Dante’s Inferno – Final Review

Like Dante, “midway upon the journey of our life/I found myself within a forest dark…”, I too felt like being plunged into darkness when I decided to read a narrative poem of Dante’s The Divine Comedy, end of last month. Being a complete newbie in poems, I just braced myself to read Dante’s Inferno, the first of three parts. At first it seemed like I was going to enjoy the poem, but when I reached the middle, I doubted whether I’d ever finish it. There were many historical persons and events that Italian people in 14^th century—or at least whoever studied Italian history—would have been very familiar with, but it was very annoying for us in modern days to follow Dante’s journeys without having to consult wiki or google almost every each circle! Besides that, the poetic lines were also intriguing me along the reading, that at the second half of the poem, I consulted more often a Dante’s translation site I’ve found on the internet; it’s indeed really helpful!

What intrigued me most of Dante’s journey in Hell is the opening stanza, where Dante confessed that he didn’t know how he could have suddenly arrived in Hell.

Midway upon the journey of our life

I found myself within a forest dark,

For the straightforward pathway had been lost.

Dante warns us (who are in the midway upon our journey of life) to reflect where we are ‘standing’ right now. Perhaps we have done so many wrongs and sins in the past, that if God takes our life this very minute, we would go straight to Hell. And yes, how often it is that we find ourselves suddenly far away from the purity that God had granted us when we were born? Suddenly we find ourselves in the dark forest and could no longer see the straightforward pathway to Him. Here and now, it’s time to pause and resume our past journey to be able to rediscover that straightforward pathway to salvation. Reading The Divine Comedy might be the best choice to help us in our own struggles. Dante is very lucky that Beatrice—the woman he loved—took the initiative to send Virgil to guide him in a dangerous and terrifying journey to Inferno (but we are also lucky that Dante ever published this poem!), so that he could warn many people in the world.

Dante portrayed the Hell as a giant funnel built underground that leads to a narrow pit. It was Lucifer, who, when fallen so heavily from heaven, his body (head first) thrust deep down the earth and created the funnel. The narrowest and deepest pit contained of Lucifer’s head, and it held souls with the most severe sin and received the most savage punishment. From the Hell’s gate to the pit there were nine circles with different grades—of course—the deeper the circle, contained the more severe sinners with more severe punishments.

What makes Inferno more interesting—and in a way fit to bear ‘Comedy’ in the title—is how Dante put a lot of historical and mythical characters into each circles. Here you’d find respectable personages like poets, philosophers, and political leaders, historical and mythical figures (Julius Caesar, Brutus and Cassius, Achilles, etc.) were punished in different circles. In a way, it widened your knowledge, because you will be forced to dig about their stories to understand their sins and how Dante punished them so fittingly. It’s quite comforting, for example, to find that Brutus and Cassius were punished far below Julius Caesar; actually you would be surprised to find with whom Dante kept Brutus and Cassius here!

Dante is very detailed in describing each circle’s condition and the severity of the punishments, that it made me often shuddered just to imagine it; for we might read and imagine it in few minutes, but the souls must bear it ceaselessly and endlessly. You will be cringed only by thinking of it! And Dante ‘punished’ the sinners with the same means as the sins they had performed, how interesting it is!

I learned later from Matthew Pearl’s historical fiction: The Dante Club, that Dante has a military background before writing The Divine Comedy, because he fought with the army at a war (I forgot which war). That’s how he learned how some torments would create such tortures to men; something that either a physician or a soldier who survived a war would have known.

In the end, I think I still owed Dante to delve deeper in his poem. I have been more familiar with it now, and in the future I can use the translation (from poetic to prose) to help me exploring the beauty of Dante’s narrative poem. Until then, four stars for Inferno, and I can’t wait to proceed to Purgatorio!

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I read e-book from Project Gutenberg, translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This book is counted for:

1^st book for Narrative Poem Reading Challenge

7^th book for New Authors Reading Challenge 2013

7^th book for The Well-Educated Mind Self-Project

45^th book for The Classics Club Project

Richard III - Act III Summaries

Following my summaries of Act I and II, this is the seven scenes of Shakespeare’s Richard III of Act III.

Act III

Scene I

Prince Edward was disappointed for not finding his mother and brother welcoming him. Buckingham persuaded Cardinal to pick up Duke of York from the sanctuary, and the two brothers reunited. Richard insisted they both stayed up in the Tower. Meanwhile, Buckingham and Richard gathered allies to realize their plan; they would hold two councils the next day at the Tower. They sent Catesby to approach Hastings.

Prince Edward and Duke of York in the Tower

Scene II

Lord Derby was scared and sent messenger to Hastings, but Hastings was sure that there’s no danger as Catesby was a double agent for their advantage. Hastings rejected to join Richard, and he heard that Queen’s relatives were going to be headed.

Scene III

Lord Rivers, Grey and Vaughan were executed by Ratcliff at Pomfret.

Scene IV

In the council, Richard trapped Hastings by showing that he has been bewitched by Queen and Mistress Shore (which has been Hastings’ after King’s death). Hastings who naturally defended his mistress, was called traitor by Richard and was finally sent for death.

Scene V

Richard sent for Lord Mayor, accused Hastings for being traitor in front of him, and asked for his protection from citizens’ complaint. Richard then sent Buckingham to spread a good fake story about Prince Edward being a bastard son and lustful man to London citizens. Richard also sent for a priest and a learned bishop, then wrote order to forbid anyone seeing Prince Edward and Clarence’s children.

Scene VI

A scrivener (=professional copier) stated openly that he had an official indictment of Lord Hastings that he would read aloud in public outside St. Paul Cathedral.

Scene VII

Buckingham had spread the story of how bad Edward was and how fit Richard was to be King of England. When Lord Major and citizens came to propose Richard to be King, he pretended to accept it difficultly through such a ‘show’! At the end, it was the citizens who forced Richard to be King, not the other way round. What a clever and sleek game!

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Dante’s Inferno – Third Level Inquiry

Following my second level inquiry, here are tasks of the third and final level inquiry, still for my WEM Self-Project.

Is there a moment of choice or of change in the poem?

Before entering the Hell, Dante seems to be in a comfort of his life. It is Beatrice (the woman he loves) who sends Virgil to guide Dante to the path of salvation. So, if there is a change, it would be in Dante himself, before and after he witnesses punishments and hopelessness provided for sinners, and in that he warns us to not fall into the same hole.

Is there cause and effect?

Dante must have related his own life and experiences in this poem, as most of the time he would speak about Florence and the city’s political movements. Besides historical and mythical characters, Dante also puts numbers of Florence people onto the circles of Hell. It seems that Dante wants to punish them for their failures (according to him). So, yes, I think there is cause and effect in Dante’s mind, and he might have reflected very hard to set those sinners and the level of their punishments.

What is the tension between the physical and psychological, the earthly and the spiritual, the mind and the body?

In writing those punishments in amazing details, Dante has tried to transform the physical experience he brought us to imagine, to a spiritual enlightenment. Whatever the sin, the punishments will take much longer and severe than the deeds; it makes us think how unworthy it is to ever do those sins!

What is the poem’s subject?

A warning to Florence people and to all human kind, that each sin must lead to a just punishment.

Do you feel sympathy?

I sympathize with all human kind who is at present still in their path of life. Many of us take it for granted in living our daily lives, making our worldly business the most real thing and treating religion as an abstract thing to do.

As for the characters in the Hell circles, maybe my sympathy goes to them who are in Limbo. Some of them might have lived a good life without sins, but because they were born before Christ or have not been introduced to Him, they must linger within the Limbo. It’s really not their choices, and in a way it’s almost unfair for them. But anyway, it reminds me too of how much I must be grateful that God had put me to be Christian.

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Richard III - Act I - II Summaries

I read this Shakespeare’s play both for Let’s Read Plays (I skipped last February’s theme: History, and so would pay it off this month). I would also read this for my WEM Self-Project, and as usual, the first few posts would be dedicated for summaries, as inquired for the First Level Inquiry. Now, let us summarize Act I and II….

Act I

Scene I

In peace time Richard, who has a deformed body, was bored, and so he sets up an adversary between his brother Clarence and King Edward IV (Richard’s brother) so that Clarence would be imprisoned. After that he intends to marry Lady Anne after killing her husband and father-in-law.

Scene II

King Henry VI was stabbed just like Prince Edward, Anne’s husband. Anne was first enraged with Richard whom she knew was the murderer; but under his smart courting, Richard finally conquered the lady.

Scene III

Queen Elizabeth worried that the throne would go to King’s brothers, not to her too-young sons. Richard complained that Elizabeth had roused King’s dislike against him and Clarence, while Queen Margaret—who was King Henry’s widow—accused Richard and cursed everybody. In the end Elizabeth and everybody else seemed to take side with Richard.

Scene IV

Two murderers were sent by Richard to murder Clarence up in the Tower (prison). After reasoning with their own consciences and even debating with the-victim-to-be, Clarence was stabbed by one of the murderers, while the other one fled away.

Act II

Scene I

While dying, King Edward IV reconciled all the disputed factions within the family: the Queen, the Dukes, and Richard. King Edward regrets very much of Clarence’s death whose execution-warrant revision had come late (another trick from Richard!). The King accused the others for not pleading for Clarence’s life.

Scene II

King Edward finally died, and everyone agreed that a small train should dispatch The Prince to be crowned. Apparently Buckingham conspired with Richard to (I guess) kidnap and murder the Prince.

Scene III

Citizens foresaw that troubles will happen in their country after the King died; the factions of King’s and Queen’s relatives would be vying for the throne.

Scene IV

While waiting for Prince Edward’s arrival, a message came that Lord Rivers and Grey had been imprisoned by Richard and Buckingham. Queen, Duchess of York and young York fled to a sanctuary, carrying the Seal of England which had been trusted by Archbishop of York to the Queen.

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My Favorite Opening Line: The Classics Club June Meme

Frankly speaking, I don’t usually pay too much attention to books’ opening lines. It is the closing line that is usually more memorable for me. If the later were the task for this month’s The Classics Club monthly meme, I would instantly have posted my answer, as there is indeed one closing line that I like to read again and again—I’ll keep that to myself to make you more curious, and who knows…CCP might bring that subject as our future meme topic? :)

So, unfortunately, this month’s meme topic is:

What is your favourite opening sentence from a classic novel (and why)?

And that made me think a bit harder to find the one perfect answer. There were several opening lines popped in my head (not before I refreshed my memory via the internet, though..):

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.”

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

“You better not never tell nobody but God.''

The Color Purple, Alice Walker

“124 was spiteful.”

Beloved, Toni Morrison

Why do those quotes likeable to me? Maybe because they represent each of the book’s soul perfectly, as if whenever we read those lines, we would instantly remember the emotion each of the books has set us when we read them.

But still, I cannot find any favorite from them just yet. Maybe, the one opening line from book that has the strongest effect upon me would always be…..

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

The Bible

Yes, it’s not a novel as required by the meme, so maybe it doesn’t really answer the meme, but it is my favorite opening line from any book I’ve ever read. It always takes my imagination to something I would never see nor experience; something far from any wild imaginations. It brings such a divine feeling, I think.

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What about you, what is your favorite novel opening line?  

Dante’s Inferno – Second Level Inquiry

I was reading Dante’s first part of The Divine Comedy: Inferno, for my Well-Educated Mind Self-Project. I have worked out the first level inquiry by summarizing the cantos the last two weeks:

Canto I – X

Canto XI – XVIII

Canto IX – XXVI

Canto XXVII – XXXIV

And now, here’s the task of second level inquiry, which requires us to analyze the technical construction of the poem. I’m really a newbie in poems (and narrative poems), but despite of the unfamiliarity, I’m glad to have picked Inferno as one of my WEM project; it has widen my knowledge about poems.

The basic narrative strategy

Dante’s Inferno tells a story, with a beginning, middle and end; it might be said to chronologically tell the poet’s journey to Hell and to witness how human being punished for his deeds while they were alive. Inferno describes Dante’s experiences both physically and mentally; it describes in detail physical places, objects, also sensations to represent how human’s sins were weighed.

The poem’s basic form

Inferno is definitely an epic poem; a long tale of Dante’s journey to Hell. And although there are not quite many heroic deeds in it, Virgil’s bravery to guide and protect Dante through dangerous obstacles from one circle to another is enough to make it epic.

The poem’s syntax

Dante uses quite a lot of poetic dictions to form his poem, although not entirely. For example:

When him I heard in anger speak to me

I turned me round towards him with such same

That still it eddies through my memory.

The lines

Inferno’s lines are often naturally divided into halves (hemistich), here’s one example from Canto I:

Then was the fear a little quieted

That in my heart’s lake had endured throughout

The night, which I had passed so piteously.

Here the second line is broken awkwardly, it is normally supposed to be ‘that in my heart’s lake had endured throughout the night’, then followed in the third line: ‘which I had passed so piteously’. But Dante purposely breaks it after ‘throughout’, why? I can only assume that Dante wants to emphasize ‘the night’, because Dante’s journey to hell represents the darkness in human’s soul. Everything seems dark, as dark as ‘night’.

The rhyme pattern

I think Dante uses both masculine rhyme and slant rhyme pattern here. Most of the last syllables are either accented or one-word syllables, and there are similar syllables in a stanza which are not really identical. One example, from the very first stanza of Canto I:

Midway UPON the journey of our LIFE

I FOUND myself within a forest DARK,

For the straightforward pathway had been LOST.

I’m not very good in English poems (as English is not my mother language), but I think ‘life’, ‘dark’ and ‘lost’ are all accented as well as one-word syllables. While ‘upon’ and ‘found’ are not identical, they have a similarity in the pronunciation.

Monologue or dialogue

In Inferno, the dialogue Dante has most often is with Virgil—the Roman poet—who becomes his guide (he has been staying at the Hell, and has been particularly instructed by Beatrice to guide Dante). Dante’s dialogue addressed to Virgil seems to be polite and kind, while Virgil’s is more critical but kind. Dante also carries on dialogue with souls who occupy each circle in Hell. Sometimes he pities them and is quite touched with their suffering, but quite often he is either angry or disgusted with what they have sinned. Sometimes Dante also has a monologue he addresses to his reader, expressing his feeling: fear or angry.

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Character Thursday Is Temporarily Absent

I am very sorry to announce that I must stop my weekly meme: Character Thursday for the time being, due to—let’s say—a family crisis that I am enduring at this moment. The last two weeks have been for me like a nightmare. I am right now very exhausted both physically and mentally, and I just can’t stand to be forced to post every Thursday. I am thinking to stop Character Thursday feature at least until the end of this month (I haven’t read many classics lately anyway to give me ideas for character analysis). Hopefully everything would be normal again by next month (July).

Until then, I hope you would still be encouraged to post your own Character Thursdays, despite of my absence. I have opened a linky in my latest Character Thursday post, you can put your links there for the time being (it would be opened until July 31^st). For you who have posted Character Thursday last week (June 6^th), you can also put the link in the linky. I’ll try to squeeze my time to read your posts.

Meanwhile, I am still trying to work out the WEM tasks for Dante’s Inferno, so I would post every now and then anyway. I am right now reading a historical fiction that is correlated to Dante’s Inferno (The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl), but I still have Richard III and An Ideal Husband for June—which, hopefully, I can manage to read somehow. That’s all for now, I really hope my reading and blogging life would be back to normal very soon!.....