We talked about this a little bit in class, but you have now read some pieces of The Inferno. What do you think about the power Dante had as a writer to create this fictional hell and place people in it from his contemporary culture? Do you think it was ethically correct for him to do this? Would you enjoy a chance to have this sort of power in writing? What are your thoughts on this text?
Lit Terms 2
5 years ago
13 comments:
Personally, I wouldn't want to be placed in one of the circles of hell Dante created. I don't think he should have placed real people in these circles. Even though hell is not fiction, The Inferno is just a book filled with Dante's ideas about hell. I believe he just wanted to share his ideas with other people and remind them to be on their best behavior.
Jenna Stewart
I think Dante may have had a good time writing it, but personally I don't think its very ethical. I just believe that there is only on e Judge and He determines punishment, but it's ourselves who choose our eternal dwelling place by accepting God or rejecting Him. I do agree with Dante about how horrific hell would be, and I think it gives us a good reason to change our actions and "be good" just as Jenna said!
Payton Tipton
I think he had a right to make his own version of hell. I would also hate to be in one of the circles though. Though I do think he was just giving his ideas about hell I don't think anyone really has the athority to put anyone in hell, but this story is only made up in his mind this way. Other people may have different ideas.
Amber Ballew
I believe Dante has a lot of power to place people in hell, because now days if authors wrote a book about who would be in hell in there mind there would be severe consequences. I disagree with Jenna. I believe that because he used real people his book had a greater impact.
Ariana Dorr
Personally I think he had a lot of guts doing what he did and writing what he did. Especially when he used certain names which to us are great figures in history. Like Alexander the Great, Ceaser, Cleopatra, and Homer. I think his ideas of hell are interesting. The way he talks about all the different circles and how there are different punishments according to what you did. I had never thought of it like that. I just thought of it as burning for eternity but I think its cool the way he went into so much in detail and so far I am enjoying it more than All Quiet on the Western Front even though its harder to read and understand
Tedddddyyyyy Lackey
I don't think it was ethically correct for Dante to place people in his cirlces of hell. However I agree with Ariana when she stated that the "book had a greater impact". Personally I enjoyed reading about the different circles, punishments, sins, and people; and his creativeness just shows how he must have loved writing it.
Alexa Bancroft
I am not sure if I liked this book or not. But I do know that I think it wasn't right for Dante to write about this. Yes I do agree that it shows us what hell could be like, but he shouldn't have put people in them. I will give him credit for having guts to do that, but still he shouldn't have. I liked the book because it shows how much of a impact someone could be about just writing about what they want to. That is probably the only thing about the book that I like and how he described it.
Katelyn McChesney
I admire the courage it took to so brazenly write about well-known people in this way. Honesty like that can't really be portrayed as a bad thing unless it's being forced down someone's throat. No one at the time was forced to read the book. No one is forced to believe it. There are some things about the book that I find to be biblically incorrect (from what I've been taught) but Dante does take what he believes and write about it in a way that makes sense. I find his blunt use of poetic license refreshing.
Madison Vaught
Great comments! Just be sure to note that Dante was not actually condemning anyone to hell, just writing a work of fiction!
I think that Dante had every right to wright what he wrote. He basically took the concept of Hell and expanded on it to make his own world. I do like the fact that he placed people from his own time, as well as his peers, in the story. I think it might give us a more vivid look at what their culture might have been like.
Will Hearn
I believe that the way Dante wrote The Inferno made the Hell he created quite believable. I agree with those who said that Dante had a lot of courage to place real people in Hell. In today's society, he would likely have been sued. Although, if he had not put real people in his version of Hell, The Inferno would not be as popular, and we would not be studying this book today.
Kent Connell
I think Dante did an amazing job writting this book. The detail that he put into each cicle was incredible. I think the fact that he put people in hell like Abarham, Homer, and Alexander just added a whole new interesting aspect to the book. Yes, I do agree that it is only God's rightful job to do that, but this is a fiction novel and I may be on my own but I loved it..not the test though.
I think that the Inferno [and probably the other following books] speak[s] volumes about Dante's egoism and conceit--as well as his mastery of literature and of a fascinatingly vivid imagination, coupled with a highly intelligent mind. His inventions are certainly very creative, [even] going as far as to create an extensive list of both participants and places in his writing, and while I assume he draws from a variety of different sources, there is still a large amount of originality in his work. However, there is an increasingly apparent vanity in his work that is hard for me to overlook, as he goes on his journey through Hell and beyond that point. Some may conveniently forget one particular fact as they read--but a prominent reason for my observation of his personality is that every time the Dante traveling through the Inferno is praised or received with a similar reaction, Dante the writer is, in effect, flattering himself. Also to consider is the spite shown for his enemies who have been placed in his hell, which reflects as a childish but also expected reaction from one who is, in a way, playing god through writing. But for the question of whether it was ethically correct for him to write this particular work--I would prefer to keep my opinions to myself, but will at least offer that my stance on the subject differs with the viewpoint I take on it, which is largely the reason I do not wish to elaborate any further.
Priscilla Han
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