Seth Wolin

AP English Literature and Composition

Summer 2010

The Circles of Hell in Dante’s Inferno

Dante’s Inferno is often considered the greatest poem of the Middle Ages for its

examination of human morality, particularly in the ambits of politics and religion. Considering

the historical circumstances under which the work was produced, with the author in the midst of

deep political unrest involving the Italian Church and State, the ranking of sins in The Inferno

appears reasonable in context: personal sins, from lust to sullenness, are considered less heinous

than sins against the established order of society, from heresy to betrayal. But for modern,

secular scholars, the ranking of sins in Dante’s Inferno can often appear to be morally skewed.

depressing