Inferno: Canto 5 Guide

New Characters:

1. Minos: a monster of Hell who is the judge of all sins. Every soul comes to him and confesses their sins. After he judges the souls, his swishes them in is tail a certain number of times. The number of times he swirls them is the level of hell they are sent to.
2. The Sinners of Lust: sinners who are guilty of having been constantly swept away by love and selfish wants. Therefore, they are forever swept around in a whirlwind. They are denied reason and God.
3. Francesca da Rimini: one of the Sinners of Lust, who comes down to share her story of sorrow with Dante.
4. Paolo Malatesta: one of the Sinners of Lust, who accompanies Francesca and “weeps at her side” and Francesca speaks.

Summary:

This canto opens with Dante and Virgil exiting the first circle of hell, Limbo, and entering the second circle, Lust. As soon as they arrive, they are greeted with a great beast named Minos. This judge of sins demands Dante back; but Virgil simply says, “Why still cry out? Do not impede his going, which is decreed: this is willed where what is willed can be done, so ask no more” and they are able to move onward (Dante 87). As the poets move past the beast, they approach the sinners of this level who are guilty of lust. These perpetrators are stuck in an eternal whirlwind without reason or God. Virgil goes onto explain to Dante this sin and the reason for this particular punishment. He also points out sinners known to Dante like Cleopatra and Achilles. Dante calls out Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta from the whirlwind and asks them out of love to share their sorrowful stories. They both come down to speak to the poets. Francesca becomes sad put praises the poet for pitying their pain. She speaks of her affair with a man and how her love for him still exists today. Paolo stands beside her, weeping as she ends the story. So stricken from grief, Dante passes out….again.

Sin and Sinners:

Ø  The Sin of Lust: when someone is overcome and submits themselves to an intensely passionate desire. Considering it is something most people cannot resist, it is not that far down into Hell.

Ø  “I understood that to this torment were damned the carnal sinners, who subject their reason to their lust” (Dante 89)

Ø  The sinners of this level commonly related to radical acts of love. Virgil brings many famous perpetrators of this sin to our attention.

Ø  For example: Semiramis, Cleopatra, Helen, Achilles, Paris, Tristan, Dido, Francesca and Paolo

Punishment and Contrapasso:

v The Punishment: to be swirled in a great wind for eternity with out the gift of reason or God.

v “The infernal whirlwind, which never rests, drives the spirits before its violence; turning and striking, it tortures them” (Dante 89)

v Contrapasso: These sinners spent their entire lives being swept away by passion. They let love blow them around and ignored reason so that they could listen to a foolish heart. For this, they must be blown around in an “infernal whirlwind” without reason, God, or an end.

 Discussion Questions:

1.    Why do you think Lust is so high up in Dante’s hell? Explain your reasoning. Do you think he is guilty of this sin? If yes, why? Give examples.

2.    Based on your knowledge of the book and the characters presented so far, what kind of people do you think will be in the next level and what do you think their punishment will be?

3.    Compare and contrast Francesca’s love affair story and Dante’s love for Beatrice? Do you find any relevance between the two situations and the sin? If yes, explain your reasoning. Use example from Coach Morrell’s introduction presentation and the book.

The Cycle:Emotion – Motion – Speech

Emotion:

² “Now the grief-stricken notes begin to make themselves heard; now I have come where much weeping assails me” (Dante 87)

² “After I had heard my teacher name the ancient ladies and knights, pity came upon me, and I was almost lost” (Dante 91)

Motion:

² “Thus I descended from the first circle down to the second, which encloses a smaller space” (Dante 87).

² “I came into a place where all light is silent” (Dante 87).

Speech:

² The stories of Francesca.

Sources:

·      Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: Inferno. Vol. 1. Trans. Robert M. Durling. Ed. Robert M. Durling. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. N. pag. Print.