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Example research essay topic: Seven Deadly Sins Heaven And Hell - 2,544 words

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Dantes Divine Comedy "The Divine Comedy" is an epic poem brimming with information and eloquent literary devices. (The word "comedy" is used here in its classical sense - to denote a story which begins in suspense and ends well. ) The lengthy work combines Dante's vast knowledge of classical Latin writers (Virgil, Ovid, Cicero, Seneca... ) and Greek philosophers (Plato and Aristotle) with his readings from the religious and theological classics of Catholicism (Augustine, Thomas Aquinas... ). Some awareness of medieval symbolism and imagery can greatly enrich the modern reader's understanding and enjoyment of Dante's personal, visionary odyssey through the realms of the dead. For example, the significance of certain numbers figures importantly in both the structure of the work and the geography of tile netherworld. Tile number three symbolizes the trinity; the "perfect" number, ten, was obtained by multiplying three times three, and adding one (which represented the unity of God). Furthermore, Dante's work is divided into three canticles (the Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise) and each canticle is then divided into thirty-three cantos. These, added to the book's general introductory canto, make for a grand total of one hundred, or, the square of ten.

The poem's rhyme scheme, which Dante invented, is known as "terms rima" (third rhyme), where rhymed lines are grouped in interlocking sets of three (aba, bcb, cdc, etc. ) In addition to this obsession with numbers, the reader should also fathom the notion of ancient courtly love. Most poetry of Dante's age was written in praise of a woman whom the poet had chosen as an ideal, but with whom he was not intimate nor even necessarily personally acquainted; a pure love, an unattainable inspiration. Dante had met Beatrice Port inari at least twice, but had no intention of developing a relationship with her. She was married, as was he. "If it pleases God, " Dante had written in the third person, "he will write of Beatrice, that which has never yet been said of mortal woman. " This, in fact, Dante does in The Divine Comedy, placing his lady in the highest realms of Paradise.

Almost as much as he loved Beatrice, Dante loved Italy; and one of his greatest beliefs was the equal importance of the Church and the State. He became disgusted with the corruption of the Church by politics during his lifetime. In fact, it was while he was in political exile from Florence that he wrote this masterpiece, its complete title being "The Comedy of Dante Alighieri, Florentine by Citizenship, Not by Morals. " Dante also believed in matching writing style with the material being treated. Thus, in Hell, the language is faced with common, sometimes revolting phrasing. Then, in Paradise the speech turns much more ethereal and lofty. (Curiously, Hell was and remains - the most popular of the three books. ) By using common expressions and the language of his native Tuscan dialect rather than the traditional Church Latin, Dante created a revolutionary work.

His comedy, rich as it was in multilayered medieval allegory, set fire to the then radically modern idea that literature - works meant primarily to be read rather than retold or enacted could be made both accessible and popular. So highly regarded was this comedy that it earned the eventual title of "Divine. " Divine Comedy is a moral comedy that is designed to make the readers think about their own morals. The author provides several allusions for the readers to make the story more vivid. The poem could have been used almost as a guide for what and what not to do to get into Heaven for the medieval people. Dante takes the reader on a journey through the "afterlife" to imprint in the readers minds what could happen to them if they don't follow a Godlike life and to really make the reader think about where they will go when they die and where they would like to go when they die.

In the Divine Comedy, Dante uses his imagination and his knowledge of the people's perception of the "afterlife" to create a somewhat realistic yet somewhat imaginary model of the afterlife. In the first lines of the Divine Comedy, Dante says "In the middle of the journey of our life I came to my senses in a dark forest, for I had lost the straight path. " (Dante 1416 lines 1 - 3) This is the typical stereotype of today for when a person becomes "lost" or consumed in sin. The sinful life is a dark life and a sinless life is a bright, white, and pure life. Dante's coming to his senses in a dark forest symbolizes his realizing how "lost" in sin he truly was and realizing that he needed to do something about it, meaning he needed to go through the seven sacraments so that he could become pure enough to see God in Paradise and not have to spend and eternity in Hell.

Dante realized that he had strayed from the true faith without realizing it, not knowing exactly how it happened, and is trying to return. Losing the straight path symbolizes losing the holy, pure, or Godlike life. Darkness is more or less a symbol of evil and light or brightness a symbol for good. Throughout the poem, Dante is advocating that man must consciously aim for righteousness and morality. People can often become so involved with day-to-day living that they will fall into a life consumed with sin.

Man must always be aware of his need to perform righteously. The dark forest symbolizes a human life where every waking moment is not consciously devoted to morals and righteousness. The Inferno is probably the most realistic section of the Divine Comedy because it comes closer to fitting the people's perception of what Hell is really like then than Purgatory and Paradise do. People's mental image of Hell is an evil, dark, and scary place that is full of fire and that is exactly the way Dante depicts it.

People are eager to see, hear, and read about violence, blood, and gore and the Inferno is full of it which helps the reader to pay closer attention to it. In a sense Dante is trying to scare the righteousness into people. Dante himself became scared when he read the inscription above the gate of Hell that read "ABANDON EVERY HOPE, YOU WHO ENTER HERE" (1424) because he did not realize that the inscription was only intended for those who had already died. The inscription implies the horror of total despair.

It suggests that anyone that enters Hell at anytime must abandon all hope, so Dante thought he was included in this. Hell is the place for those who deliberately and consciously chose an evil way of life. There is a place in Hell called the Vestibule for people who did not make a conscious choice between Heaven and Hell. Dante emphasizes that Hell is for those who chose it and that choice is irrevocable. If you commit an act of sin you will be automatically condemned to Hell.

The entire basis of Hell is depicted as an allusion - it is for those who died unrepentant of their sins. Hell is filled with people whom at the moment of death were either unrepentant or were saved but were still committing the same sins. In Hell you get exactly what you give forever. Purgatory is a place that not many protestants know about or think about so it is not as familiar to people as Heaven and Hell are. All our lives people are taught that if you sin you will go to Hell and if you don't sin you will go to Heaven; there has never been any in between. Purgatory is a place for people whom either repented shortly before they died or have not yet completed the process of repentance or all of the seven sacraments.

Unlike Hell where it is eternal, people in Purgatory will eventually complete their penance and make it to Paradise the Kingdom of God. If you are in Purgatory you are on your way to Paradise or Heaven but you still need some cleansing but you will eventually make it into Paradise. Purgatory is not eternal. Purgatory is not probation or a punishment; the people there are glad to be there because they know that someday they will be at God's side in Paradise. Purgatory is a place of discipline. This is one of the more imaginary elements of the Divine Comedy because we do not know much about it, although we really do not know much about Heaven or Hell either except for what we read about in the Bible and there really are not many references to Purgatory in the Bible.

The allusion used by Dante is clear in authors depiction of Paradise as a very Holy and beautiful place which is how people perceive it, but it is still different in many ways. Paradise is a place of reward for people whom consciously chose a righteous way of life. To enter Paradise a person must be washed pure and white as snow. To be saved is not enough to get into Paradise; you must either live a fully righteous and Godlike life, or you must be repentant for all sins. In order to repent you must go through the seven sacraments of baptism, confirmation, matrimony, extreme unction, Eucharist, ordination, and penance step- by-step. Dante depicted Paradise as a White Rose or Mystic Rose in which God was at the center and saints surrounded Him.

This is a good picture in that a white rose symbolizes purity, perfection and divine love which are all characteristics of God, so it is fitting that God place is throne in the center of a white rose. The white rose is a fitting word picture for God, but is just different from what people would imagine as the home or throne of God. The Divine Comedy was a somewhat realistic yet somewhat imaginary story that entertained millions and was used as a guide for the medieval people. You could say that Dante has one of the biggest most active imaginations ever to have been able to create a story like the Divine Comedy. The entire story was a figment of his imagination because there has not been any person that has died and traveled to Hell, Purgatory, or Paradise and come back to tell the world about it. Many portions of it would be the same as some people's pictures of it but many portions are different.

It would be a great challenge to go back and try to write your own picture of the afterlife. The allusion of freedom in the work is also very important. Why was freedom so important to Dante in The Divine Comedy? Early on in his life he had been persecuted by the Black Party and forced into exile for his beliefs. This could have influenced his writings in the Purgatory section of his work. We do not have much information on the early part of his life, but he should have been seemingly happy for the most part.

He had married a women which he did not choose and seemingly fell in love. After her death, he seemed to search for something. He had lost his home, his family, his wife and now searched for a way out. His search was for freedom. The Purgatory section portrays him conquering each of the seven deadly sins on his way to Paradise or freedom.

Dante picked the seven deadly sins as to his life. He must overcome seeing old friends and family on each of the ledges as he climbs. His reasoning for picking these particular seven sins is interesting. Did he pick them because of his vast traveling and meditation? He had been studying philosophy during his exile, which probably helped him picking some of the sins. Pride has always been a problem in society.

Dante also names gluttony. Why is eating too much a sin in Dante's eyes? The envy ledge should not be a sin but a stepping stone for sin. If a person envies someone or something so much, it could cause him to commit a sin. Sloth is not a sin, but an unsophisticated state of being. People that are lazy are not considered sinners.

Anger could be considered a sin in that is promotes sin after the fact. Greed should have been written in the Ten Commandments. Dante does describe this sin correctly being that greed has promoted many sins in all cultures. Lust is another sin most people will agree on.

Lust constitutes many crimes of passion and should remain at the top of the list. At the entrance to each of the levels, Dante would meet someone he knew. Dante's life seemed to be a happy one for the most part and it can be seen through the people he met. Most of the people along the way were closely associated with Dante but some were not. He goes into long descriptions of each of the souls and how they seemed to affect his life. Each of the souls was on the ledge of their demise.

Dante becomes involved in discussions with some of them or narrates why they are there. Each of the souls has their own story, which in someway affected Dante's life. Dante of the characters shows probability of suffering and pain he felt going through life. Each of the people he met at one time in his life influenced him.

Purgatory was only one of the three sections in Dante's The Divine Comedy. It was a weigh station to heaven. Once leaving hell, a soul was almost certain to make it to heaven on in purgatory. Dante's depiction of purgatory in a sense was a depiction of his quest for holiness. The story is of one man's journey to heaven through the perils of Hell.

Dante's notions of the seven deadly sins are wise but do not seem to grasp some of the other sins thought to be worse. Why did he not include murder? He did include anger and greed, which could lead to murder. Would stealing not make his top 7 list? Again, we can look at greed or lust to cause someone to steal. The people Dante met along the way had influenced his life in some way or another.

Each of the people met had a story which seemed to tell of one segment of Dante's life. Dante's struggle for freedom in Purgatory is finalized when he is introduced into Paradise. He has overcome all the seven deadly sins and confronted all adversities on his way to holiness. Dante's life truly inspired The Divine Comedy into one of the classic poetic stories of the 14 th century. The Purgatory section of The Divine Comedy is by far the most intriguing of the three in its attempt to relate to the seven deadly sins that to this day confront society.

One has to wonder if Dante knows something about death and what is to come of us. Dante died over 600 years ago but his knowledge lives on in philosophy and reworks of The Divine Comedy.


Free research essays on topics related to: dark forest, seven sacraments, divine comedy, seven deadly sins, heaven and hell

Research essay sample on Seven Deadly Sins Heaven And Hell

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