Daniel Scott Sonia Fanucchi

Dante’s Inferno Piety and Piety

Canto 2 + 3

ESSAY COVER SHEET

COURSE CODE: ENGL 2008A

NAME: Daniel Scott

STUDENT NO: 2388339
GROUP NO: Pity and Piety in Dante’s inferno
TUTOR : Sonia Fanucchi
DUE DATE : 26/03/2021

PLAGIARISM DECLARATION

I Daniel Scott
am a student registered for ENGL2008A
in Year 2 (year).

I hereby declare the following:

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 I confirm that the work submitted for assessment for the above course is my own
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 I have followed the required conventions in referencing the thoughts and ideas of
others.

 I understand that the University of the Witwatersrand may take disciplinary

action against me if there is a belief that this is not my own unaided work or that
I have failed to acknowledge the source of the ideas or words in my writing.

Signature: __________________________________

Date: ______26/03/2021________________

Canto II

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Daniel Scott Sonia Fanucchi
Dante’s Inferno Piety and Piety
Canto 2 + 3

1. The character of Beatrice in both Vita Nuova and Dante’s Inferno is seen as a tool for
the poet to add the essence of love and devotion into the poems. Firstly, the
introduction of Beatrice is brought on as being a lady in both poems. In Canto II
Beatrice is described as being the “gracious lady in heaven” (94) and in Vita Nuova
Beatrice is one where “eyes do not dare gaze at her” (4). This dynamic created by
Dante allows the reader to perceive Beatrice as a forbidden figure to man’s carnal
desire. Dante uses Beatrice as a tool to highlight his affection, impulse and love for
someone other than himself. Secondly, Dante uses Beatrice, in Canto II as a tool to
portray the “gentle and clear” (56) vitality she shares on the journey of Dante. In Vita
Nuova, the same essence is created with her character upon her entrance, “she sends a
sweetness to the heart” (10) and her being a “spirit so full of love” (13). This is used
by Dante to reinforce the idea of Beatrice’s effect on himself, but also to anyone on
this journey through hell and life. These praises can be seen as testaments to the
character of Beatrice and makes her position valid in the poetry but also the life of
Dante. In conclusion, both figures of Beatrice are adored and revered by the poet and
the speaker, which signifies their relationship but heightens the position of Beatrice in
being a guide for emotion or support for the reader or Dante in Canto II of Dante’s
Inferno.
2. Dante’s crisis in Canto II has transformed and become an internal and personal battle,
the guide of Virgil has left Dante “alone” (3) to “face the struggle” (4) of memory,
pity and shame. Whereas, in Canto I, Dante’s crisis was one of an external battle,
facing the nature set against him to continue like the savage and dense “dark wood”
(2) that this journey “pierced his heart with fear” (15). Firstly, in Canto II, the speaker
is left alone to face this “arduous passage” (12), a memory of pity that strikes the
speaker. Dante’s abandonment of Virgil emphasises the internal labour to continue
through this journey. Moreover, when the speaker calls “if my powers will suffice”
(11) highlights the doubt in the mental journey of Dante but contributes to the idea of
Dante seeing himself as inadequate to go on a journey of enlightenment. “But why
should I go there? who allows it?” (31), this realisation of the position that the speaker
is in allows Dante to use this as a tool to further plunge insecurity and gloom into the
crisis of the speaker.

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Dante’s Inferno Piety and Piety
Canto 2 + 3

Secondly, in Canto I, the main force against Dante is the natural presence of
entering this new world for a journey. In Canto II, the speaker is in turmoil, engulfed
with “fear that had endured” (19) into every moment of the Canto. The poet portrays
how the speaker is naturally rejected to this environment, as the three beasts
“impeded, barred the way” (35) that is a result of his spirit being “down with terror”
(52). By Dante doing this it shows the reader the main force of crisis is the idea of hell
itself, the movement into damnation is a challenge of nature. Furthermore, this
beginning is used to show the transition of Dante facing the internal provocations of
the journey, where he not only naturally feels dejected but learns he brings this upon
himself through doubt and anxiety. In conclusion, the nature of crisis is the internal
feelings Dante brings upon himself in Canto II, doubt and pity and Dante uses it to
compare it against the fear that “pierced the heart” (15) of the speaker in Canto I, that
is invoked by natural elements that is “vicious and malign” (97).
3. Virgil uses a variety of techniques to persuade the speaker out of his manner of
dubiety, allegory is used in a profound manner to emphasise the message Virgil sends,
these messages act as parables for the speaker to use to further progress their journey.
Firstly, Virgil starts by affronting Dante with words of insult, like Dante’s spirit is
“assailed by cowardice” (45) and that he is on the verge of turning back from his
“noble enterprise” (47). By doing this Virgil is used as the antagonist to allow Dante
to progress further, by defaming the character of Dante, Virgil is able to strip the pride
within his heart and allow the speaker to acknowledge their position in this journey.
To the reader, this shows a multifaceted use of Virgil, not only being a guide but to
become a spiritual assistant for Dante. Moreover, Virgil reinforces this idea by
comparing the potential actions of Dante relapsing to “the way a beast shies from a
shadow” (48). This is used by Dante to incite a motivating force for the speaker to be
free “from this fear” (49).
Secondly, Virgil uses fables to further convince Dante to become “eager for
the journey” (137). Virgil begins by talking of “no friend of Fortune” (61) that “in his
terror, he has turned back” (63) on the journey of delight. Virgil describes this person
as being too “far astray” (65) that there is no return for them on this journey. This is
used by Dante to portray the result reverting on your journey of delight. Dante uses
Virgil to create an incline of emotion to trigger a response from the speaker. Lastly,

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Daniel Scott Sonia Fanucchi
Dante’s Inferno Piety and Piety
Canto 2 + 3

Virgil tells the tale of Beatrice that is a depiction of Dante’s devotion and admiration.
It is used by Virgil to represent the speaker’s faith, Virgil states that “Your faithful
one is now in need of you” (98). By Virgil talking about the passion of Beatrice, her
ability to make men “seek; their good or to escape their harm” (109-110). This is used
to allow Dante to find their internal strength, but to show that change is possible with
devotion and faith. In conclusion, these fables told by Virgil act as affirmations for
Dante to endure on this journey of growth. Dante uses Virgil as a spiritual but a
physical guide to adopt this role of a guardian angel.

Canto III
1. The engravings on the gates of hell are symbolic of God as it a representation of the
commandments of hell but the creation of the unholy God. Firstly, the repetition of
“Through me the way” (1) is directly parallel to the figure of the ten commandments,
for example “Thou shalt”. This is used by Dante to highlight the structure of what hell
but to create a routine for the people that pass in to feel “woe” (1), pain and loss.
Secondly, the creation of the unholy God that is “Justice” (4) and built of “Divine
power” (5) and the “Wisdom supreme, and primal love” (6). This creation
encapsulates the entirety of what God provides for people on this journey to hell. It is
used by Dante to highlight the role of God in being a minister for the emotional lives
of the people but also to establish their position in the holy hierarchy. Dante uses it as
a way to show that man is beneath God and that even in hell the roles will not be
reversed.
2. Christianity is based on the principles of forgiveness and a humble nature upon
entering the gates of heaven. It is common that the poor will enter first and the rich
last. In Dante’s inferno those souls “who lived without disgrace yet without praise”
(35-36) are seen as non-worshipers who have not transgressed throughout life. Firstly,
judgement is something frowned upon in Christianity, for one to judge another for
their association with others is wrong like looking at the way these souls “intermingle
with that wicked band of angels” (37-38). By not passing judgement one is able to
look with clarity upon how one has truly sinned, however it gives an opportunity for
these souls to justify themselves. Secondly, the idea that whoever is last in society
shall enter first does not apply in this context as “Heaven casts them out” (40), this
action is contradictory to foundations of Christian values. This is important to look at

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Dante’s Inferno Piety and Piety
Canto 2 + 3

as contradictions allow for invalid opinions to arise; people cannot assume that they
are better because that is a sin of pride and one cannot assume you are better because
that is a sin of envy. In conclusion, Christians cannot condemn a person who is not
involved in a religion to damnation because of they do not follow the binaries of sin
that bound you, these souls have “held themselves apart” (39) from the trial and
tribulation of the concept of sin and commandments. These souls are stuck between
two worlds yet can be accepted by one with forgiveness, kindness and love but that is
being withheld.
3. Dante has adapted this passage by converting the flow of nature to adapt it in being a
spiritual evolution all must take. Firstly, Dante suggests it is a cycle we all will take
“Just as in autumn the leaves fall away” (112), this implies the journey through
purgatory is one we all will face, holy or unholy, that acts as a final rapture or
judgement day. This natural stage of autumn signifies the oncoming of death to the
reader and associated with a period of decay like the “spoil upon the ground” (114).
Dante uses this as a metaphor to show the continuous fall and escalation of people
undergoing this process and to the reader it can portray the journey through purgatory.
Secondly, Dante adapts this Christian framework by signifying the presence of the
“wicked seed of Adam” (115), that represent individual growth of sin inside people as
they show “one by one from the shore” (116). Dante draws importance from Adam as
the father of sin, of wickedness. This shows the reader the inefficiencies of the
judgment of people in this time, at fault of being sinful as a result of someone else’s
mistake. Lastly, the impression of purgatory and hell is created with the image of
“dark water” (118) and with “another crowd” (120) being on the shore symbolises the
first phase of purgatory. In conclusion, the souls that are damned arrive and are as
eager as a “falcon at its summons” (117) to return to their primal state but fail to
realise the collection of sins on one shore. Dante depicts the beginning of death for the
wicked, where they are doomed to an eternity in the shores of purgatory.

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Daniel Scott Sonia Fanucchi
Dante’s Inferno Piety and Piety
Canto 2 + 3

Works cited
Aligheri, Dante. The Inferno. Trans. Robert Hollander & Jean Hollander. New York: Anchor
Books, 2000.