Dante's "Inferno" - The Barrators

Analytical Essay # 68343

English > Analysis
Literature > Italian

An analysis of the comedy element in Dante's "Inferno" provided by the barrators.

2,241 words () | 7 sources | MLA | 2003 France

Paper Summary:

The episode of the barrators and demons in Cantos XXI and XXII of Dante's "Inferno" has often been commended for its comic element. Is this a modern imposition on the text? Does Dante find barratry funny? The paper answers these questions and looks specifically at the barrators and the treatment they receive in the fifth bolgia. It also discusses Dante's views on morality and how he reflects them in his work.

From the Paper:

"There have been allusions made between the events in the Baratteria and a tragic incident in Florence in 1303. According to Gabriel Rossetti there was a pageant held in honor of the Cardinal da Prato; where an imitation of the Inferno complete with all its demons ended, when a bridge collapsed under the strain of a mass of revelers, and many were drowned in the water. Rossetti believes the episode of the barrators in the Inferno to be a parody of this disaster."

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APA Citation:

Dante's "Inferno" - The Barrators (2012, January 15). Retrieved February 13, 2012, from http://www.academon.com/Analytical-Essay-Dante's-Inferno-The-Barrators/68343

MLA Citation:

"Dante's "Inferno" - The Barrators" 15 January 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. <http://www.academon.com/Analytical-Essay-Dante's-Inferno-The-Barrators/68343>