Dante's Inferno: what questions would you add to the list?

5 "Must Ask" Questions 

for Teaching Dante's Inferno

by Brian Phillips

Earlier this year, I wrote a five-part series on Dante’s Inferno entitled “Blogging through Hell”, a collection that grew out of teaching the great work this spring. Along with those articles, which served as outlets for some thoughts that incessantly swirled around my head while teaching, I want to provide a bit of practical help for any who might be teaching or reading the Inferno in days to come.

I realize that this post may come at a particularly unhelpful time, given that for most, the school year is drawing to a close, but there is never a bad time to think about Dante. The questions we ask are among the most significant (or are the most significant) considerations in teaching and reading, so here are a handful that I found helpful during my most recent trip through the Inferno.

1.Should Dante go with Virgil into hell (Cantos I-II)?

2.What does Virgil mean when he says that the fallen souls in hell have “lost the good of intellect” (Canto III)? How does that loss manifest itself in later cantos?

3.Compare circle one (the abode of the “virtuous pagans”) with later circles. Why does Dante portray their place so differently?

4.Should Dante have pity or sympathy for the souls he encounters in hell?

5.Describe Satan’s punishment. Why would Dante portray Satan’s punishment in such fashion?

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