Beneath The Surface Of The Inferno
The Inferno by Dante Alighieri portrays a frighteningly vivid vision of the Christian hell using poetic prose. He writes of a journey through the many levels of hell where he shows what sins will merit what punishments. There are other reasons for Dante’s writing of the Inferno. Dante states his objections to the impure deeds done by corrupt members of the Catholic Church utilizing sharp poetic observation. Dante’s words do show his bitter hostility against what the church has become, but the Inferno has purposes other than catalyzing changes in the papacy. He had strong political as well as spiritual beliefs that called for an absolute separation between church and state. Dante noticed Boniface VIII’s lust for greater political power. This caused him to fear for the fate the souls of the followers of a corrupt church official would suffer. The Inferno aided in bringing back parishioners to the path they have been lead astray from. Sister Mary Rose Gertrude describes Dante’s use of revelations and honesty that underlie the inferno. She states that “a spirit of renouncement was Dante's” (35) and that he “refused to acknowledge a ruler between himself and god” (35). Sister Gertrude makes further observa
There is no doubt that Dante carried much hatred within him, but he believed that his spiritual and personal opinions. He saw god as the only being that could decide where social power fell. So naturally he was furious when so called holy me sought power above their place. On accord with the ethical and esthetical theory he conceived and not from spite or a desire for revenge. Of course personal motives may have played a part; it is likely, for instance, that the repeated abuse of Pope Boniface had its root not only in Dante’s conviction that this poem degraded the papal see, but also in the fact that Dante’s personal misfortune were partly due to measures Boniface VIII had taken. But it is certainly true the reasons Dante wants to bring home to the reader have a stronger impact when each sin and each virtue is associated with a famous person. Here Dante deliberately follows the tradition of the Old Testament prophets, who made no bones about telling mighty lords the truth to their faces. (196) Writing the Inferno proved a challenge for Dante, it was necessary to portray what sins were the worst while showing the evil in the corrupt officials. According to Olof Lagercrantz in From Hell to Paradise, Dante named persons: Many of the patrons of Catholicism quietly took unjustified satisfaction in their attainments. Dante was not so quiet, he openly v
Some topics in this essay:
Boniface VIII,
Dante’s Enormous,
Boniface Guido’s,
George Santayana,
Catholic Church,
Boniface VIII’s,
Paradise Dante,
Dante Alighieri,
Rose Gertrude,
Pope Boniface,
writing inferno,
pope boniface,
boniface viii,
inferno dante,
church dante,
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Approximate Word count = 926
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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