Literary Commentary on The Inferno

Ellen Light

Ms. Peifer

10 IB English Per. 3

23 January 2012

Commentary on The Inferno

“Whereat I turned and saw beneath my feet/ and stretching out ahead, a lake so frozen/ it seemed to be made of glass. So thick a sheet/ never yet hid the Danube’s winter course,/ nor, far away beneath the frigid sky,/ locked the Don up in its frozen source:/ for were Tanbernick and the enormous peak/ of Pietrapana to crash down on it,/ not even the edges would so much as creak./ The way frogs sit to croak, their muzzles leaning/ out of the water, at the time and season/ when the peasant woman dreams of her day’s gleaning-/ Just so the livid dead are sealed in place/ up to the part at which they blushed for shame,/ and they beat their teeth like storks. Each holds his face/ bowed toward the ice, each of them testifies/ to the cold with his chattering mouth, to his heart’s grief/ with tears that flood forever from his eyes.” (Alighieri 32.22-39)

            In Canto 32 of The Inferno by Dante Alighieri, lines 22-39, the dominant impression is the eternal desolation of the ninth circle and the sinners in it. This impression is achieved by imagery, a hyperbole, an epic simile, a contrast, a metaphor, alliteration and the author’s tone in these lines. These literary devices work together to emphasize one of the main messages of The Inferno: sinners deserve neither the pity of other people, nor the love of God. The sinners of the ninth circle are doomed to be forever isolated from companionship. They committed the worst sin, treachery to those they were bound to by special ties, and therefore deserve their permanent wintery punishment.

            In the opening lines of this passage, Dante describes the lake of the ninth circle as being “a lake so frozen/ it seemed to be made of glass” (23-24). This imagery shows the eternal desolation of the ninth circle – it is simultaneously beautiful and harsh, as God’s justice was understood to be.  The glassy ice of Dante’s image is a metaphor both for the absence of love as a punishment and for the permanence of that punishment. It is paramount for humans to have love and companionship. The sinners in the ninth circle committed the worst sin as they betrayed their connections to other humans. In Dante’s eyes they deserve the worst punishment, eternal desolation. This is why they are frozen in the clear ice, furthest from God’s love, able to see the other sinners but forever separated from each other. The clear, smooth, glassy ice also implies that the water was completely still when it froze. As the water was unmoving, so the punishment of the sinners is unchanging and eternal.

            Dante also uses hyperbole to emphasize how eternal the frozen lake of the ninth circle is. “So thick a sheet never yet hid the Danube’s winter course,/ nor, far away beneath the frigid sky,/ locked the Don up in its frozen source;/ for were Tanbernick and the enormous peak/ of Pietrapana to crash down on it,/ not even the edges would so much as creak” (24-30). The ice of the ninth circle is thicker than any ice on the rivers of northern Europe and so strong that even if a mountain fell on it, it would never shatter. This ice will be there until the end of time; it will never melt.

            Having described the scenery of the ninth circle, Dante describes the sinners with an epic simile that shows their eternal desolation. “The way frogs sit to croak, their muzzles leaning/ out of the water…/just so the livid dead are sealed in place/ up to the part at which they blushed for shame” (31-35). These sinners are sealed in the ice all the way up to their faces; they cannot move and are separated from one another. The comparison of the sinners to frogs squatting in the water helps the reader imagine this dismal fate. Even though the sinners might regret their actions and “blush for shame,” it is too late. Their fate is sealed, just like they are sealed in the ice.

            Throughout this entire passage, Dante contrasts a companionable summer scene with the eternal desolation of the ninth circle. He talks about the lake of the ninth circle and compares the sinners to frogs and storks “at the time and season/ when the peasant woman dreams of her day’s gleaning” (32-33), or summer.  “[The sinners] beat their teeth like storks” (36). A dreamy summer pond with storks and frogs croaking and chattering to each other is contrasted with the frigid lake and the sinners frozen in it, chattering only with cold. The ninth circle is as cold and desolate as this summer pond is warm and companionable.

            Towards the end of these lines, Dante uses the metaphor of the sinners “[testifying]/ to the cold with [their] chattering mouth, to [their] heart’s grief/ with tears” (37-39) to show the sinner’s eternal desolation. In court, one testifies by giving evidence. These sinners give evidence to their suffering with their chattering teeth and crying eyes. “Each holds his face/ bowed toward the ice…” (36-37). These sinners are suffering and they bow their heads in regret, but, once again, it is too late.

            In the last line, Dante shows the eternal desolation of the ninth circle with alliteration. He describes the sinners having “tears that flood forever from [their] eyes” (39). This alliteration emphasizes that the sinners will cry and suffer alone forever. The sinners do not talk to one other; they only sob.

            Lastly, Dante’s indifferent, dispassionate tone in these lines underscores the eternal desolation of the sinners. By the ninth circle, Dante no longer pities the sinners or feels any kind of human love or connection with them. He calls them the “livid dead” (34) and calmly compares them to frogs and chattering storks. Instead of just saying the sinners were sealed in the ice up to their faces, he indicates his casual disregard for them by describing them as “sealed in place/ up to the part at which they blushed for shame…” (34-35). He is indifferent to their pain because he thinks they deserve it.  These sinners are truly the worst human beings and they deserve their everlasting solitude.  Indeed, Dante’s own attitude toward them could be seen as part of their punishment; his behavior during the visit to the ninth circle shows that no one at all cares about them.

            In this passage, Dante describes the eternal desolation of the ninth circle. This is a powerful and important passage because it reveals something fundamental about humans: the ultimate punishment for humans is to be without each other and, by implication, without God’s love. These lines resonate with the reader precisely because everyone can imagine the horror of being isolated. What makes this state of isolation hell is its permanence.  Not only are the sinners isolated, they are isolated until the end of time. Anything can be withstood if there is an end in sight; it is the fact that the sinners will never ever escape that is so chilling.