Canto 18 of The Inferno by Dante Alighieri Essay - 3791 Words

Canto 18 of The Inferno by Dante Alighieri It was once said by Marcel Proust that â€Å"We do not receive wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can make for us, which no one can spare us†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . This journey through the wild to discover wisdom is exactly what transpires in The Inferno by Dante Alighieri. The Inferno is an epic poem that is the first section of a three-part poem called The Divine Comedy. The Inferno is about the narrator, Dante, traveling through the layers of Hell and learning about the men and women in Hell, and ultimately why God is punishing them there. One of the most representative parts of The Inferno as a whole is Canto 18. Canto 18 is the†¦show more content†¦Despite not reading all of The Inferno, the certain part I did read gave me a true illustration of the entire work. Particularly in Canto 18, readers observe Dante’s writing techniques as well as the main ideas or themes present in the work. C anto 18 is an especially excellent illustration of Dante as a visual poet and his imagery. For example, it begins with Dante describing Malebolge as â€Å"made of all stone the color of crude iron / as is the wall that makes it way around it. / Right in the middle of the evil field / is an abyss, a broad and yawning pit† (2-5). Dante continues in writing more of a unique description about the geography of Hell. His descriptiveness allows readers to feel and see the cold, crude iron surrounding Malebolge and see the huge pit in the middle, too. As when I read the description of the geography, Dante’s writing creates fear in me just as he does for other readers in all parts of The Inferno. Besides Dante’s visual poetry, he also includes very shocking imagery that affects all five of the senses. Canto 18 holds an excellent example of Dante’s imagery. At the end of the canto, Dante writes, â€Å"The ditch beneath / held people plunged in excrement th at seemed / as if it had been poured from human privies† (112-114). These few lines are a wonderful portrayal of the extremely, shocking details heShow MoreRelatedThe Divine Comedy1705 Words   |  7 PagesThroughout the Middle Ages, art and philosophy has been lost in darkness, but with the reintroduction of ideas that came with the Renaissance in Italy, brought about a literary revival. One of the writers that influenced this revival is Dante Alighieri, a 13th century poet from Florence, Italy. His world famous epic, La Commedia, or more commonly known as The Divine Comedy remains a poetic masterpiece depicting truth and sin. The Divine Comedy, through the journey into the three hells, expressesRead More The Weakness of Human Nature in Dantes Inferno Essay2203 Words   |  9 PagesDantes Inferno is full of themes. But the most frequent is that of the weakness of human nature. 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