::InFeRnO::

There is a wall running along the outside and has a great circular pit at its center. You see ten evenly spaced ridges run between the wall and the pit. These ridges create ten separate pits, in which the perpetrators receive their punishments...This is Malebolge, the eighth circle of Hell. The Panders and the Seducers in the First Pouch acted pimps, selling women as merchandise from one buyer to the next. Now for their punishment they run from one demon’s whip to another’s as if they are now the cattle, or slaves. There is a part that sticks out to me and its when Dante says, “Searching it with my eyes / I saw one there whose head was so befouled / With shit, you couldn’t tell which one he was” (XVIII.106–108). Dante finds humor in this punishment i think and appreciates the power of scripture, but throws in a bit of humor with it. All this time Virgil and Dante have been threatened by demons or those who work in Hell as the punishers or even some of the beasts, but everytime they just say they are on a voyage to Heaven they are left alone and allowed to pass. Why is this? SInce it is Hell of coarse wouldnt you think that those who are in it would despise anyone who was Heaven bound? Also not only were the two poets allowed to pass, but they were given 10 demons now to go with them. However these demons are captives here too, because as seen in Canto XXIII, they cannot leave the Fifth Pouch. The demons are fallen angels, and have been given their own particular tortures for their unloyalty to God. Dante’s encounter with the crucified Caiphus was a sense of moral highlight to Christian believers i think. Caiphus was a priest under Pontious Pilate, who told the Pharisees to let Jesus die, than make chaos and trouble in the nation. He was a hypocrit, preaching common sense but not showing it, he now stays in the Sixth Pouch. Because he called for Christ’s crucifixion, he lies crucified. Just like Jesus did for us, and because his actions contributed to the suffering of one for the sins of many, he now lies up there for all of the other sinners in the Sixth Pouch.

INFERNO

So i went to look at comments for my blog and saw my last didnt post so im going to combine it with this one as well...
Now the journey goes towards the First Ring of the Seventh Circle of Hell. The two men are taken through a ravine of broken rock. While going through the ring, Dante and VIrgil see a river of blood where the sinners who were violent against their neighbors remain. A group of Centaurs stood around the river ready to shoot with bows and arrows. They shoot at any soul that tries to raise itself out of the river to a height too pleasant for his or her sin. Throughout the whole story we see Christian doctrine tie into everything. Virgil makes it seem like Hell experiences the effects of the passage of time. Virgil can remember a physically different Hell, and the souls can anticipate the return of their bodies.
The souls in the second ring consist of those who were violent against themselves such as suicides, and for their punishment they have beem transformed into trees. This is unusual to Dante's other punishments. When you think about it becoming a tree is an easy punishment compared to the cruel consequences of the rest. But those who seemed to not want the bodies that God had given them got what they wanted. Now as they reside in Hell they will never be able to have their humanly form again.
Now moving through a third ring, the poets come across yet another "red" stream. Virgil informs Dante that the source to Hell's water is underneath a mountain where sits a broken statue of a man and the water falls like tears down into a pool. It's sort of a way to see a physical example of mankind crumbling and falling apart. Dante takes his politcal views and kind of cusions them throughout the story, and speaks highly of his allies but poorly of the enemies. Dante now also sees the flaws among his own saying, “so long as conscience is not betrayed, / I am prepared for Fortune to do her will” (XV.89–90). So regardless of your political view, sinning against God must not go unpunished.
I dont know about you guys but it's beginning to get harder for me to come up with an arguement because all the poets seem to be doing is going through Hell and it more so describes to us the physical matters and whats taking place. Maybe its just me but im starting to struggle to come up with good arguments...any ideas to help??

Inferno

As we read, we get deeper and deeper into the circles of Hell, where Dante and his guide Virgil keep traveling. First off, we see that in the second circle of hell the sinners of being committed of lust reside. In the story it spoke of one of the women speaking back to Dante saying that she was made to marry this old man, not by choice, and did not love him. However she did fall in love with this other guy who eventually were found showing their affection towards each other leading to their death. My first argument would be that you cant help who you love or how your heart feels, so as far as arranged marriges go i do not agree with them at all. So how could you go to Hell for loving? It's not your fault you didnt fall in love with the person chosen for you. As we read further on we can see that Christianity is a supreme moral to Dante throughout the poem. Canto VI also provides insight into the material characteristics of Hell through Dante's point of view. The dead souls do not have their earthly bodies and Dante and Virgil wakl upon shades as they cross the Third Circle of Hell. Virgil states that the dead souls will be able to regain its flesh at the Last Judgment. This is where i get a little confused i guess, what is the last judgment exactly? Because the souls are already in Hell so is the last judgement like what circle they would be sent to or what? Or are the sinners who were sort of riding to fence able to say whether they worship God or Satin and then sent either up or down? Also i question how a soul can feel physical pain such as the wasps and things that have happened previously. Also Dante would not be able to see the sinners if it was just their souls so then this throws confusion at me.

The Inferno: post one

Laugh you may, but in the Hannah Montana Movie the quote goes, "life's a climb but the view is great." You cant give up or give into anything while climbing that hill (life), you just have to keep your eye on the prize and when it seems to get steeper push through it and keep climbing. The poet in the story, Dante finds himself on a path of darkness. We can see the symbolizism within the first few lines of the poem. He states, “Midway on our life’s journey, I found myself / In dark woods, the right road lost” (I.1–2). Here we see how this brings us back to our own lives with "our" life journey, and the right road being that of honor and gloryfying God. He seems to have lost his way off of his true path, but cant seem to figure out how he got there, "I cannot well repeat how there I entered,/ So full was I of slumber at the moment/ In which I had abandoned the true way."(I.10-13) Dante sees a hill that at the top has a light gleaming down upon it, but when he goes to climb that mountain he is met by 3 beasts; a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf, which all have him turn back. I see these beasts as symbols of dark forces, also being sins. Although unsure of its whereabouts I know through my biblical teachings that in the Bible they speak of these beasts. That the lion will eventually come to slay them, and the lepord is for watching the city, and a wolf will spoil them. Therefor right from the get go the plot of the story gets underway that involves Christian doctrine that brings us to our own lives, religious or not. You dont have to be a believer to relate to this story. Everyone goes through hard times, and the light is difficult to get to. Some give up but others dig deep, as for Dante, he gave up the climb and returned to the dark and scary valley. Dante meets up with Virgil, a poet that Dante admires and enjoys. Dante tells about the beasts that kept him from reaching the top of the hill. Virgil informs Dante that the She-Wolf will kill anything in her path. But he also says that a day will come when she will be chased back into Hell where she belongs. So they're off, Virgil and Dante on the climb to reach the top. However before they can climb the hill they must first pass through the place of eternal punishment, aka Hell. Then they will continue to a place of lesser punishment being Purgatory. After all is done then can they reach the light which is God's city of eternal life, Heaven. Dante links his poem to the larger traditional Christian beliefs. Everyone undergoes trials and tribulations in their search to find themsevles in life. THey go forth making mistakes, but also learning from them to discover the soul’s true path in life. Christian doctrine says that all people know some form of sin and will wander and give into that temptation from time to time. THe path to the blessed and eternal life in Heaven however awaits anyone who seeks to find it. Dante makes it to where you put yourself in his position at the beginning of the poem.
The journey of Dante and Virgil goes on and they come to the gates of Hell. “Abandon all hope, you who enter here,” is the greeting before entering the gate. As they enter Dante hears crying and suffering from the souls that have no place. THey lived their life undecisive of whether to live out an honorable life for God or deny Him to earn them a place in Hell, therefor both Heaven and Hell have denied them. This book is very detailed you could say on how descriptive it is. Flies and wasps continually bite them, and worms consume the blood and tears that flow from them. I cant imagine witnessing all of this. I know for myself i'd have the need to pray, but then what would happen to me. Hell is where you have dishonored or denied God. Although Dante wasnt condemned to hell would he not be able to speak to or of his Heavenly Father? It says in the Bible "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."(phillipians 4:13) It being Hell was God still with them? I guess i will just keep reading to see.

A Midsummer Nights Dream...to the end!

In Act III we are still in the woods to start with where the characters meet to reherse. One item they discuss is having to lion to be too scary to the women. This makes me laugh because how can a guy be too scary because, "lion among ladies is a most dreadful thing. For there is not a more fearful wildfowl than your lion living. And we ought to look to ’t."(III.i.11-14) The final solution that "another prologue must tell he is not a lion."(III.i.15) Their acting must be amazing if they can have the crowd thinking there is a real lion up there. As the characters continue acting and working out the kinks, Puck transforms Bottom’s head into that of a donkey. It ends up scaring the men away and Bottom is left. What Bottom didnt know is that he would be the next victim of the "love potion." Titania awakes and first thing her juice dropped eyes see is Bottom and his donkey head. "What angel wakes me from my flowery bed?"(III.i.60) After Titania expresses her love towards Bottom, he goes to reply that she has no reason to love her. Besides they just met and had nothing going on before. Bottom says, "And yet, to say the truth, reason and love keep little company together nowadays."(III.i.70-71), which is saying that reason and love have very little to do with one another. I disagree with this point because in order to love someone there has to be more than just a first look. I dont believe in love at first sight and i think having a reason to love someone are important because those reasons are what makes them special to you. But of coarse we are not talking about true love here...its love through magic, through potion. With the love triangle already being affected by the potion, Shakespeare creates more and more chaos through the young lovers by making a romance across groups. Overall act three just sets up and develops the plot of what is to come from the lovers. Act IV seems to play the role of all the solutions to every problem. It becomes the answer, and the happy ending to the love unbalance. Act V gets underway and the men and women take their seats. The prologue then gets spoken andQuince's strange pauses make many question, so that he says, “Our true intent is. All for your delight / We are not here. That you should here repent you,” (V.i.114–115). After the play, Bottom plays out and pretends to kill himself. When given the oportunity between a final epilouge or dance, Theseus chooses the dance. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, sort of gives you an idea of what is to be expected in the book dreams and mystical characters. But Shakespeare does an excellent job relating darkness and love together but keeping it a comedy. Have you ever had something so great or even so bad happen that you thought it couldnt be real it was just a dream? Well thats what happens to the lovers after their magical night in the forest ends. They lovers begin to grow suspicious that their experience in the woods was nothing but a dream. In the famous final speech of the play, "If we shadows have offended,/ Think but this, and all is mended—/ That you have but slumbered here/ While these visions did appear./ And this weak and idle theme,/ No more yielding but a dream,/ Gentles, do not reprehend./ If you pardon, we will mend./And, as I am an honest Puck,/ If we have unearnèd luck/ Now to ’scape the serpent’s tongue,/ We will make amends ere long./ Else the Puck a liar call./ So good night unto you all./ Give me your hands if we be friends,/ And Robin shall restore amends."(V.i.383-398) Puck says that if audience members didnt enjoy the play, they were dreaming throughout it. Overall i enjoyed this book a lot more than other Shakespeare stories, i just didnt like how there was a play inside of this play because at times it got confusing for me.

A Midsummer Night's Dream Act II

Act II introduces us to a fairy who serves Queen Titania and Robin or also known as puck. They discuss of their masters going to the woods that evening, and the problems that would happen. That being said not long after Oberon and Titania arrive. Jealousy strikes an argument showing yet another realisitic relationship problem. Titania has stolen a young Indian boy and Oberon demands that Titania give the boy to him. "I do but beg a little changeling boy, /To be my henchman."(II.i.105-106) Titania doesnt give him up though. Oberon wants to get back at Titania and make her fall in love with him. Demetrius finds Helena in the woods and tells her to go away even after he heres about Hermia and Lysander. Her plan fails, "I love thee not, therefore pursue me not." (II.i.173) So yet again Demetrius tells her he doesnt want to be with her, and he has no feelings for her. Oberon was hiding in the woods the whole time Demetrius and Helena were argueing, and unsure why but he decides to make Demetrius fall in love with Helena. He tells Robin Goodfellow to take some of the potion stuff and use it on Demetrius. The puck agrees, and goes off to carry out his errand. Titania calls for a quick dance in the woods with her fairies, after which they sing her to sleep. Oberon takes the opportunity to sneak up and drop the pansy juice onto her closed eyelids. Soon thereafter Lysander and Hermia, tired of walking and having lost their way, decide to go to sleep as well. They lie down, but Hermia demands that Lysander sleep a short distance away in order to keep up her sense of modesty since she is not married to him yet. The puck sees Lysander lying apart from Hermia and thinks that he was the man Oberon spoke about. The drops then go onto Lysander's eyes and the plan was done. Helena keeps following Demetrius but on the voyage she comes across Lysander sleeping. She shakes him awake, and now becomes the first person he sees making him fall in love due to the potion. "And run through fire I will for thy sweet sake./ Transparent Helena! Nature shows art/ That through thy bosom makes me see thy heart./ Where is Demetrius? Oh, how fit a word/ Is that vile name to perish on my sword!"(II.ii.77-80) The potion is like cupid with his arrows, the person shot falls in love with the person they first see. When Helena is told that Lysander loves her she doesnt think its true and takes it personally and gets angry at him. Lysander decides to forget about Hermia and follow Helena instead. Hermia wakes up to find Lysander no where, and decides to go search for him.

A Midsummer Nights Dream ACT I

Hippolyta, a young and anxious newely wed to be, is preparing for a large festival for her and her soon to be husband Thesueus. Thesues is the Duke of Athens, and to my suprise got Hippolyta to fall in love with him with violence towards her. "Hippolyta, I wooed thee with my sword /And won thy love doing thee injuries. /But I will wed thee in another key, / With pomp, with triumph, and with reveling."(I.i.16-19) As the play gets going we are introduced by the father of Hermia, who happens to not want the same thing her father wants. It is unfortunate that the man she loves, and the man her dad wants her to marry are not the same. Since Thesues is the Duke, Egeus, Hermia's father goes to him in anger with hopes that Theseus can either make his daughter marry Demetrius or have the power to kill her, because since she does belong to her father the law says that he can. I think this action is far too intense for such an issue. You cant help who you fall in love with, and you cant just be happy with whomever. It's too bad that her dad can't be understanding and give Lysander a chance. Besides Lysander makes his daughter happy and isn't that what every parent wants, besides the fact that they also want the best for them. Here we have another argument, do parents always know whats best for their children? Or do they have to lay off sometimes and let them find out whats best for themselves? I'm one who truly believes in "we live and we learn." So how can she know what's best for her if she doesnt figure it out for herself. Theseus and Hermia have a long talk about her options. She questions what the worst to happen could be by saying, "But I beseech your grace that I may know / The worst that may befall me in this case, / If I refuse to wed Demetrius"(I.i.62-64), Theseus tells her straight forward she has only that of two options, she must marry Demetrius or join a nunnery. Lysander not wanting to give up just yet asks Hermia to sneak into the woods the next night so that they may get married at his aunt's house outside of Athens. Clearly nothing sank in after her talk with the duke because she agrees to the plan. We're now also introduced to Helena who says to love Dometrius far more than Hermia ever could. Lysander tells her to not worry since he and Hermia are sneaking away that night. Helena only wanting one thing decides to tell Demetrius about his sweet Hermia's plans because that might make him start to love her again. This sounds like a typical teen love story, filled with jealousy and back-stabbing. It's not unordinary that the girl will rat out Hermia, because that will make Demetrius get mad and not want Hermia anymore. Also in Act I scene I line 134, it says, "The course of true love never did run smooth," which is so true. Every relationship will run into bumps in the road along the way but true love always overcomes it. For the Duke's wedding a group of men went around figuring out who would be good enough to perform in it. The play is based on Pyramus and Thisbe, and is meant to be a comedy but also a tradgedy all at the same time. One of the actors, Nick Bottom is afraid that if he makes the lion in the play too real, it might be too scary for a wedding night and get them all killed. They all agree to go into the woods that night to rehearse their lines and fix all the little mistakes.