Preview

Contrapasso In Dante's Inferno

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
70 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Contrapasso In Dante's Inferno
In Dante’s Inferno and the Apocalypse of Peter the sinners experienced the notion contrapasso which is that for every sinner's crime there was an equal and fitting punishment. There was some kind of connection between sin and punishment. As in God’s Demon, there was not a connection between sin and punishment. The demons and some human souls were all just punished with the ultimate punishment of converting them into bricks.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Contrapasso means suffer the opposite. It refers to the punishment of souls in Dante's Inferno by a process either resembling or contrasting with the sin itself. There are many examples of contrapasso in Dante’s Inferno, as he travels ever deeper into the depths of hell. In the Inferno, we are given a tour through Hell by Dante, who is a middle-aged man. The Inferno is a story of a journey given by two different Dantes: Dante the pilgrim and Dante the author. He has a natural emotion of pity, which he is often reprimanded for. At the beginning of his journey, he is confronted by three animals. These animals represent the three rings of Hell. The first one is the she-wolf, representing incontinence, the second is the lion, representing violence, and the third is the leopard, representing fraud and deception. According to Dante, fraud and deception are the worst sins, followed by violence, then incontinence. Virgil is Dante’s guide throughout this treacherous journey. Dante uses the concept of contrapasso to express his own views on ethics of various sins, reflecting on the cultural and political state of Italy at the time.…

    • 1679 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    In The Inferno through the sins humanity has committed it shows how lost we can become. Sin brings out our inner being, or our inner self, and because of this the sins we commit on Earth (lust, greed, selfishness, deceit, hypocrisy, etc.), we are eternally punished forever in hell for them. Dante’s journey through hell is metaphorically meant to show the sins of the whole human race. This metaphorical road to righteousness is first told to the readers when Dante states, “Midway on our life’s journey, I found myself in dark woods, the right road lost” (I.1-2). Dante signifies in his allegory that the true path to enlightenment which is God’s faith and love through this sinful world is to take it spiritually, but to do so the reader must leave the literal world behind. As the journey progresses and the punishments on the tortured souls become more graphically illustrated it is Dante’s way to personify sin so the readers can connect, relate, and understand evil and sin. In the 1001 Nights King Shahriyar’s wounded ego and pride (the cause for him to first run away, and then lash out at his subjects) which turn him into an evil and wicked ruler is finally cured through the continuation of stories that Sharizad tells Shahriyar. She keeps Shahriyar entranced every night by leaving the story off at a cliff hanger and saying, “what is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow if the king spares me and lets me live? It will be even better and more entertaining” (18). Part of the reason she does this is to help spare another young girls life and thus saving the kingdom, but she also does it to help King Shahriyar heal his shattered heart and ego. It was through the stories in which Sharizad illustrates to King Shahriyar the value and importance of a person, most especially in women. She provides examples of obedient and chaste women: the…

    • 1502 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dante the Pilgrim visits many different people while on his journey through Hell in Dante’s Inferno. Each one of these tormented souls are punished for their crimes against themselves, society, and God. Most of these personalities bring no surprise as they are robbers, murderers, and blasphemers. However, the amount of Church authority figures in Hell is staggeringly high. The ironic revelation is never fully dissected by Dante but the implications of this writing may cause the public to turn a leery eye towards the Church. Throughout Dante’s Inferno, the sights of “Holy” men rotting in Hell create a rift between the teachings of the church and the common citizens.…

    • 744 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the book “The Inferno of Dante” Dante uses stars as a symbolic meaning at the end of the book. Dante uses stars to symbolize the heavens and freedom. Virgil helps Dante understand the gravity switch at the center of the earth as they climb Lucifer. Dante and Virgil climb out to see the sky. Dante’s 24 hour journey comes to an end “where [he] came forth, and once more saw the stars”.…

    • 157 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This movie is about the story of Edmund Dantes who is being imprisoned more than a decade. He is innocent from the crime that they are accusing to him. After so many years, he got a chance to escape and get revenge to those people behind his sufferings in life.…

    • 228 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In my opinion i think that Gustave Dore's is best to illustrate Dante's Inferno. In the 9 circles of hell it talks about evil gruesome torments and Dore’s pictures best fit the description of dark and evil.…

    • 242 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The thirteenth canto of Dante’s The Inferno clearly depicts several of the different themes that can be seen throughout the poem. Some of these themes are the idea of contrapasso, or the notion that the punishment dealt fits the crime committed, the portrayal of Hell as being devoid of hope, and the importance of fame. The images and language Dante uses to describe his experiences in the middle ring of the seventh circle of Hell, which houses the suicides, provide the reader with the feeling of despair and hopelessness present throughout the text, while also serving to show the idea of contrapasso and the underlying importance of fame.…

    • 1516 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Dante’s Inferno Critique

    • 2263 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Dante’s Inferno is a story about how two men and their travels through hell, the different levels of hell, who was in them, and what they did during their time on Earth. There were nine circles and some of them had different levels inside the circles for example the seventh circle of hell is divided between three smaller circles. Then they eventually emerge back out onto the earth but on the opposite side of the earth from where they had started.…

    • 2263 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The purpose behind the use of the contrapasso is to elaborate how your sins will ultimately determine your punishment in hell. In Canto III, Dante explains how the souls here are lost. souls here are considered neutral because they have not sinned, but they were sent to the underworld. When the souls were alive, they had an undecided relationship with God which also explains why the souls are considered neutral. Consequently, their neutral attributes cause them to be punished by walking inside of a crowd following a banner. Moreover, Dante uses symbolism by using the banner as a leader, serving as their punishment. In Canto V, Dante examines the lustful and the lovers. Accordingly, Dante uses the contropasso for those who lust would be thrown…

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dante’s Inferno depicts all the different types of major sins you can commit in your lifetime and the punishments you will endure thereafter. Dante had a system for these punishments that worked on the idea of divine justice. Basically, whatever temptations you succumbed to, you will be punished in a deserving manner based on how bad the sin was. Dante’s 9 circles were in order from bad to worse, 9 being the worst.…

    • 434 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Throughout the fast-paced lives of people, we are constantly making choices that shape who we are, as well as the world around us; however, one often debates the manner in which one should come to correct moral decisions, and achieve a virtuous existence. Dante has an uncanny ability to represent with such precision, the trials of the everyman's soul to achieve morality and find unity with God, while setting forth the beauty, humor, and horror of human life. Dante immediately links his own personal experience to that of all of humanity, as he proclaims, "Midway along the journey of our life / I woke to find myself in a dark wood, / for I had wandered off from the straight path" (I.1-3). The dark wood is the sinful life on earth, and the straight path is that of the virtuous life that leads to God. Dante's everyman, pilgrim…

    • 1408 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The story of Dante’s Divine Comedy is one that is now read throughout the world and is highly regarded as one of the great literary works of all time. The most famous of the Divine Comedy, the Inferno, is the story of Dante’s journey through Hell. With the great poet, Virgil, as his guide, they make their way through the nine circle of Hell in which Dante describes. While, very much a religious work, it is also just as political in substance because of the ways in which Dante draws on his life experiences to influence and shape his version of Hell. His descriptions of Hell are still wildly popular and oftentimes form the basis of how modern day societies view Hell. An example of this lasting popularity is the 2010 video game in which the…

    • 1822 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    No one wants to suffer for eternity however for some it’s a reality.The suffering of souls was shown countless ways in the spiritual epic Dante’s Inferno.In this spiritual epic Dante is guided through hell to prevent him for continuing his poor choices.Some of these punishments were contrapasso,which means a punishment that is symbolic to their sin.Knowing all of this information I will be explaining a certain level of hell and why its punishment and its location is contrapasso.…

    • 409 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “The Inferno” is an epic poem following the journey of Dante a mortal man who was guided through the many circles of Hell. Through his experiences he learns that divine retribution is pure justice of God; for all the punishment the tormented souls endure in Hell corresponds to whatever sins they have committed in life. Every circle in hell has an assigned punishment for the corresponding sinners within them. At the beginning of Dante’s journey he was horrified and felt pity and compassion toward the tortured souls he encountered. Through his journey Dante’s attitude changes from pity and compassion to ridiculing and wishing more punishment of divine retribution upon the sinners within the circles of hell. Through my essay I will discuss cantos V, VIII, and XXXII.…

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dantes Inferno Essay

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the Inferno, mutilation is the most common way for those in hell to be given the ineluctable punishment for their sins. Mutilation is an act or physical injury that degrades the appearance or function of the body. Mutilation is both used in the inferno as a way to cause physical pain to those in hell, but the form of mutilation used on the sinners is also a form of emotional torture because it pertains directly to their sin. Because mutilation is used so frequently in the inferno Dante must use varying ways to depict the mutilation that is forced on the sinners. Dante uses vivid imagery, Homeric similes, and symbolism to help develop the theme of mutilation as he travels through the Inferno.…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays