Essay Example on Dante's Betrayal in 'Inferno' and 'Purgatorio': A Critical Analysis

Introduction

Dante Alighieri rose to his peak during the Middle Ages when genuine masterpieces in the field of art were created. Dante Alighieri represented one of the most excellent writers in poetry, and he is recognized for his breathtaking view expressed in his poems. Some of his famous works include the Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell, among others, and these works had a significant impact on Western art and literature. This paper will, however, focus on the betrayal depicted in his two works, Inferno and the Arabian Nights.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Betrayal in Dante's Inferno

Inferno represents the first part of Dante Alighieri's poem, The Divine Comedy. The Inferno describes a breathtaking journey of Alighieri through the Nine Circles of Hell. The Divine Comedy depicts how our souls always follow the will of God with the first part of the poem showing how sin is identified and rejected. The Nine Circles of Hell illustrate a wide range of sins and how sinful people are punished. The last circle is positioned at the center of the Earth, and Alighieri demonstrates the presence of Satan sitting at the center as the greatest betrayer according to Biblical history (Alighieri 127). The ascending circles depict the varying levels of betrayal, sins, and their punishment. Throughout the poem, Dante takes us to a journey through the nine circles with the last circle depicted as the lowest and darkest of them all.

The ninth circle is reserved for people who have betrayed. According to Dante's Inferno, betrayal is portrayed as the worst sin, and thus, the unpleasant consequences faced by betrayers (Alighieri 127). Dante can take us through the journey of the nine circles because he is guided by the light of reason and the hope for divine love. The punishment for betrayal involves being immersed in ice (Alighieri 127). The people in this circle represent those who repaid good, love, and kindness with evil and wrong motives. They are forever frozen in the lake to pay for their sins.

According to Dante Alighieri, betrayal is the worst form of sins depicted in the poem, and this is evidenced by the examples of punishment met for betrayal. For instance, in the poem, Alighieri describes how the body is snatched away from him and let to die, and in part he says, "As I betrayed, his body's snatched away and taken by a demon that controls it / Until the time arrives for it to die" (Alighieri 126). Dante Alighieri provides how the sins committed always return to the sinners through the punishment in the nine circles.

Another example that depicts betrayal as the worst form of sin is where Lucifer is immersed in ice, with three heads changing the strong storms to freeze the Cocytus River (Alighieri 127). Satan is depicted sitting far away as possible from God, and his face represents distorted beauty with three heads. The three heads of Satan are shown to chew off the heads of betrayers such as Brutus, Judas, and Cassius,

"That soul there, which has the worst punishment,

Is Judas Iscariot,' my master said,

'With his head inside, and kicking his legs.'

Of the two other, who hang from the black face is Brutus;

See how he twists and says not a word;

And the other is Cassius, whose body looks so heavy" (Alighieri 128).

The hierarchical structure in the form of the nine circles is based on a system of separation between God and humankind based on betrayal. The human souls suffer in torment because of the separation caused by betrayal and lack of divine love from God. Betrayers in the poem are condemned by given false hope, always presented a series of false challenges with the hope of escaping the eternal torment after completing the challenges (Alighieri 128).

However, after completing the challenges, there is still no hope for them, and Dante illustrates how the betrayers continually fall for their captor's tricks and engaging in even more challenging activities that last for eternity. The punishment to the betrayers is to make them suffer the same fate suffered by their victims because they portrayed and acted to be something or someone they were not and ended up disappointing those who trusted them.

Betrayal is associated with the act of devouring because of its unholy cruel impact it has on people and God. For instance, Satan was created by God and was given all the wisdom and beauty, and power, but instead of returning the favor to his creator, he has continually attacked his Creator by swaying off the other creatures to sin and betray their creator (Alighieri 128). Dante provides that Satan has dedicated his life corrupting and destroying God's creation by using his evil reason and false hope and love to coax the humankind to suffer in Hell with him.

Judas, just like Satan, was considered the closest and nearest disciples of Christ who got first-hand love, miracles, and teaching. However, Judas betrayed Jesus love for hate and turned down good for evil to satisfy his greedy needs. The same betrayal experiences are witnessed in the characters of Brutus and Cassius. According to historical events, Brutus and Cassius are known for betraying Julius Caesar by killing him (Alighieri 128). Dante, in his masterpiece depicts betrayal as one of the most severe sins because betrayal is done by the dearest and closest people, such as children betraying their parents, betrayal by best friends or family members. Another betrayal is witnessed in the acts of Adam and Eve by eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.

Betrayal in the Arabian Nights

Unlike the Inferno, the Arabian Nights consist of 1001 tales, and the story is based on the characters of Sultan Shahrayar and Scheherazade, his wife. Sultan's wife cheated on him, and he killed her and after that decided to kill every new wife after spending the first night together (Collins 15). Sultan believed that killing his wives prevented him from the agony of unfaithfulness. However, Scheherazade changed his behavior because she was a woman who knew how to impress and take care of her husband. Scheherazade's tactics involved telling Sultan a tale every night even though her tales never ended, but they helped to keep her alive (Collins 15).

Dante's Arabian Nights is a skillful work that illustrates the Islamic culture, and it is intended to teach moral values through storytelling. Dante provides adequate examples that help understand the main life lessons of the Arabic culture. The tales found in Arabian Nights teach about good and bad morals, and parents find the tales helpful in teaching their children about life morals.

Dante Alighieri uses the character of Sultan to depict betrayal because, after his first encounter of unfaithful with his wife, Sultan lost faith in love. Sultan killed his first wife and decided to marry a new woman every night and kill her before morning to prevent another instance of unfaithfulness. Scheherazade, however, was smart enough to apply fairy tales as her surviving tool and by telling half the story to keep Sultan waiting for the rest of the story the next night (Collins 16). Sultan was interested in the stories, and Scheherazade managed to do this for 1001 nights. During this time, Scheherazade had three children with Sultan, and after 1001 nights, she decided to show her children to her husband (Collins 16). Sultan was impressed with Scheherazade and chose to abandon her horrific behavior by giving her life and keeping her alive. Sultan promised to maintain a good life henceforth,

Then she ceased to speak, and when King Shahryar heard her speech and profited by that which she said, he summoned up his reasoning powers and cleansed his heart and caused his understanding revert and turned to Allah Almighty and said to himself: 'Since there befell the Kings of the Chosroes more than that which hath befallen me, never whilst I live shall I cease to blame myself for the past (Collins 17).

Dante uses several examples throughout the Arabian Nights to show how true love has an excellent impact on people's lives and how it can change people. Dante also demonstrates how true love is a healing power, and heals all heartbreaks as is shown through the character of Sultan. True love also prevents someone from betraying the people they love.

Comparison between Inferno and Arabian Nights

Dante applies different plots in the works of Inferno and Arabian Nights because Inferno is based on the Christian religion and believes while the Arabian Nights are founded on Islamic cultures and values. The poem Inferno illustrates how humankind travels through a rough journey in the nine circles to pay for the sins committed during their lifetime. The nine circles, and especially the punishment provided by Dante for betrayal, help the readers refrain from sinful acts of betraying other people. The poem, however, takes a different turn at the end when the power of love is depicted to move the stars and the sun, and this symbolizes how love is used to save the world and bring eternal happiness.

In the Arabian Nights, Dante applies a different strategy through the character of Sultan Shahryar by demonstrating how betrayal made him lose faith in love and develop the behavior of marrying new wives every night and killing them before morning. Betrayal made Sultan ruthless and cruel by revenging on every woman he met. Dante manages to use true love through the character of Scheherazade, who had excellent skills in impressing her husband. Sultan is swayed by true love and decides to grant her wife life and to abandon his killing behaviors.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Dante illustrates how love is used as the great mover of all things in the world. The humankind is to err, and it is easy to betray the dearest and closest people. There are a lot of theories explaining what holds after death and the end of people's lives, and Dante's version is one of them. However, one sure thing is that love has a magical power that can treat human fears, hurts, and diseases to mention a few. Another certain thing is that bad habits such as cruelty and betrayal are always punished, and thus it is essential always to love and stay loyal to friends, parents, family members, and above all to God. Many writers, philosophers, scientists, and thinkers all have different versions of what afterlife presents, but they all have the same unpleasant consequences. It is therefore essential to avoid sinful life such as betrayal to avoid punishment.

Works Cited

Alighieri, Dante. The divine comedy. London: Penguin, 2003.

Collins, Anne. Tales from the Arabian Nights. London: Pearson Education, 2000.