Dante's Inferno | Canto 1 Summary & Analysis

[Music] in canto 1 of Inferno thirty-five-year-old Dante the narrator and main character finds himself in a dense dark forest unsure of how he arrived there except that he had abandoned true path he comes to the foot of a high hill where sunlight shines at the top he looks back and then he begins to climb up the slope suddenly a leopard appears gets in his way Dante continues to climb when a lion blocks his way followed by a she-wolf he is forced back down there he encounters the spirit for shade of the Roman poet Virgil Virgil tells Dante that the she-wolf will not let him pass so he will have to take another path Virgil suggests that he guide him through hell and purgatory from there another more worthy guide will lead Dante to heaven the City of God agreeing with this plan the to set out on the journey this opening canto acts as an introduction to the entire Divine Comedy Inferno purgatorio and Paradiso it introduces Virgil and Dante who traveled together it also mentions a more worthy soul than Virgil who will be Dante's guide for the final part of his journey foreshadowing the scope and structure of the comedy now the structure of the plot will be a journey a typical plot structure for an epic poem the paths are symbolic of the spiritual journey having lost the easier straighter route to heaven he must follow a different path he is in the dark forest itself a symbol of his separation from God whose light can be seen shining at the top of the hill the lost and blocked paths and the dark wood are all symbolic of Dante's spiritual States at the midpoint of his life the implication is that he needs to regain the true path and find the light in order to attain salvation by calling it our journey dante draws attention to our common humanity and mortality and suggests that if he can go astray can we Virgil is unable to enter heaven because he worshiped the false gods of Roman mythology Dante is Christian and can thus enter the heavenly realm and he begins the trip here with the poet as his guide [Music]

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Keywords: Canto 1 summary, Dante's Inferno, Inferno, dantes inferno, dante's inferno, divine comedy, Dante, Dante's Inferno Canto 1

Id: TpU2E5fRoGY

Length: 2min 31sec (151 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 04 2017