The two stories, Inferno by Dante and Paradise Lost by Milton, were written about the biblical hell and its keeper: Satan. Both of these authors had different views about the hell and Satan. In Paradis Lost, Milton wrote that Satan used to be an angel of God. The devil believed that he was equal to the Lord and he wanted to be greater than him.
For this, God banished him to hell. Milton's physical description of Satan is interesting. Since he used to be an angel, he still had wings, his eyes were blazed and he had a scaly skin.Satan was also an immense creature; the usual giant, 21 feet tall. It is noted that Satan had only one head, but Milton's depiction of him was this basic structure.
The contrasting view of Satan was written in Dante's Inferno. Satan was a very slimmy, puss filled demon. He had three heads, which were attached to his body. Inside each of the three mouths were the souls of people. One of the mouths contained Brutus, he was sent to Hell for betraying Caesar.
Dante viewed being traitor as a reason for being sent to hell. This was the Satan that Dante envisioned.There cannot be a Devil without hell. Milton's view of hell neede many things.
Hell was a desolate place in which the banished Satan ruled. He chooses to stay because he wanted to be hos own sovereign. He said, '' We can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven. Here at least we shall be free, here we may reign secure, and, in my choice, to reign is ambition, though in Hell: Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven. '' Hell to Milton was a terrain of burning flames. What he also believed was that it was eternally dark despite the flames.
It was the worst place imaginable.This was Milton's view of Hell. Hell in the Inferno was much different. Though Dante also thought that hell was the land where the devil was sent, he believed that it was an endless environment of bitter, frosty cold. Hell in Dante's eyes was continuous torture and pain inflicted on any soul who entered its gates.
This was the contrasting theory that Dante presented. Both Dante and Milton had wonderful detailed views of Satan himself, and the hell in which he lives. These two views in their on light were descriptive and captivating but different.The two authors had differenciated opinions and it was clearly evident in their literature.
In Dante's divine comedy, there are countless references to all forms of sins and the punishments of those who committed them. Dante goes into great detail when describing these sins and their consequences. Each punishment is perfectly fitting to the crime itself, so that the sinner desereves exactly what he is facing. Dante's work teaches the reader that sin is to be despised, and yet simultaneously weaves his own symbolism and meaning into his book.The Inferno is a book that can be read over and over because of how dense and complicated each canto is. Therefore, I will analyze one very specific canto which is widely known and loved and which caught my own attention.
My analysis will be on Canto V, which takes place in the second circle of Hell. Starting off with the first three lines in Canto V, Dante creates the image of how hell is shaped. He says, “…It encloses a smaller space, but so much more suffering that it goads the souls to shriek”.From this we can conclude that the first enclosure of Hell is Limbo and that each successive enclosure or circle gets smaller and smaller creating a funnel-like shape. Yet, while the circles get smaller in size they become greater in punishments, and the circumstances for these sinners become more and more uncomfortable.
Dante describes what goes on in the second circle of Hell. Dante writes, “Now the grief-stricken notes begin to make themselves heard; now I have come to where much weeping assails me”.Dante is appealing to our sense of sound. He describes the “music” of Hell, which is not like typical music, but made from the “accumulated dissonances of its grieving souls”. It is within the second circle that the real tortures of Hell begin. Dante says, “…that here all light is silent”.
He is using light as a metaphor for knowledge and also to set the scene for the second circle of Hell. Dante describes this circle as a dark place in which strong winds are blowing endlessly and torrential rain is falling uncontrollably.Like all of Dante’s illusions for each circle of hell, the setting and events taking place are literally meant to represent the sin of that circle. It is here that the souls of the damned are doomed to wander about forever in darkness and helplessly swirl about in the terrible storm. It is this metaphor that represents the souls' uncontrolled passion they allowed to dominate them in life.
We can conclude that the souls in this circle of Hell committed sins of the flesh. Dante writes, “to this torment were damned the carnal sinners who subject their reason to their lust”.
