Social Criticism in Dante's Inferno

Cameron Wood

Rhetoric II Midterm Essay

11 December 2015

The Existence and Role of Social Criticism in Dante’s Inferno

It is truly a biological marvel how the human brain possesses the ability to match words with visually obtained memories.  For example, what generally appears into one’s head when the word art is mentioned?  Often, the simple word instantaneously conjures brief visions of vibrant and meticulously detailed paintings, marble sculptures of austere yet delicate grandeur, the auditory brilliance of a well-composed opera, a graceful and silent ballet, or perhaps even the explicit rebelliousness of many modern music genres.  Whether it is a painting, a sculpture, or another form of art, one of the core talents of a true artist is the ability to use his art to express his or her opinion, despite who may or may not agree with it.  Often enough, that opinion will challenge the conformists in society.  And no better example of this exists than in the form of literature.  Throughout history, a reader will find that great literature cannot be contained by those who do not want it spread, and cannot be contained to a specific time period.  The greatest writings in history, the pinnacle of literary masterpieces of Man and his pen are outside of time; they possess an omniscient and corresponding applicability that links with the time period they are being written in, and often the time they are read in as well.  This correspondence to the time period it is written can manifest itself in the form of outright parody, but often enough, great pieces of literature cross the line of mere satire and into a close but separate realm; social criticism.  Among the greatest examples of this lie in one of the greatest novels of all time, Dante’s Inferno.

Often, satire and social criticism can be hard to distinguish from another.  In novels like Don Quixote, another excellent example of social criticism, author Miguel de Cervantes uses his highly developed literary skills to produce a humorous yet compelling story, a story that constantly pokes fun at its subject to prove a point.  However, instead of using literature as a source of merely poking fun and sarcastically mocking to get his point across, social criticism took a harsher and more direct route in Dante’s Inferno, while still maintaining a witty disposition.  Dante had written this story after a period of civil war in the Catholic Church, when the church was split between Blacks (who supported the Pope) and the Whites (who did not), the party that Dante himself was a part of.  Eventually, the Blacks proved to be victorious, and the Whites were either executed or exiled from Florence.  This is important to note because through writing a novel about traveling through the depths of Hell itself, Dante was able to direct his fiery anger at the Catholic Church for exiling him, making an attempt to cremate the Church’s impeccably holy reputation and status.  And, to continue the metaphor, his novels were an instant hit, spreading through Italy like a wildfire moves through a thick forest.  Not only does Dante condemn these powerful figures in a belletristic manner, he made sure everyone saw it, or rather read it.  Dante chose to write The Inferno in Italian as opposed to Latin, which most novels and poems at the time were written in.  Since most of the people spoke a rough Italian, by utilizing the common man’s vernacular, Dante’s harsh words are not just read by the social elite, but the entirety of both the elite and the common, a stroke of genius on Dante’s part.  Several of Dante’s political enemies, such as Filippo Argenti, Guido da Montefeltro, and Farinata degli Uberti, all formerly bitter adversaries of Dante, appear in Hell.

 Guido, who assisted Pope Boniface III with his cunning military strategies, is forced to pay the price of his fraudulent counsel for all eternity.  Farinata, who appears in the section of Hell dedicated to torturing heretics, rises from a flaming grave, and he and Dante, despite possessing a passionate rivalry, are able to have a surprisingly docile conversation.  However, Filippo Argenti, in particular, is shown remarkable resentment by Dante, who has felt genuine sympathy for most of the sinners he saw before.  Even for many of his former enemies, he felt at least a twinge of guilt for them, especially for Guido, whom he even goes as far as to praise for expressing regret over helping Pope Boniface III.  But no sympathy exists for Argenti, on the converse, there exists only a raging hostility.  There was an unexplained but clearly existing rivalry between the two, partially caused by the fact that Filippo is a member of the Adimari family, a politically powerful family that had much influence in Dante’s exile, not to mention Filippo Argenti was the man who had received Dante’s estate for his loyalty to the Pope following the latter’s exile.  Even in Hell, Dante has not let go of his animosity for Argenti.  Filippo’s spirit, covered in dark muck, rises from the misty marshes of the Styx, and startlingly greets Dante by saying “Who are you that come here before your time?”  (8.33) Dante almost immediately recognizes his old rival despite the mud, and begins starkly berating the specter (ironically briefly committing the crime that Filippo is being tortured for), saying “May you weep and wail to all eternity, for I know you, hell-dog, filthy as you are.” (8.37-38) and after he gleefully watches Argenti’s soul being torn apart by other wrathful wraiths in a moment of sadistic brutality, he tells Vergil “It would suit my whim to see the wretch scrubbed down into the swill before we leave this stinking sink and him” (8. 49-51) After the encounter with Argenti, Dante mostly stops feeling pity for the sinners in Hell, much to the approval of Vergil, who immediately praises Dante for his sudden catharsis.