Divine Justice In Dante's Inferno

The story of Dante’s Divine Comedy is one that is now read throughout the world and is highly regarded as one of the great literary works of all time. The most famous of the Divine Comedy, the Inferno, is the story of Dante’s journey through Hell. With the great poet, Virgil, as his guide, they make their way through the nine circle of Hell in which Dante describes. While, very much a religious work, it is also just as political in substance because of the ways in which Dante draws on his life experiences to influence and shape his version of Hell. His descriptions of Hell are still wildly popular and oftentimes form the basis of how modern day societies view Hell. An example of this lasting popularity is the 2010 video game in which the
One must understand that in abiding by Catholic doctrine and teachings his rankings of Circles represent the Divine Justice that draws the whole story together. Evil, which is the reason behind sin is the ultimate breaking of God’s will because the evil actions are in direct violation of God’s commands. Fraud is seen with such disdain by Dante because it is a direct violation of trust and love, which are seen as two of the purest emotions by Dante. Divine love is seen by Dante as the ultimate power and in many ways shapes his views and understandings of the underworld. Dante views his love that he feels towards Beatrice as the representation of true love because of the pure intentions in which they are founded. Many of the worst sins in Hell are perversions of pure intentions and demonstrate Dante’s views on sins. These views are unquestionably founded in the fact that he was betrayed by his beloved city of Florence when he was exiled. This can help to explain why Dante places Cassius, Brutus, and Judas in the mouths of Satan because of the direct violations of love and trust which were committed by these