The Feminine In Dante's Inferno
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“The Feminine” in Dante’s The Inferno
Like many great authors throughout time, Dante Alighieri demonstrates the underlying significance of female characters in his epic, The Inferno. Due to the misconceptions men had of women during this era, women were granted much less societal acceptance and were easily labelled as seductresses. More so, Beatrice’s character suggests a much deeper relationship to Dante – one more than plain, physical love. In this sense, the women in this poem partake in two very distinct roles: either the divine love Beatrice represents, or the sinful female inhabitants of the Underworld in whom Dante sympathizes with. Women 's sins, as depicted by Dante, tend to be overwhelmingly sexual in nature as …show more content…
Many of the demons of the underworld also embody a counter feminine ideal. The Erinyes guard a tower near the Gate to Dis. We see Beatrice as a calm symbol of love, but the furies are “hellish and inhumane” (ix.34), with “horned serpents [that grow] from their heads like matted hair” (ix. 37-38). They are so far from the feminine ideal that Dante’s only description of them that identifies them as female is skeptical: “Their limbs and gestures hinted they were women” (ix. 35). The Harpies, kin of the Erinyes, do not even get specified as female by Dante, but have traditionally been represented as such. The Harpies are described in terms that perhaps, are even more hideous than those granted to the Erinyes: Their wings are wide, their feet clawed, their huge bellies covered with feathers, their necks and faces human. They croak eternally in unnatural trees. The concept of the divine feminine is not just seen in the sinners, but also in those who were sinned against. In the Eighth Circle of Hell there are the seducers and panderers, who are being punished for their crimes against women. Dante speaks with Venedico Caccianemico, who prostituted his sister Ghisola to gain political favor. Virgil also points out Jason, who was Hypsiplye’s seducer and unfaithful husband to Medea. They are forced to walk quickly in a circle, driven by “horned demons with enormous lashes” (xviii.
“The Feminine” in Dante’s The Inferno
Like many great authors throughout time, Dante Alighieri demonstrates the underlying significance of female characters in his epic, The Inferno. Due to the misconceptions men had of women during this era, women were granted much less societal acceptance and were easily labelled as seductresses. More so, Beatrice’s character suggests a much deeper relationship to Dante – one more than plain, physical love. In this sense, the women in this poem partake in two very distinct roles: either the divine love Beatrice represents, or the sinful female inhabitants of the Underworld in whom Dante sympathizes with. Women 's sins, as depicted by Dante, tend to be overwhelmingly sexual in nature as …show more content…
Many of the demons of the underworld also embody a counter feminine ideal. The Erinyes guard a tower near the Gate to Dis. We see Beatrice as a calm symbol of love, but the furies are “hellish and inhumane” (ix.34), with “horned serpents [that grow] from their heads like matted hair” (ix. 37-38). They are so far from the feminine ideal that Dante’s only description of them that identifies them as female is skeptical: “Their limbs and gestures hinted they were women” (ix. 35). The Harpies, kin of the Erinyes, do not even get specified as female by Dante, but have traditionally been represented as such. The Harpies are described in terms that perhaps, are even more hideous than those granted to the Erinyes: Their wings are wide, their feet clawed, their huge bellies covered with feathers, their necks and faces human. They croak eternally in unnatural trees. The concept of the divine feminine is not just seen in the sinners, but also in those who were sinned against. In the Eighth Circle of Hell there are the seducers and panderers, who are being punished for their crimes against women. Dante speaks with Venedico Caccianemico, who prostituted his sister Ghisola to gain political favor. Virgil also points out Jason, who was Hypsiplye’s seducer and unfaithful husband to Medea. They are forced to walk quickly in a circle, driven by “horned demons with enormous lashes” (xviii.