Danteworlds: A Reader's Guide to the Inferno

By Guy P. Raffa

Book Overview

One of the greatest works of world literature, Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy has, despite its enormous popularity and importance, often stymied readers with its multitudinous characters, references, and themes. But until now, students of the Inferno have lacked a suitable resource to guide their reading.

Welcome to Danteworlds, the first substantial guide to the Inferno in English. Guy P. Raffa takes readers on a geographic journey through Dante's underworld circle by circle--from the Dark Wood down to the ninth circle of Hell--in much the same way Dante and Virgil proceed in their infernal descent. Each chapter--or "region"--of the book begins with a summary of the action, followed by detailed entries, significant verses, and useful study questions. The entries, based on a close examination of the poet's biblical, classical, and medieval sources, help locate the characters and creatures Dante encounters and assist in decoding the poem's vast array of references to religion, philosophy, history, politics, and other works of literature.

Written by an established Dante scholar and tested in the fire of extensive classroom experience, Danteworlds will be heralded by readers at all levels of expertise, from students and general readers to teachers and scholars.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226702685
• ISBN13: 9780226702681
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.6" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Good introductory study guide

This is a concise study guide to Dante's Inferno which would be most helpful to those studying the work in a survey of literature course, or as introductory material for self-study. For each circle of Hell, the book provides an overview, and then discusses each significant encounter and allusions in the text. Several signicant verses are cited, and study questions are provided. You can see the structure of the material, as well as abridged notes from the book on the author's excellent website, http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/. The book provides a little more depth. While this guide is helpful in providing a survey of the work, if one is going to study Dante in-depth, it really is helpful to get good historical background information as well. For this, you will have to look elsewhere. The guide provides a timeliine of major events in Dante's life, without comment, nothing else. A chapter on his life, politics in Florence, and the 13th century would provide context, although this may be more information than the book's intended audience really requires. Those who want more may be interested in the Cambridge Companion to Dante. The Kindle edition Table of Contents hyperlinks to the chapters, but not to sections within the chapters.