Dante's description of hellscape
Dante's description of hellscape is scarring. He illustrates that it is the place punishments to earthly vice is done after divine judgment. He presents that in hell he saw a headless physique making its way just like the rest of the bodies. However, it was keeping its head swinging in his hand.
Dante addresses the issue on lust
In the second circle, Dante addresses the issue on lust. He explores the relationship as being a notorious mission that can be identified during his time and place. Love and lust are ennobled between the influences of attraction and is pushed toward the beauty portrayed by a person.
Lust as a negative force
According to Dante, lust is a negative force that is possessed by sexual desire. Those who lust lead to hell after death with their lovers are "carnal sinners who subordinate reason to desire" (Inf. 5.38-9). From the presented example, one may reason that for Dante, supposed that the line differentiating lust from love is broken driven by his misguided desire (Alighieri 2009). Dante convincingly elaborated that this line that separated lust from love was a very fine one indeed. Dante isolates lust as one of the sins that he identified as the capital of sins.
The association of lust with the first sin and fall of humankind
According to Dante, he presents lust as being one of the sins farthest from Satan. Therefore, he marks it as one of the least sins in life and hell. Dante chooses lust as the first sin by associating it with sex that led to the origin of sin and fall of humankind back in the garden of Eden. Donte came up with figures of monsters of hell where one of his figures was that of Minos. Minos is a character of amalgam derived from classical sources completed by some poet's personal touches. However, his Minos somehow was made up of a combination of two characters who were rulers of Crete.
Punishment in hell for adultery
In the second circle, Dante further identifies two characters who were being punished in hell for adultery. These individuals were Paolo Malatesta and Francesca da Rimini. Gianciotto, Paolo's brother, married Francesca. Francesca feels that her husband is most likely destined for punishment when he finally arrives in Caina. In the stories of some of the lustful soles, the common pertinent elements that were identified with such were sex, romance, death, and physical beauty. Such figures were pointed out by Vigil to Dante.
Symbolic retribution for sins of lust
Dante names a character called Semiramis who was a powerful Assyrian queen. The queen was alleged by a Christian historian known as Orosius for having made a vice incest legal practice. The queen was later killed by a son that was identified as being illegitimate. Dante presents Paolo to illustrate on how people are punished in hell for their sins. Dante-character has compassion for Paolo if after Dante-Poet he has damned her in hell where there is a lot of suffering for sinful life. Dante has used a symbolic retribution to indicate on how sins driven by lust are punished in hell.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is fair how Dante has presented his symbolic retribution on how lust is a sin that is punishable in hell. Such a punishment may help make many people refrain from making lustful sins for they shall be familiar with the consequences followed by such acts. Finally, from how Dante has presented Francesca and Paolo, it is encouraging for people to consider being morally responsible on how they depict love, violence, and sex in our day.
Work Cited
Dante, Alighieri. Dante's Inferno. Рипол Классик, 2009.
