Finding Happiness In Dante's Divine Comedy

If there was one, it would have to say "Happiness is by defining what is not" (Kenneth Benjamin). Pleasure, wants, money, none of that is happiness. Happiness is what we strive to achieve, what we work hard for and we finally have succeed. To watch are selves reach our potential. Overall, happiness is the growth of a person, the journey they take, and final results of all the arduous

Not many achieve happiness in their lifetime. Either they do not live long enough to witness it or they are not prepared for what their happiness is. Happiness is very subjective. Each person’s version of happiness is different. This version of happiness is universal.

Happiness Finds You Finding happiness is a journey that many people call life. Being happy is a main goal of our world. Society tries to sell happiness as money, and pleasure, and feeling good all the time. However, it is impossible to control life.

Essentially Dante was never settled after his exaltation and wandered endlessly. With his journey into the Inferno, Dante first awakens in a Dark Wood, at first sight he sees a light outlining a mountain in a distance and makes his way towards it. He is encountered by three beasts who stop his passage up the mountain. Before the monsters could have their way with Dante he is saved by the Roman poet Virgil who tells him to reach the mountain top he must first travel through Hell and Purgatory. Virgil was sent by Dante’s lover, Beatrice.

He often feared and appeared cowardice in the face of adversity. It seemed that Dante needed a guide (mediator) to help him to accomplish mission, so Virgilus was sent to assist him. Virgilius role in some sense reflected the Catholic value, that man needs a mediator (guide, catholic priest) to help lead man to salvation. Virigilus wisdom and guidance lead Dante to escape Hell and receive his salvation. Rolland was too prideful to accept wise counsel from Olivier, his noble companion.

Virgil is all of the noble virtues of the perfect Roman and represents wisdom and reason to aid Dante. He may act differently during the different areas through hell, but most importantly, he is protective of Dante, reminding him multiple times not to be sympathetic of the damned souls. He is both a tour guide to all of the details of hell and a tour guide to help Dante understand himself. Virgil’s symbolic job is to represent God’s decisions and views on justice through the multiple scoldings to Dante about not pitying those deserving to be punished. Virgil really is one of the most important characters of the book and has a lot to add to Dante’s points on God and

From the smallest sin to the biggest sin, no sin went without being punished by “a punishment fitting of the crime.” As Virgil and Dante travel throughout the nine circles of Hell, they were shown that Hell does not correct the sins but it orders them significantly. While traveling deeper into the circles of Hell, Dante is shown things like Lust, Anger, Violence, and Fraud, and he sees signs that the sins are getting worse the deeper they go. Dante’s travels shows a metaphor “descend so you may ascend” and this is designed to communicate the message of

Down to the penultimate Canto, Dante meets the second pair of sinners bound together: Ugolino and Ruggieri. Ugolino bites the skull of Ruggieri—the vengeance that he badly wanted on earth is given to him for eternity. This image of Ugolino and Ruggieri reminds us of the image of Paulo and Francesca as the only sinners in Hell that are bound together. The juxtaposition of Ugolino and Francesca ultimately demonstrates two facets of love: A fatherly love that was rejected because of pride and a passionate love that was pursued despite its unlawful nature. (Inf.

But, as the poem continues to progress, it becomes quite clear the there is a perfect balance within God’s justice as the degree of each sinner’s punishment perfectly reflects upon the gravity of the sin. Furthermore, the inscription on the gates of Hell explicitly states that Hell exists as a result of divine justice; “ll. “ Justice moved my great maker; God eternal / Wrought me: the power and the unsearchably / High wisdom, and the primal love supernal (III.4-6).” Prior to delving into the structure of Hell and how it displays God’s divine justice, one must first familiarize themselves with both the historical context of Dante’s life, along with the beliefs of the medieval church.

There is many interpretations of Heaven and Hell. Some imagine hell as being a place where the absolute wicked are tortured from all eternity, made by the Devil himself. A common depiction is that souls end up in Hell as punishment. In the final part of the Divine Comedy, Dante reflects on free will, and its perfection as a gift. It is this gift that Dante believes is Gods greatest gift to humanity.

Fueled by the anger surrounding his banishment from Florence in 1302, Dante Alighieri spitefully wrote the epic poem, the Divine Comedy. The Inferno, the first part of the trilogy of the Divine Comedy, tells the story of Dante the pilgrim and Dante the poet. The two personas deliver Dante’s journey through hell, the Inferno, with added depth. Dante is also guided by Virgil, an ancient Roman poet from 50 B.C. The three personas share different perspectives on the grueling detail of their findings in hell.

but mental love may choose an evil object / or err through too much or too little” (Pur. 17.94-96). Dante already presents a main difference between the two realms because in Inferno there was only a singular, misplaced love and now in Purgatory, there are two types of love, with one a faithful love. Even though the souls in Purgatory sinned, they still had a natural love for God that allowed them the

Before entering Hell, Dante sees a stone sign that holds the message “Abandon all hope ye who enter here” on it as a warning for anyone entering into Hell (I, III, 31). Hell itself is a hopeless place filled with hopeless souls. Every single soul that has been damned to stay in Hell for all eternity shares a single punishment with all other damned souls: the loss of hope. From the “nearly soulless” that run in the Vestibule of Hell to Satan in the center of Hell, hope is abandoned in their sufferings (I, III, 31). However, the souls that do not reside in Hell and have not been damned still possess hope through divine salvation.

Dante and Virgil escape hell and realize the importance of their journey is being free from negativity through enlightenment. Alighieri describes enlightenment when he says, “Where we came forth, and once more saw the stars” (Alighieri 34.140). Alighieri is exiting hell and entering purgatory which guides him towards salvation. This resembles Alighieri’s enlightenment of being released from a self-built prison. The journey to enlightenment is rigorous, but the reward is always worth the effort.

Granted, going through Hell is no walk in the park but within the first six cantos he has already passed out twice and has burst into tears too many times to count! Dante 's got heart. One of his best attributes is empathy but his guide Virgil helps toughen him up as they move along. In fact, Dante toughens up pretty quickly as he rages against Filippo , argues with Farinata , and rants at Pope Nicholas III. After each round of righteous indignation, Virgil claps Dante on the back and congratulates him for putting yet another sinner in his place.