In this poem, Dante gets lost in the darkness of the woods that sheds shivers down his spine. Dante travels into Inferno and Purgatory to get into Heaven. This journey is a mirror of the results of living a sinful life and the heavenly glory that sinners will not encounter if they continue with their sinful ways. Dante sees a mountain at a distance and moves towards it with an aim of ascending to the top. However, he encounters three beasts that block his way namely; a she-wolf, a leopard, and a lion. He is thus compelled to turn back into the forest where he encounters Virgil’s spirit. The spirit makes a promise to guide him in his journey through Purgatory to enable him reach the Paradise. Dante consents to Virgil’s proposal and thus goes after him into Hell.
In Hell, Dante encounters the horrible reprimand meted out on sinners because of their sinful lives when on earth. As Longfellow asserts “the souls of the uncommitted are tormented by biting insects and damned to chase a blank banner around for eternity.” In Purgatory, Dante encounters the souls that are ready to soar into Heaven after purification through punishment. In this section, the souls of those who were saved when on earth make repentance for their sinful ways where they are purified prior to going to Heaven. In the final part, Dante gets into Heaven. When heading there, he sails across the space and encounters several planets populated with saints. After witnessing the greatness of the mighty God on the thrown, Dante goes back to earth and writes this poem.
Inferno
This is the first part of the poem. Just like a person in exile, Dante feels overwhelmed by the happenings in his life at the start of Inferno. As Longfellow asserts “the ancient Roman poet Virgil (a hero of Dante’s) appears in the poem to guide him through Hell in an effort to save Dante’s soul.” The Inferno part is at the center of the universe and has nine circles. The sinful souls in Hell are the ones who never repented during their stay on earth. As such, they are committed to Hell to answer for the sins they did when they were on earth. These sins have to be paid for, a concept that Dante calls “Contrapasso” (Alighieri). In this part, the retribution principle of “an eye for an eye” applies since the sinners pay in equal measures for their sins when on earth. For instance, in the circle number eight in Hell is where sorcerers with dark magic that they used to foresee the future have their heads rewound backwards in a painful way for eternity. In Hell, its structure is arranged in a way that resembles an inverted cone. As Longfellow asserts “each descending circle becomes smaller and contains more depraved souls and more intense suffering.” At the entry of Hell, there are those people who are undecided of whether or not to accept God.
After entry into Hell, the first division consists of the unbaptized souls as well as pagans who were born prior to the coming of Jesus Christ. Such people as Dante points are Virgil, Plato, and Aristotle. The second division is made of lust sinners, the third division is made of gluttony sinners, the fourth division is made of greed sinners, and the fifth division is made of rage and depression sinners. The sixth division is made of heretics, the seventh division is made of violence perpetrators, the eighth division is made of deceivers, and the ninth division is made of betrayers of trust. Longfellow asserts that “at the deepest region of circle nine, a three-faced Satan, stuck in a frozen lake, chews o the worst betrayers of all time such as Judas, for betraying Jesus, and Brutus and Cassius, for betraying Julius Caesar.”
Purgatory
After the tiresome experience in inferno, Dante accompanied by Virgil get out and heads to Purgatory. In Purgatory, sinful souls that were repentant when on earth are subjected to a painful cleansing to get lid of all their sinful nature and thus get into Heaven after purification. According to Longfellow “Purgatory is shaped like a mountain and is divided into seven different levels, associated with the seven deadly sins of pride, envy, wrath, sloth, covetousness, gluttony, and lust.” Purgatory exists as a way of cleansing the persons who struggled with the deceiving ways of the earth such as lust, but they were repentant of these sins.
Unlike those committed to Hell, the souls committed to Purgatory accept the punishment meted out on them because it is through it that they are cleansed and made ready to enter into Heaven. As they undertake their punishment, the souls in Purgatory glorify and give praise to God and beg Dante to plead with people on earth to remember them in prayers. In Purgatory “the souls are free to move across the seven levels for purification” (Alighieri). In the seventh division just after Purgatory, at the peak of the mountain, is the paradise on earth. At this division, Virgil vanishes and the next guide appears.
Paradise or Heaven
On reaching the last part, Virgil disappears because he is a pagan and thus cannot get into Heaven. Beatrice replaces Virgil in guiding Dante through Heaven. As Alighieri asserts “Beatrice was Dante’s real-life love interest and muse for much of his poetry, so it is fitting that she acts as Dante’s guide to the divine.” In this part, Beatrice is evidently the ultimate mediator of Dante’s salvation. This is symbolic of the link between God and humanity with Jesus Christ as the ultimate mediator. Additionally, Dante praises Beatrice as his mediator and guide toward his eternal journey to meet God. This part, Heaven, is stratified into nine divisions, which are symbolic of the nine planets. It is characterized with music, sweet melodies, and happiness. The souls and other supernatural beings live in the presence of the holiness of God.
Composition
When reading this poem for the first time, one encounters a very unique problem of a different society, religion, culture, and political structure where everything is under the control papacy. The presented Hell on earth is symbolic of a huge funnel at the core of the universe that was allegedly formed when Lucifer and his followers were through out of Paradiso after they rebelled. According to Longfellow “Satan was cast all the way to the very center of the Earth, has remained there since, and will remain there through all of eternity.” The less offensive sinners are at the upper divisions of the depression whereas persistent and hardcore sinners are at the lower divisions where punishment is more severe.
The sins of the souls of individuals become excessively traitorous, spiteful, murderous, and offensive as Dante moves downwards from one division to the other. The divisions end with the Satan devouring the top most traitors of all times. Dante’s idea of punishment is among the most imaginative stories of all times that may present a contemporary reader with some challenge to understand. Following Dante all through his poem reveals the wildest imagination of a form of punishment that human beings’ minds can ever conceive. Allegorically, the poem is hard to understand for a normal reader than its symbolic significance.
Conclusion
In conclusion, “Divine Comedy” by Dante Alighieri presents a daunting journey of his soul from Inferno and Purgatory to Heaven accompanied by Virgil and Beatrice as his guides. In Hell, Dante encounters the horrible reprimand meted out on sinners because of their sinful lives when on earth. The Inferno (Hell) part is at the center of the universe and has nine circles In Purgatory, Dante encounters the souls that are ready to soar into Heaven after purification through punishment. The final part is Heaven, which is characterized with music, sweet melodies, and happiness. Heaven is stratified into nine divisions, which are symbolic of the nine planets. The souls and other supernatural beings live in the presence of the holiness of God. Beatrice is evidently the ultimate mediator of Dante’s salvation and she is symbolic of Jesus Christ who mediates between humanity and God.
Works Cited
Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy. 1st ed. New York: Grolier. Print.
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. The Divine Comedy Inferno Purgatory Paradise Translated: Dante Alighieri (1265-1321). 1st ed. Dallas, Texas: The World View Library, 2008. Print.
