by Laila Khan

Created on: June 11, 2008

The Inferno was published in 1321. It begins on the night before Good Friday in 1300, and continues until dawn on Easter Sunday. The main characters are Dante and Virgil. There are many minor characters, but the only one that plays a large part in the story is Beatrice. The protagonist in the story is Dante. The antagonists are Dante's sin, and the sinners in Hell. The conflict is both internal and external. Dante is forced to battle his own sin, as well as the sins of those in Hell. The theme in The Inferno is the classic conflict between good and evil, or Heaven and Hell. The main literary technique in The Inferno, is allegory in the use of symbolic punishments.

The Inferno begins with Dante outside of hell. He is confused, and does not know where he is. Dante attempts to climb a large sunlit hill, but he is stopped by a leopard, lion, and she-wolf, representing fraud, violence, and incontinence. It is then, when Dante has begun to lose hope, that Virgil appears. Virgil then states that he has been sent by a heavenly chain to guide Dante through Hell and Purgatory, whereupon another will take over as his guide. This introductory Canto is both the exposition and the inciting incident. Canto I introduces the main characters as well as the major conflict.

Virgil then begins to guide Dante through Hell. The rising action occurs as they travel through the circles of hell. They begin by going through the outer vestibule of hell, where the indecisive are forced to remain for eternity. They did not choose a side when Lucifer revolted, and thus are rejected by both Heaven and Hell. After the vestibule is Limbo, the first circle of Hell, where virtuous non-Christians dwell. These souls must live without the hope of seeing God, as they lived before the time of Christ, and, thus, can not be saved. Virgil lives in this circle, along with Homer, Horace, Ovid, Plato, Cicero, and other famous historical people.

Dante and Virgil then proceed through the circles of Hell. The next four circles contains those who committed the sins of incontinence: lust, gluttony, hoarding, and wrath. Along their journey, Dante stops and talks with the sinners to learn of their sins and the punishments for their sin. At the edge of the fifth circle is the gate to the city of Dis. In order to proceed, Virgil calls upon help from heaven to open the gate. While Dante and Virgil wait for an angel, the three Furies appear and begin to call for Medusa. Suddenly, an angel appears and opens the gate

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