Divine Comedy

In the Bible, the Apostle John proclaims “Sin is a master to whom we become enslaved” (John 8:34). The disciple John clarifies sin can consume one’s spirit completely: tearing a person apart from the guilt of their sins. In the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne implies a similar concept on how sin is capable of altering one’s character, along with the shame from their guilt. Throughout the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne utilizes key elements such as diction and rhetorical devices, to convey a…

When we think of the seven deadly sins, we often think about Envy. What does it mean to Envy? “Envy is the passion which causes evil, the father of death, the first entrance of sin, the root of wickedness, the birth of sorrow, the mother of misfortune, the basis of disobedience, the beginning of shame” (Hagedorn, 1998, pg. 15). When we are filled with Envy’s trance, we hold resentment in our hearts as we are very aware of a condition or circumstance that is adored by someone else that we may…

Throughout Dante’s Inferno, Virgil leads Dante through the nine circles of Hell, all inhabited by people who committed different sins. Dante begins his journey on ground level and Virgil gradually leads him below the surface of the Earth, descending further and further into Hell. The first circle of Hell scratches the surface of the Inferno and is the beginning of his journey. Canto 4 represents Dante’s trek through the first circle, Limbo. In this canto, Dante describes a dark and dreary…

In regards to the play, "The Christians," by Lucas Hnath, the controversy the Christians vs. Christians, quarrel about the existence of hell. Ultimately, the idea that hell does not exist in the presence of Christianity seems absurd, since Christians deem the origin of evil behavior to be stored there. In another literary work "the philosophy of pitchforks," it also reassesses the image of hell. Pastor Paul did have a good point when he stated that the Bible "does not say hell" (Hnath 37). The…

Inferno, written by Dante Alighieri, explains the layout of Hell according to Dante himself. There are many circles and rings that house sinners based on the type and severity of their sins. Achilles, Brutus, and Attila the Hun are a few of the well-known figures mentioned during Dante's journey through Hell. The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, is a compiled collection of the tales of 29 people embarking on a pilgrimage. One of the people, the Wife of Bath, is purposely made to…

The first thing that Gaiman does to use religion and mythologie as a premise for its story is with the use of realms. The Sandman takes planes of existence other than just our own, from many different religions and mythologies and uses it as the setting for almost all of the scenes. One of the biggest realms that are used in the story is Hell. Hell, which is part of the Christian belief, is not only a setting for the story, but it is also a key subject in the storyline. When lucifer decides to…

The Sinful Woods In Canto I, Dante is seen traversing through a forest. It is a scary and dark forest, but there was a hill in the distance with a glimmer of sunshine coming down from it. Dante started walking up the hill and met three beasts. The beasts consisted of a lion, a leopard, and a she-wolf. The she-wolf spooked him the most and made him revert back to the darkness. The spirit of Virgil greets him when he returns. Virgil reassures him that they must pass through Hell before they can…

Dante encounters many sins through his journey to the hell. Sins are distinguished in nine levels of hell with the penalty of adapting to that sin. The nine levels of hell have been classified by Dante in three main categories: incontinent, violent, fraudulent in order from bad to worse to worst. Cantos XI is central to understanding how Dante saw sin through Virgil’s scheme, explaining the structure of Hell. How does Dante classify the different sins punished in hell? Why does Dante saw some…

All the wicked individuals who deliberately commit the undeniable and unforgivable sin of disposing of their pure recyclables into the devil’s snare of the landfill shall be cast into the fiery inferno of hell. The burning fires beneath them shall smother them with toxic fumes of burning plastic to cleanse them of the terrible sin they have committed before God. The devil’s snare grows deep and wider as the sins of the human race claw at its edges. The sinners look down before it with no remorse…

Instead of a fiery portrayal as in the rest of the circles, the deepest stratum of hell is icy and frozen. In the Ninth Circle of Hell, the sinners are either murderers or traitors, and their punishment reflects their depravity. In Round 3 of the this Circle, the murderers/traitors of guests are encased in ice, all except for half their faces above the ice and their tears creating a frosty layer covering their eyes. These sinners are part of the frozen lake, Cocytus, because their act of…