Malebolge Essays

Evil is an ever present aspect within the existence of humanity. Satan, a real and powerful being, constantly influences the world through his evil and manipulative ways in order to bring destruction and chaos to earth. Perhaps one of the most evil characters ever written about, Iago, from Shakespeare’s Othello, also portrays many traits that are similar to those seen in Satan. Throughout the Bible and throughout Shakespeare’s Othello, both Satan and Iago share many characteristics and differences

In canto 19 of Dante’s Inferno, Dante and Virgil enter the third ditch of Malebolge, and that is where the simonists live. The simonists are people who use the church office for profiteering. In lines 1-18 in Canto 19 on page 191, Dante shows the seriousness of profiting from church offices by means of allusions, characterization, and metaphors. Dante uses many Biblical allusions to show the seriousness of the sins that the popes and other church officials committed. Dante calls them the disciples

The Fifth Bolgia in the eighth circle of Hell, also called Malebolge, is for those who committed peculation or embezzlement during their lifetime. In this bolgia, sinners are submerged in boiling pitch, representing the viscous and murky quality of their offenses. Dante,continues to explores the bolgia and meets the Elder of Santa Zita and the devil Malacoda, who provide insight into the punishment and nature of the sin. The peculators in the fifth bolgia are those who abused their positions of

Dante and Virgil descend into the eighth ring of hell, it is noticed that this ring is peculiarly large in comparison to the previous circles, “There is in hell a vast and sloping ground called Malebolge, a lost place of stone as black as the great cliff that seals it round”. (Alighieri 144) The Malebolge is, by it's Italian meaning, an evil pouch. The expanse of sinners in this ring was so large that Dante could only describe the segmented ring of hell as smaller rings where about half of the poem

In the novel The Inferno by Dante Alighieri, Dante illustrates the different circles of Hell as well as how each sin within a circle is punished. Throughout Hell there are nine different levels and as you travel deeper into Hell each punishment gets more intense and harsh. As Dante travels through hell, the relationship between a sin and it’s punishment becomes clear through the allegorical lens. Circle one encompasses those who were born before Christ. This circle, which is also known as limbo

laws and divine retribution. The Inferno is considered a humanist work because of the references to ancient Greek characters, application of ordinary beings into a godly position and humanist concepts portrayed in scenes of motivation. In the Malebolge, the bridge from bolgia six to bolgia seven had been destroyed; because the bridge had fallen Dante and Virgil had to climb

The eighth circle of hell is introduced in canto eighteen and is broken to sections. During the few chapters, Dante decided to take a while to start talking about the eighth circle of Hell, which is unknown why. This circle has a nickname which is Malebolge, which

In the Malebolge, there is a ditch specifically for the soothsayers. Their bodies are twisted, with their heads facing their heels. Dante says that the image is extremely disturbing, and it is clear that it affects him. Dante breaks down, as he still has a lot of

Divine Retribution In the beginning of Dante’s Inferno, Dante is met by the spirit Virgil, who proposes to guide him through the nine circles of hell. The theme of divine retribution is seen all throughout The Inferno. Dante describes divine retribution as “the punishment fitting the crime.” Each circle of hell represents a different kind of sin. The reason behind each circle of hell in the book is because each sinner receives the punishment fitting the crime they have committed while they were on