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Summary "Canto 5" - Dante Alighieri - Notes and analysis
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Detailed notes I took while preparing for IB English Paper 2.
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Inferno, “Canto 5”Notes on important lines/quotes
Line(s) Quote Analysis Questions
2–3 “[…] which bounds a This portrays the idea
lesser space/and of hell’s circles
therefore greater becoming smaller as
suffering […]” one descends, reflecting
an intensification of
pain until the very
bottom.
9–12 “And he (his sense of This reflects the
sin is very hierarchical
fine)/perceives what arrangement of Hell
place in Hell best suits (here, capitalized which
each one,/and coils his reflects to the place
tail around himself to itself rather than the
tell/the numbered ring idea of it). Could be
to which he’ll send related to dogs’ ability
them down” to smell or feel human
emotions very deeply.
19 “watch as you enter — This is related to how
and in whom you the very bottom of hell
trust.” is reserved for traitors,
people who violate
trust. It comes across
as foreshadowing, but
there is no apparent
way in which Dante’s
trust is exploited in
Inferno. Although for a
long while, most lines
were in nearly perfect
iambic pentameter
(especially those
directly preceding line
19), this line starts with
the strong syllable
“watch”, which
interrupts the meter to
draw attention to his
didactic message. The
quote also reflects the
archetypal image of a
prophet gatekeeper.
23–24 “For this is willed That Virgil tells Minos
where all is to not scare Dante in
possible/that is willed his journey through hell
there. And so demand alludes to how the
no more” create appears in
Virgil’s Aeneid 6,
alluding to how Virgil
may have an existing
familiarity (having
already known the
, afterlife and having
written about him in
his poems) with the
beast.
37–39 Caught in this moment, The mention of “carnal
as I understood,/were sin” is perhaps a
those who — here euphemism of sexual
condemned for carnal relations, instead
sin —/made reason expressed as
bow to their instinctual impulsivity in line 39.
bent.” That one would make
reason “bow”, as a
person would do to a
holy entity, to sexual
instinct portrays the
blasphemous nature of
choosing body over
reason (reason within
the impositions of
religion, not reason that
would dare to question
its legitimacy), lust over
loyalty. From here, it is
not apparent whether
the “carnal sin”s
mentioned refer to
cheating, premarital or
extramarital sex,
masturbation or
homosexual relation,
although Francesca’s
anecdote exemplifies
the first interpretation.
The “instinctual bent”
relates to how in the
forest, a leopard, lion,
and wolf are
mentioned: as animals
are known to follow
instinct, this idea
furthers the sense of a
forest as chaotic.
58–59 “This is Semiramis. Of This reflects the
her one reads/that she, condemning of incest:
though heir to Ninus, relationship between
was his bride.” father and daughter,
but it is questionable as
to why it is only
Semiramis who is
condemned and not
Ninus. Generally, of
the anecdotes
mentioned, with
Cleopatra, Helen, and
Francesca being the
other women, it is
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