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Date Posted: 22:06:32 02/22/01 Thu
Author: suga'
Author Host/IP: 122.dallas-05-10rs.tx.dial-access.att.net / 12.74.120.122
Subject: FINAL SR PAPER
In reply to: suga 's message, "Re: ENG PAPER" on 13:55:14 02/21/01 Wed

William Eric McGuire
Ms. McCollom
AP English IV – 7
16 February, 2001
The Inferno and Paradise Lost as Tools for the Betterment of Society
Although both the Inferno and Paradise Lost are often valued as great literary compositions, one can find the common thread in both authors’ intent. Both Dante and Milton attempt to expose the evils of society with the hope of their efforts resulting in the betterment of their immediate society, at the realization of their sense of justice. To accomplish this through their writings 3 things must be done. They must first expose the evils that must be corrected. They must then give reasons to change such evils. They must then provide a means of correction.
What motivation could Dante and Milton have had for writing books with the purpose being the betterment of their societies? Dante and Milton were considered “[statesmen] and [lovers],” yet neither of them “had been [fortunate] in ambition [or] in love” (Macaulay 35). Dante was described as a man deeply troubled from within, while Milton’s troubles were the result of the world around. Milton, who had a strong religious background, lived in England in the midst of civil war and changes in power from one tyrant to another. When his health began to fade, his outlook on the world became as dismal as Dante’s. With such a view of their societies, both turned to religion for the means by which to improve their worlds.
To improve upon society, one must begin by exposing the evils that need improvement. Dante is very direct in his confrontation of society. The careful selection of the realms of Hell, crimes to be punished in each realm, punishment for the crimes, and the inhabitants of each realm expose his qualms with his world. He uses the physical aspects of Hell to comment on the not so physical evils in his society. Dante creates a spectrum through which evils can be graded. The spectrum moves from those sins that “seem to be personal and simple … to more and more overtly social faults” (Ferrante np). That is moving from sins that have minor repercussions, mainly on the person of the sinner to those sins who’s repercussions fall on many. The latter usually occurs when people of prominence and high stature sin. These are the sins that Dante holds to be more serious. The simple sins such as thievery were placed in the early realms of Hell with punishments that were more eternal annoyances. He placed “barratry, graft within the government,” and flattery in the lower realms of Hell with the more grueling punishments because their “effects on society are more insidious and ultimately more damaging” (Ferrante np). Now to make these sins more real, Dante again appeals to the physical by placing figures of high esteem in his Hell for their crimes. He specifically refers to the Bishop Ruggieri as traitor, Michel Zanche as a barrator, and Cardinal Ottaviano as a heretic. Not only does he use figures of high esteem for examples because of their notability, but their lofty positions cause any sin they commit to have more wide spread repercussions.
In contrast to Dante, Milton does not focus on the crimes or sins of his time, but instead he focuses on the inherent flaws that man poses as a result of original sin. Leaning away from what Dante believed, he stressed “that [repercussions] matter less than states of minds” (Tillyard 158). His thoughts can seem to coincide better with those of Locke concerning the nature of mankind. He argues that certain characteristics, such as Eve’s narcissism or Adam’s lust for Eve, are the causes of this fall. More concisely, the aspect of humans that Milton focuses on most is that of selfishness, which includes both Adam’s lust and Eve’s narcissism. It is this selfishness that the serpent appeals to in his temptation of Eve saying, “[she] shall be as Gods” (Par IX, 708). This being as specific as Milton delves into the concept of specific sin he uses the comparison between Satan and Christ to illustrate his perception of his society. Satan represents his society as it existed at the time of his writing, “with the actions of an impenitent, tragic sinner, doomed to damnation” (Par np). Christ on the other hand is the representation of Milton’s ideal society who’s “drive is love” (Par np).
Both books, differ not only in how they expose the evil of their societies, but also in how they motivate the readers to better themselves and the society in which they live. The Inferno again appeals to the physical, and Paradise Lost appeals to the mental. The major motivation in the Inferno is its use of fear. As he and Virgil travel through the underworld, discovering “ancient spirits tried/ in endless pain, and [Dante hears] their lamentation/ as each bemoans the second death of souls,” the reader can’t help but be deterred from the actions that would result in such a punishment (Alighieri 31). Dante’s description of the hellish tortures received for each sin are magnified from the beginning with his introduction to his journey:
“If I had rhymes as harsh and horrible
As the hard fact of that final dismal hole
Which bears the weight of all the steeps of Hell,

I might more fully press the sap and substance
From my conception; but since I must do
Without them, I begin with some reluctance” (Alighieri 267)
No person should with to experience the Hell described by Dante, let alone a Hell to which Dante’s description falls far short. In contrast to this fear of physical torment, Milton uses his depiction of God to evoke a personal desire from the reader to serve his Creator. This begins with Milton’s description of God as a needy being who, having given us free will to choose our own path, only desires for us to choose Him, giving Him “true allegiance, constant faith, [and] love” (Milton III, 104). Milton then continues to explain the graceful, forgiving nature of God who, even though we as humans did not fulfill our part in the relationship, will forgive us for our inherently sinful nature allowing us to “find grace” (Milton III, 130). After such an appeal only a reader of the most heartless nature could turn from the book unmoved.
One can also find motivation for the return to good in the description of the Garden of Eden. If a place described as an “imagined world of incredible static beauty and felicity” is lost after the sinful fall of man, why could it not be “regained” upon man’s return to righteousness.
What steps do the authors leave their readers to then fix the evils, which have been exposed? In the Inferno and Paradise Lost, the authors do not leave specific steps, but they instead give the readers the knowledge necessary to make a conscious change in behavior and state of mind; however, in their respective series, both books do play a part in giving examples of the transition from a corrupt society to an ideal one. Dante leads his readers “step by step through a knowledge of what constitutes a corrupt society” in the Inferno (Ferrante np). The reader now “[understanding] what constitutes evil in a society as well as in an individual and [being] able to see the part [he plays] in the evil around [him]” is more than prepared to avoid these evils, should he desire (Ferrante np). Now, one must remember that the Inferno was written as merely one part of a three volume series. As a whole, the series begins with the Hell, moving to Purgatory, and ending in Paradise. In reading the entire series, the reader is moved, as Dante would have it, “from a corrupt society, through the transition from selfishness to social responsibility, to his goal in the ideal society” (Ferrante np). Paradise Lost is very similar to the Inferno in this aspect of the books. No specific steps are given to change the inherently sinful flaw of man. The knowledge of such a flaw though, gives the reader the knowledge and goal of where he should be. Paradise Lost is written as one part to a two-volume work, similar to the Inferno. When looking at the book in this aspect, Paradise Lost was designed only to give us the fall, or the flaw of man. As a whole, the Paradise series moves just as the Divine Comedy did, from the problem to the solution, showing the reader the means redeeming society in the latter portion of the series.
Dante and Milton, both finding severe faults in their worlds attempted to improve their societies with their works. All though slightly different measures were taken in each of their works, they still exposed that which they felt was worst about society, gave motivation for its change, and began the readers on the path for change.



















Work Cited
Alighieri, Dante. The Inferno. Trans. John Ciardi. New York: New American Library, 1993.
Ferrante, Joan. The Political Vision of the Divine Comedy. New Jersey, 1993. Princeton University Press. 15 Feb. 2001.
Macaulay, Thomas B. “Milton.” Critical, Historical, and Miscellaneous Essays. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1860. Vol. 1, pp. 220, 230-32. Rpt. of “Thomas Babington Macaulay on Milton and Dante.” Bloom’s Notes: John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Ed. Harold Bloom: Chelsea House Publishers, 1996. 34-36.
Milton, John. Paradise Lost. New York: New American Library, 1961.
Paradise Lost and Beowulf: The Christian/Pagan Hybrids of the Epic Tradition. California State University. 17 Feb. 2001
Tillyard, E. M. W. “John Milton.” British Writers. Ed. Ian Scott-Kilvert. 2 vols. New York: Simon & Schuster and Prentice Hall International, 1979.

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