October 15th, 2008

Inferno is filled with references and parallels to real world 14th century political and religious issues. Dante seems to concern himself with the public issues and how the general population is affected by private actions and emotions. The empire is the most favorable structure of government because of its similarities to Heaven in terms of its ability to spawn an ideal society that everyone partakes in. In XIX, Dante meets Pope Nicholas III, who suffers some of the worst punishment by profiting off of cheating the Church. Dante displays his opinion of the fact that the Church and State should be different entities and therefore should not operate together. He possesses an apathy for the sinners in the third pouch of the seventh circle because he does not agree with the notion that money should have any effect on your standing with God. Dante believes that the Church should be the supreme power only when it comes to religious aspects of life, and that real currency should be worthless when it comes to dealings with the church.