Dantes Inferno

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The Inferno of Dante is an epic poem written by Dante in the 13th century. It was originally composed the Italian language; Robert Pinsky translated this story. Within the plot, there is a reoccurring theme of individuals not being able to escape pain in the complex circles of Hell. Throughout the story, the main character, Dante, experiences many situations where he has varying degrees of reactions when seeing those that are in Hell, displaying sympathy and anger; the pity that he feels in many circles is rivaled by his lack of patience and understanding he encompasses in the other circles. In the second circle, Dante feels sympathy for Helen and Cleopatra. On the other hand, Dante feels wrath and anger in the fifth circle when he encounters…show more content…
The punishment is rain composed of fire and it falls down on the people in this Hell. The result is charred faces for those that are in this place in Hell, “Now the firm margin bears us, under the vapor rising from the stream to form a shade and fend the fire off, sheltering both banks and water.” The conditions here are not pleasant, as mist surrounds those there. They are also being consumed in fire. Dante meets people that he shows through his actions that he thinks that they should not have to endure this…show more content…
The eighth circle houses those that committed sins correlating with fraud. Virgil sees Dante enjoying the spectacle of people hurting one another, “Stare a little longer, and I will quarrel with you!” Dante then feels upset at himself for going against what Virgil thought, “I turned to him with such a feeling of shame that it still circles through my memory.” After Virgil’s words to Dante about threatening to argue with him about watching the people in Hell fight each other, Dante feels shameful. The way that Dante reacts after Virgil’s words shows that he really honors what Virgil has to say; Dante looks up to him. Dante will not forget how he made Virgil angry. Dante realizes after Virgil speaks to him that he should not pity nor enjoy those that are suffering in the various circles of Hell. Dante thinks that he needs to listen to Virgil and not take the punishments for these people to
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