Fraud And Aftermath Essay, Research Paper

In his poem The Divine Comedy. The Inferno, Dante Alighieri gives his

audience a clear vivid presentation of what he as a follower of the

Christian religion perceives to be hell. Dante shows that human sin is

punishable in various degrees of severity and that this is dependent on

the nature of one^?s sinful actions. He sets forth what could very well be

the most fully developed Christian understanding of justice on earth, and

that is; that what we do as human beings will determine what happens to us

in the event of death based on God^?s judgment. In writing his poem Dante

uses symbolism, allegorism and imagery among other literary effects to

place his poem analogically to life as it was during his day and age.

Dante structures The Inferno around thirty four cantos. Each of these

cantos marks a steady progression from the mildest to the worst of sins.

The cantos depict sinners under various forms of punishment which are

commensurate to the nature of their sins.

Dante categorizes sin into three different categories of fraud,

incontinence and violence. In canto I he mentions three animals namely , a

leopard, a lion and a she-wolf. These animals act as symbolisms for the

various types of sins. The sin^?s depicted in canto XVIII are symbolized

by the she-wolf which acts as a symbol for the sins of fraud. The sins of

fraud are placed the furthest from God in the deepest pits of hell, near

Satan. In canto XVIII Dante and his guide Virgil find themselves in the

eighth circle, called the Malebolge. It is in the Malebolge, that each of

the kinds of simple fraud are punished in the concentric ditches.

In the first ditch, Dante sees two files of naked sinners each running in

opposite direction, whipped by demons. These sinners are the panderers and

the seducers. Dante recognizes Venedico Caccianemico, a man he once knew.

Venedico in this case is depicted as having sold his sister, Ghisola to

serve the will and lust of another man, Marquis. Dante at this point uses

a fellow contemporary to show what happens when one goes against the will

of God and sins. Venedico betrays his family ties and his indifference in

this act results in his eternal punishment of being whipped by demons.

Also mentioned as having been punished is Jason, who suffers punishment

for having seduced and abandoned Hypsipyle and Medea. For these two

sinners Dante^?s allegory revolves around the law of retributive justice

where both Venedico^?s and Jason^?s psychology^?s at the time of

committing sin are tied in with the punishment of whip lashing by demons.

Both sinners place their personal needs and interests above others and are

now placed under the whip lashing and oppressive command of indifferent

demons.

Dante and Virgil move over to a bridge and below it, Dante sees the ditch

of the flatterers. It is in this trench that persons who had sinned as

flatterers are punished by being made to wallow in a river of human

excrement from which emanates nauseating fumes. Dante recognizes Alessio

Interminelli da Lucca. Allesio is smeared all over with excrement. Virgil

alerts Dante of the presence of yet another sinner, Tha?s. Tha?s is

punished in the same way as Alessio, but is made to alternatively rise and

crouch in the river of excrement. Tha?s is punished for being a prostitute

and for a flattering lie that she told while in the trade. The punishment

that this two consequently suffer is the eternal stench and filth of the

ditch. Tha?s in this canto perpetuates the image of ingenuine love which

turns out to be a mere outlet for bodily urges and needs. From the

perspective of Tha?s^? and Allesio^?s punishment we see that they both

undergo the process of retributive justice. Flatterers, due to their abuse

of language wallow in excrement which metaphorically symbolizes the words

they used in flattering others on earth.

In conclusion it can be seen that Dante views fraud as a sin that

separates human beings from God^?s grace and love. Dante presents to his

audience a poem that creates a better understanding of the consequences of

sinful human actions. He bases The Inferno on the teachings found in the

Christian religion and offers to the audience a typological reading that

makes it clear that what will happen to each individual in the after life

will be determined solely by one^?s actions on earth.

Works Consulted

Faulie, Wallace A reading of Dante^?s Inferno , The University of Chicago Press,

1981 199-123

Alighieri, Dante The Divine Comedy. Inferno, The Norton Anthology, World

Masterpieces. General Ed. Maynard Mack 6th ed. W. W. Norton and Company ,1992.

1273-1423