Purgatorin - Key Instructions Received by Dante - Essay Example

Essay, World Literature Topic: Purgatorio—key instructions received by Dante. These are some of the instructions received by Dante: It is not possible to apply reasoning to "learn... the boundless orbit of Three Persons in One Substance" (Canto III: 34-36). Reason gives rise to spiritual hunger, as it has limitations. Man can employ reason to control sins: "...the innate counsel of your Reason/ must surely guard the threshold of your consent" (Canto XVIII: 62-63). Man can freely sin and also make the choice of not sinning. But the reason has the power to distinguish, "the light of reason still tells right from wrong" (Canto XVI: 75).Mind-level calculations of arguments and counter-arguments lead a man to righteousness or sinfulness. The Divine Comedy Introduction: Dante Alighieri wanders directionless and destination -less, in the forest and rambles frightfully through the thick and thin of the dark greenery. Yet he is aware that the sun above him sparkles and he plans to climb up but he is obstructed by three ferocious beasts—a lion, a she-wolf and a leopard. Panicky and lost, with no other alternative, Dante returns to the place from where he began the ascent, and he happens to come across the ghost of Virgil, the renowned Roman poet, who has come with the specifically assigned responsibility to guide him back to his path and to lead him to the top of the mountain. From this point begins the journey of Dante to the different circles of Hell and finally to the Heaven! Whereas Dante highlights the importance of right actions to achieve right results, he articulates that the will of the Divine is supreme and God’s method of dispensing justice is ultimate as such it is faultless. Hell—the place for divine dispensation of justice Virgil informs Dante that the intended route will be through Hell and that they will in the end reach Heaven, where his darling Beatrice expects him. Virgil further reveals that it is at the instance of Beatrice, along with two other holy women, who see Dante lost in the wood, send him to show directions to him. Vigil escorts Dante through the doors of Hell, the inscription on which demanded serious and frightening attention “No room for hope, when you enter here” (p.56, III.10). They move to the outskirts of the perimeters of Hell, Ante-Inferno, where a number of souls who can do neither good nor evil, are destined to run in an useless pursuit after a blank banner, without intermission, every day, and during such errands insects bite them and worms suck their blood. Dante observes the going on there and the misery prevailing with abhorrence and disappointment. Next he reaches out to the ferryman who ferries him across the river Acheron, the border that demarcates Hell. Next is the place that houses pagans and also Virgil and many great poets and writers of ancient times, which is known as the First Circle of Hell. They all died without realizing Christ. On conclusion of his meeting of Ovid, Lucan and Horace, Dante moves further to the Second Circle of Hell, earmarked for the sin of Lust. At the boundary of the Second Circle the monster Minos prowls, with the assigned duty of executing punishments to the condemned souls. He has his own method of informing the souls about the number of circles to which a soul is subjected to by curling his tail around himself a specified number of times. There Dante watches in agony the plight of the souls of the Lustful sin afloat in a dreadful storm. Dante happens to meet Francesca, and she tells him about condemned love affair with Paolo da Rimini, her husband’s brother and that doomed relationship has landed both them in the Hell. His visit to the various circles of ell continues, and he encounters scenes of ghastly types of punishments being awarded to the sinners, as per divine yardsticks. Punishment articulated by Dante and the current standards of justice: Dante Alighieri was born in Florence, Italy in 1265. The various types of punishments articulated by him are outdated as they are visualized more than 7 centuries ago. The justice system and jurisprudence has undergone vast structural changes in tandem with the changes in the political belief systems. A few of them are highlighted to throw light as how incomprehensible they are by current standards of justice. The punishments for heresy, as mentioned by Dante are public humiliation, imprisonment or death by burning. Those who go against the doctrines of the Christian Church are heretics and to inflict on them physical and bodily pain is the objective of the punishment. In the democratic process of justice, an individual can practice any faith and punishment is ruled out, as it is no offence. Freedom of belief and faith are assured for every individual. Flattery is considered as one of the worst forms of sins by Dante. He compares flattery with spewing shit and such individuals have to suffer physical agony by being lodged in the pits of shit. This vile and repulsive punishment is unthinkable now. Flatterers are everywhere in this world, in politics, business etc. The areas of public relations and marketing are also a part of the process of flattery. Flattery may be viewed with suspicion, but no one will be punished for that in the present times. The medieval forms of torture for the so-called sin of flattery have no legal sanctity now. One of Dante’s creative punishments is for the lustful members of the society. They will be condemned to hellish hurricane, which never rests. Sex crimes are viewed seriously and are punishable by long imprisonment and even death in some countries now. As per Dante’s perspective, such people are tossed in the storms and tempests forever. This procedure is difficult to implement by current standards of justice. Dante takes to task the greedy and the prodigals. They are tortured psychologically and not physically. In the present justice system, the greedy are not punished, but the tax officials take care of the prodigals, they are “tortured” psychologically, though not on the scale envisaged by Dante. Each prodigal has the legal remedy. Dante’s strong political connections and leanings are explained by mentioning about his encounter with his former political foe Filippo Argenti in Hell and it is no tribute to his personality when the reader is given to understand that Dante becomes extremely happy when other souls tear him to pieces. This indicates that Dante nourishes deep hatred against his political opponents. The Perfection of God’s Justice: The Perfection of God’s justice is unquestionable and beyond any arguments by humankind. It is impossible for the mind-level individuals to understand the method of dispensation of justice by God. Scientifically also, this is the proven fact: Every action has the reaction and the intensity of the reaction is in proportion to the intensity of action. Over this no dispute exists between the scientists and the spiritualists. One of the rare agreements between the two contending forces; two opposing forces; the forces that do not see eye to eye with each other normally! It is not within the domain of the mind to articulate about the specific punishment for a specific crime. It perhaps depends upon the motivations in the mind of the performer of the crime. There could be thousand and one reasons for the perpetration of the crime and the punishments for such crimes has to be different and only the ultimate dispenser of justice, God, knows the nature or quantum of punishment to be awarded in each case. As such the word justice has profound connotation. And the perfection of God’s justice is unquestionable but often it is beyond the reasoning power of an ordinary human being. The inscription over the gates of Hell in Canto III unequivocally states that God is inclined to create Hell by Justice. “Justice is what moved my exalted Maker; I was invention of the power of God, Of his wisdom and of his primal love.” (p.55, III, 4-6) But the scenarios seen by Dante in various sections of the Hell and the punishments meted out to the individuals is not the final verdict on the system of dispensation of justice by God. They are just the possibilities described from the fertile imagination of Dante. The poet ravels in spectacular imagery and symbolic power unleased by his genius. He gradually progresses from describing the type of physical punishments to the punishments that are meant to cause psychological suffering. The physical punishments may appear brutal, but the intensity of pain of psychological agony is comparatively more and difficult to endure. God’s will and Evil When God’s will is negative the domain of evil flourishes. Their relationship is like the one between light and darkness. Both cannot co-exist at the same place at the same time. For example, when the light is switched on, the darkness has to go. It has no other option. Similarly, when the light is switched off, darkness emerges immediately, without a moment’s loss of time. The classification of human evil deeds and the relative punishment attempted by Dante is from his personal viewpoint, and it cannot be the final version of the dispensation of justice by God. It is not mandatory on the executors of the punishment and it is his personal opinion and belongs to the domain of his poetic imagination than reason. His narration goes by the strict doctrinal Christian values. For example, an intentional pain caused to another is more severe than the pain of the similar magnitude caused unintentionally. Motivation is more important than the actual acts of sin. As such a sin punished in the Eighth Circle of Hell, of accepting a bribe, should be considered as more severe than a sin punished in the Sixth Circle of Hell, such as murder. Perhaps this is correct. Acceptance of bribe is a social evil and it gives rise to a series of societal maladies. Murder affects one individual, may be one’s near and dear ones, but an act of bribery is like the spreading of cancer in the society, which ultimately destroys the entire social fabric which is tantamount to the murder of the society. Similarly violence comes earlier in the ladder of evil as compared to fraud. In any case, Dante articulates that God need not give any justification for his judgments on evil and His decision on all issues is final. The reasoning and decision of a human being is generally based on the past and the present happenings and he does not know what is going to happen in the future, that is to say, what is in future’s womb. God knows the future also; as such His decisions will be faultless. Only God knows the future consequences of violence or bad behavior and He is the one to dispense the final and indisputable justice. Though Divine Comedy is not a philosophical/religious text, being an ardent follower of the Christian doctrines (which are in fact the revelations of Lord Jesus Christ), Dante repeatedly makes attempts to reach the threshold of a region that transcends the mind(reason) and knocks the portals of spirituality. Conclusion: God is the subject for direct experiencing, and humankind should seek union with Him. All conflicts and sin belong to the domain of mind, and hence one should make efforts to transcend the mind, to experience the divine zone of bliss. Works Cited Alighieri, Dante. The Purgatorio (Signet Classics). New York: Signet Classics, 2001. Print. Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy (Oxford World's Classics). David H. Higgins (Ed.), C. H. Sisson (Trans.) New York: Oxford World's Classics; 2008; Print. Read More