Key Facts
full title · Inferno
author · Dante Alighieri
type of work · Narrative poem
genre · Epic poem, religious allegory, fantasy
language · Medieval Italian vernacular
time and place written · Early fourteenth century (probably begun around 1308 and completed
around 1314), throughout Italy
date of first publication · 1314
narrator · The character Dante recounts his trip through Hell,
looking back on it after an indeterminate period of time.
point of view · As Inferno is an account of his own
experiences, the character Dante speaks in the first person from
a subjective point of view, giving the reader insight into his emotions
and motivations.
tone · Dante uses a largely moralistic tone when portraying
the figures and events in his poem. At times he also comes across
as sardonic or ironic. With his elaborately designed retributions,
Dante expresses a belief in, and awe for, the perfection of divine
justice.
tense · Past
setting (time) · The evening of Good Friday through the morning of Easter Sunday
in the year 1300
setting (place) · Hell
protagonist · On a literal level, Dante, the character in the poem;
on an allegorical level, humankind
major conflict · Dante attempts to find God in his life, while those
sentenced to punishment in Hell hinder him from the true path.
climax · Inferno constitutes only
the first third of a much larger work, The Divine Comedy;
for this reason, and because of its extremely steady linear plot, Inferno has
no real climax. The most dramatically significant moment in the
poem probably arises in Dante's encounter with Lucifer, in Canto
XXXIV, a scene that has struck generations of readers and critics
as (deliberately) anticlimactic.
themes · The perfection of God's justice; evil as the contradiction
of God's will; storytelling as a vehicle for immortality; the idea
of the afterlife as a moral consequence of one's earthly life; the importance
of Rome as a spiritual and political capital
motifs · Political arguments; allusions to classical literature
and mythology; cities; the role of fame and prestige in human life
symbols · Inferno is an allegory; nearly every element symbolizes
some aspect of the theme. Most notably, the punishments of the sinners correspond
symbolically to the sins themselves.
foreshadowing · Virgil occasionally makes references to events that
occur later in the poem, and the Italian characters often prophesy
Dante's exile from Florence, but, on the whole, Inferno contains
little foreshadowing. Count Ugolino's gnawing on the head of the archbishop
in Canto XXXIII may foreshadow Lucifer's gnawing on Brutus, Cassius,
and Judas.
