Monday, April 20, 2015
In Cantos 1-11, I found Dante's reactions to the suffering souls interesting. In the second circle, he meets the lovers Paolo and Francesca and says to Francesca, "What you suffer here melts me to tears of pity and of pain"(50), and their story and displays of grief cause him to faint. When he meets Ciacco in the third circle of gluttons he expresses the same compassion, saying, "Your agony weighs on my heart and calls my soul to tears"(56). But in the fifth circle of the wrathful, Dante sees Filippo Argenti and wishes to "see the wretch scrubbed down into the swill"(69), praising God for his torment. He then witnesses a group of wraiths attack Filippo. This is one of the most disturbing sufferings that Dante has seen thus far, but instead of showing the same remorse that he was so moved by previously, he is pleased by Filippo's punishment. The notes for the chapter explain that Filippo was one of Dante's political enemies, but even so, it's striking to me that even on his journey away from wordily affairs that plague men's souls and towards a more enlightened state guided by Reason and the Divine, he still denies his enemies any compassion and pleasures in their pain.
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I agree that his reactions are startling and striking, but I think there is a reason he does this. In trying to communicate to the readers of the Divine Comedy, he is telling them that the only way to get onto the right path, is to harden your heart to sin, and not tolerate it at all. Dante the pilgrim learns this as he descends further into hell, and Dante the poet is passing this message along to the readers.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Andrew, but I also think that hell beings to have its effect on Dante. After spending a large quantity of time there he beings to absorb the chaos and hopelessness that is the inferno. Originally, he was astounded at the treatment of the souls perishing in hell, yet it becomes more of a normality the longer he spends there.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Andrew and Annie. I too was somewhat surprised by Dante's reactions as he progressed through his journey through Hell. Initially, I feel like Dante was more sympathetic to the soul's he encountered in Hell I feel like this was partially because it was such an astounding concept to become acclimated with so quickly. However, as Annie said, I feel like as he continued his trek through the inferno I feel like he was more so able to recognize the normality of the souls suffering. By the time he sees his enemies suffering there punishment, I feel as if he is already more accepting of the type of punishment souls endure in hell, in addition to them already being his enemies which would also contribute to his lack of sympathy.
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