Dante Essay

Dante"s Inferno Essay

The definition of a confidant (male), or a confidante (female), is a character, whose roll is to be present when the hero or heroine needs a sympathetic listener to confide in. In Dante"s Inferno, the author uses Virgil as Dante"s confidant and to lead him through the rings of Hell. Virgil shows that he is a confidant in several ways such as causing him to have faith in himself, being his protection throughout the journey, and giving him the information he needs to know.
In Canto II, Virgil hasn"t yet taken Dante on his journey through the rings of Hell. Before they even begin, Dante doubts himself and does not think that he can survive the journey. Virgil, being the confidant that he is, rebukes his cowardice and tells him the story about how he found him.
          "‘But why an I to go? Who allows me to?
          I an not Aeneas, I am not Paul,
          Neither I nor any man would think me worthy
          And so, if I should undertake the journey,
          I fear it might turn out an act of folly—
          You are wise, you see more than my words express"
          As one who unwills, what he willed will change
          He purposes with some new second thought
          Completely quitting what he first had studied" (Canto II, p.28, lines 31-29).
Paul and Aeneas were the two people who explored Hell before Dante. Paul was considered the "Chosen Vessel" and took the journey and ascended back to Heaven with the faith that he received from the journey. Dante doubts himself, saying that he doesn"t have the will power like Paul had, therefore he wouldn"t survive the journey, but Virgil won"t allow that kind of attitude.
          ""If I have truly understood your words,"
          That shade of magnanimity replied,
          Your soul is burdened with that cowardice
          Which often weighs so heavily on man
          It turns him from a noble enterprise
          Like a frightened beast that shies at its own shadow...