Dante's Inferno Wealth

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Dante was born during the time of Florence economic, political, and social expansion. During the fourteenth century, Dante was a young man and he was just starting to see the true identity of Florence and Italy overall. Population began to increases in hundreds (Salvemini 317). During Dante’s birth in 1265 and even after his death, Florence grew tremendously in both population and economy. This sudden growth gave rise to a higher and more respected socioeconomic class of individuals who strived in power by wealth (Cary 320). Florence’s royal court were lustful and showed lack of manners. This type of behavior influenced the Christian church to act certain unethical ways as well. The highest of church officials such as popes and cardinals no…show more content…
In the fourth circle of Dante’s Inferno were the hoarders, wasters, and the angry and Virgil’s explanation of Fortune (Musa 129). Dante’s view of Fortune is an angel-like guide sent by God to distribute wealth among the people of the world. With Dante’s constant argument of materialism and fortune being a sin he brings up this alliteration of Fortune (or Fortuna) into his readings to enhance the reader to put into thought the idea of wealth and how it is meant to be distributed by God’s will and Fortuna’s guidance. Virgil states that people are so close-minded that they cannot rationalize the idea of Fortune therefore Dante Christianizes Fortune as a type of angel so that the reader can better understand the concept of God’s law and how higher officials break it and sin to gain power (Musa 70-72 61-63 pg 131 ). Dante’s opinion of Fortune is very well depicted on Canto VII because he has seen sin in his homeland from government officials and church members and therefore uses the idea of Fortune (or Fortuna) to intensify the argument of how being a hoarder of money is a sin to God and that there is judgment paid in the…show more content…
As more and more people started living in Florence, its streets witnessed hunger and homelessness and the higher officials gained wealth and power (Dameron 3). From 1250-1330, Florence expanded greater than other cities such as Venice and Genoa because of its population growth and its merchants wise speculations (Dameron 4). In the Inferno, Dante states how Florence has grown widely from “sudden wealth” (Musa 73-75 pg 216 ). However, he continues with a very strong statement that defines how sinfully Florence has risen to become a “great” city by unworthy acts of “greed and arrogance” (Dameron 3). The Inferno was written during the Middle Ages where there were no types of compassionate laws. Whatever laws one would break were punished by a variety of dreadful tortures. Dante emphasizes a great deal of torture in the Inferno to allow the reader to visualize the punishments one would have if one were to sin and went to hell (Cary 337). He emphasize these types of torture in the Inferno to enhance his argument of punishment a person who sinned would have. These tortures were a notch more painful than what the people from that era had ever witnessed. The tortures Dante illustrates in the Canto VII of the Inferno and throughout the book would give people chills just by imagining the horrific persecutions and suffering souls have in hell from sin. In the Inferno this judgment is given to any person of any title or age
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