Why Dante? Lemme tell ya'

Dante is the ideal character for "Dante's Inferno" because he is the perfect example of everything he witnesses. It's as though his future is being shown before him. As he ventures through each level of hell, Dante notes either internally or externally that he is a sinner to each as well. His lust sits with Beatrice, his hypocrisy in his political views and so on. Dante is easily relatable in that as a reader, we don't really know much about him. He holds basic, broad personal traits in that he feels sympathy for the dying souls, but happiness from the torture of those he dislikes. Furthermore, he holds himself on a pedistool, thinking himself a highly ranked poet and philosopher among Homer and Socrates. Finally, because it's Dante's personal hell, he creates a hell that is pertinent to himself only. In this case, it's the hell of a man who's just like everyone else. It's not a stab at the humorous hell of a rock star being stuck in a room with Hannah Montana, but rather a hell that would/could pertain to any average person reading it.

Cantos 13-20

Canto 17, lines 32-33
The master said, "To experience this ring
Fully, go toward: learn what their state is,

You say not to moralize, but it's really hard not to for a line like this. Just as it's necessary to go through hell before reaching heaven, you've got to walk in a person's shoes before judging what they've been through. In this case, the master explains how Dante could never understand this ring of hell until he faces it up close and personal. Furthermore, this theme is important throughout the entirety of the soliloquoy in that in order for Dante to progress in his life, he must look at hell up close and personal in order to understand and avoid what he could potentially go through.

Canto 20, lines 19-22
Reader (God grant you benefit of this book)
Try to imagine, yourself, how I could have kept
Tears of my own from falling for the sake
Of our human image so grotesquely reshaped,

This passage really surprised me in the tone change. Dante rarely speaks directly to the reader and by using this technique, I felt more connected to Dante and to his experiences. Dante dictates the sympathy we should be feeling instead of simply assuming our feelings. This being said, it sounds kind of arrogant of Dante. I know in class we debated (slightly) over whether he was arrogant or not but there's a tone about this passage that makes it seem he is. He forces the reader to feel sorry for him and think of him as some brave soul by saying, "try to imagine, yourself, how i could have kept tear of my own from falling," when in reality, I would have preferred to feel sympathy for him on my own accord, not be told to. So, for a style choice, I thought that was a little different. So, while I appreciated the direct message for the reader, I didn't like being told how to feel.

Cantos 6-12

Agony, none is so repellent." He said:
"Your city, so full of envy that the sack
Spills over, held me once when I enjoyed

I thought this passage was ironic in that Ciacco, who is in hell, speaks of a city "so full of envy,"Here's Dante who is traveling through hell, not receiving its wrath, yet it's Ciacco, in hell, who speaks of envy elsewhere. Furthermore, Dante is under the assumption he's going to heaven so his path is already laid out to be free of punishment. Because Ciacco makes this statement, it puts forth the idea about Dante's hometown and past.

Canto 8, line 6-8
The eye could barely catch it. I turned to face
My sea of knowledge and said, Oh Master, say:
What does this beacon mean? And the other fire-

It's interesting to see not only the journey of Dante through hell, but also his journey as a person. Dante began his journey at the bottom of the mountain, seemingly quite confident, yet equally lost. Above, we see that Dante has become the
"Gus" on "The Inferno," asking relaying countless, unanswerable questions toward Virgil. Although not necessarily arrogant before, Dante has morphed into a very dependent man, weak and unsure of much. This is seen by his excess fainting and dependence on Virgil. It'll be interesting to see how Dante continues to change throughout, whether he'll really find himself or just become more lost and unaware.

Sunday March 8, 2009

Canto 4:
That they sinned not: and if they merit had,
'Tis not enough, because they had not baptism
Which is the portal of the Faith thou holdest;

The verses following explain how not everyone is meant for heaven or hell which was really interesting I thought. It made the content more relatable because the infants, women and men didn't commit sins but rather made bad moral decisions- what we all (espcially high schoolers) commit every day. Furthermore, it seems like Dante isn't a horrible person, and therefore it's easy to assume that that's Dante's reason for being in the Inferno.

Canto 5:
Love, that on gentle heart doth swiftly seize,
Seized this man for the person beautiful
That was ta'en from me, and still the mode offends me.

Love, that exempts no one beloved from loving
Seized me with pleasure of this man so strongly,
That, as thou seest, it doth not yet desert me;

Love has conducted us unto one death;
Caina waiteth him who quenched our life!"
These words were borne along from them to us.

Throughout "The Inferno," differing uses of syntax don't seem to be that prevelant. So when these passages do use parallel structure, it seems like they're being used to get the reader's attention because something important is going on. In this case, the good vs. bad is very apparent. In the previous Canto, Canto 4, the horrible screams and images were described. In Canto 5, the sinners are the prostitues and lovers (i.e. Cleopatra), so a more gentler, loving tone is used. This tone change and use of the repitition of "love," it was very apparent that the good and evil was being compared.