Examples Of Incontinence In Dante's Inferno

In Dante Alighieri’s “Inferno” which is the part of a greater poem Divine Comedy incontinence is the sin which is mentioned to be punished in the second circle of hell through the fifth circles. Incontinence is a feeling of desire of sex, power, wealth and food in which an individual lacks in self-control. It is described as an unchecked desire. In his philosophy Dante views incontinence as the most basic and most forgivable category of sins. The incontinent sinners constantly allow their urges (desire) to control them. Sinners have no control over them. They often commit sins to overcome their physical and materialistic urges. They do not think and act on their feelings, as the incontinent sinners deny their human civility. Dante often describes them in animal imagery. In his poem Dante uses symbolism to mirror the negative significance we people are consumed with and have a

The infernal whirlwind, which never rests, drives the spirits before its violence; turning and striking it tortures them.( Canto 5 line 28-33)
Dante sees a place with no light and sounds of a storm at sea. He hears the shrieking sounds of the spirits being punished. Dante learns that these spirits are punished for the unfortunate lustfulness. Dante asks Virgil if he could identify some of the souls and he tells him of some known people such as Cleopatra, Helen, Semiramis and Dido. Dante talks to Francesca (soul) and hears her tragic story of how she and her lover ended up in hell. Francesca was married an old and deformed man named Gianciotto however she fell in love with Paolo da Rimini Gianciotto’s. She tells Dante how they confessed their love for each other as it states in the book,
We were reading one day, for pleasure, of
Lancelot, how Love beset him; we were alone and
Without any suspicion.
When we read…….
And I fell as a dead body falls( Canto 5 line