Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on Virgil in Dante's Inferno. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page paper on the characterization of Virgil in the Dante's Inferno. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khvidinf.rtf
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
names after himself, journeys through the afterlife with the ghost of the ancient Roman poet Virgil as his guide, mentor and friend. Since Virgil is the only other character
besides Dante himself who is present in all three book, his personality is critical to the structure of the poems narrative and in achieving the purposes of the poet.
Therefore, an examination of Dantes characterization of Virgil is instructive in demonstrating what Dante is endeavoring to say to his readers. The presence of Virgil in the narrative is immensely
useful to the author as the ancient poet provides a ready-made means for providing the reader with expository description. As Virgil acts as Dantes guide, when he explains the landscape
of Hell to Dante, he likewise provides this information to the reader. For example, Virgil explains to Dante that the outer circles of Hell are inhabited by souls whose burden
of sin is not all that heavy, but the sins become more severe, along with punishments, as they travel closer to the center. In Canto III, they encounter the
souls of people who never truly committed themselves to God, but rather lived "for themselves" (Dante 3:line 37). In each instance, the punishments that the sinners undergo are tailored to
fit their sin. As these people never committed themselves to anything, they chase an elusive banner for all eternity. Virgil explains this to Dante, and he is often the medium
who explains the logic of the punishment to Dante, and hence, to the readers. As this situations suggests, virtually everything in the poem is allegorical. The dark wood in
which Dante finds himself at the beginning of the poem is analogous to the mid-life depression that Dante experienced. Likewise, Virgil is also symbolic and should be understood symbolically as
...