Dante's Inferno when Dante finally escaped from Hell. When Dante slowly made his way out of a cave, naked and stripped of all of his equipment, he walked out to the view of a large mountain with several waterfalls streaming out of it at several points. Stating, "I did not die and I did not live," Dante smiled and ripped the cross-shaped tapestry off his chest, tossing it aside. Dante began to walk toward the mountain. His long journey through the Inferno finally came to an end, but his journey through Purgatory had only just began.

Dante’s Inferno

The Inferno describes Dante's journey through Hell, guided by the ancient Roman poet Virgil. In the poem, Inferno is depicted as nine concentric circles of torment located within the Earth; it is the "realm ... of those who have rejected spiritual values by yielding to bestial appetites or violence, or by perverting their human intellect to fraud or malice against their fellowmen".

The message of Dante's Inferno is that human beings are subject to temptation and commit sins, leaving no escape from the eternal punishments of hell. However, human beings have free will, and they can make choices to avoid temptation and sin, ultimately earning the eternal rewards of heaven.