The Inferno Canto 1 Questions

English III

Canto I Discussion Questions

1. On page 622 Dante refers to himself as a pilgrim when he makes the statement that he must travel up Mount Joy but is blocked by beasts, since a pilgrim is defined as someone who sets out on a long journey this is the way he is referred to as a pilgrim. The setting of his journey takes place in Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise (Heaven).

1. The sense that Dante’s narcotic tale gives is that his sins have clouded his judgment and that sin has led him down the wrong path into the Wood of Error. The sense could also be seen as Dante’s soul dying from the sins that kill the soul.

1. Dante means that by the “holy hour and sweet season” he is referring to the Easter season and that he is to begin his journey on Good Friday and end it on Easter Sunday. Just as Jesus was crucified, died, and buried on Good Friday then three days later rose from the dead on Easter Sunday.

1. Dante calls Virgil the “true master and first author” this is meant that Dante is referring to Virgil being the first great Roman author and the master from which Dante gets most of his material when writing the Divine Comedy. Virgil is a muse of sorts.

1. Dante says that in Hell there are “souls in fire and yet content in fire”. This is supposed to mean that Dante sees the inhabitants of Hell as being people who, based on their choices, are to spend the rest of their lives in eternal damnation, that they are the ones who chose their life in Hell because of their Free Will to commit the sins.

1. The significance of the straight road is supposed to represent the road that a person who is free from sin must travel upon, whereas the wood of error is significant because by sinning you wonder off the straight road and end up in a dark place away from the road that you seek to travel on.

1. Dante’s attempt to climb the hill is symbolic in the sense that each man must undergo a long tough journey upon which many struggles will accompany him before he can reach the straight path. Dante gives in to his lustful feelings (She-Wolf) and is constantly pushed back into the Wood of Error.

1. If I were to go on a spiritual journey like the one that Dante is setting out on, my guide would definitely be Chuck Norris because I mean come on? Is there anything that the man can’t do?

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