Fallen Souls Essay, Research Paper
Fallen Souls
Thesis Statement: In each Circle and Canto there are different
penalties to pay but it is for sure that each forbidden soul in the
Inferno will live forever in eternal suffering.
I. Introduction
II. Medea and Jason
A. Jason?s love affair.
B. Medea and the three children exiled.
C. Medea?s slaying of the three children and Glauce.
D. Jason?s penalties.
III. O. J. Simpson
A. His Crime.
B. His Penalties in the Inferno and in life.
IV. Benedict Arnold
A. His Crime.
B. His Penalties in Hell.
V. Conclusion
Fallen Souls
Cantos III, V, and XXXIV are only three of the Cantos of the
fallen souls of the Inferno. The Inferno is the place we call Hell. It
reeks with bad smells and bugs and fire along with the many other
hideous things. The Inferno has many Cantos and Circles, each
for a different sin or wrong doing towards another. In each circle
and Canto there are different penalties to pay but it is for sure that
each forbidden soul in the Inferno will live forever in eternal
suffering.
Our first soul to discuss is eternally locked in Canto V,
Circle Two: The Carnal. This man, Jason, became king of Cornith
by committing adultery against his wife, Medea, with the king of
Cornith?s daughter, Glauce. Jason returns to Medea and tells her
that she and their three children are to leave his home immediately
so he and Glauce can move in. The following day Medea sends
Glauce a poisoned robe which kills her. This causes Jason to
come to Medea for revenge, where he finds his three children
murdered by their mother?s hand. Jason grief stricken falls upon
his own sword and dies there with his sons. Jason is reputed to the
Carnal a place where souls who give up there own life for passion
?are swept forever in the tempest of Hell, forever denied the light
of reason and of God,? (Literature 635). He is forever with the
judge of Hell, Minos.
The Caina is ?the first ring of the last circle where those who
performed acts of treachery against their kin,? (Literature 638).
One destined for the Caina is O. J. Simpson. This man committed
a sin that would send him to Canto XXXII. Simpson killed his
wife Nicole
jealous rage. Simpson will surely be judged by Minos to go to
Caina were his soul will forever have to live in retribution and
think about what he had done against his wife, Nicole. O. J. will
also have to live the rest of his life on earth and pay cash sums to
the Brown?s and Goldman?s. And he will also have to live and
watch his children grow up without a mother and see their pain,
the pain that he will experience in Hell.
The last Circle of Canto XXXIV, Circle Nine, Cocytus, is the
final and most punished place for souls. In Cocytus the people
were ?treacherous to their masters,? (Literature 641). The
punishment in Cocytus is given by Satan himself. The ?souls of
the last class (with fear my verses tell it) were covered wholly; they
shone below the ice like straws in glass,? (Literature 641). And
among these ice covered souls is the soul of Benedict Arnold, an
American officer of the American Revolutionary War. During
Arnold?s time as an officer he became one of George
Washington?s most trusted officers. But his deceit and
worthlessness was shown when Arnold ?sold his services to the
British,? (New Standard Enc. A-627). Arnold supplied the Brits
with valuable military information and agreed to turn over West
Point to John Andr?` a major in the British army. The plot fell
through and Arnold fled from New England to London where he
spent the rest of his life ?in obscurity poverty,? (New Standard
Enc. A-627). Now Arnold pays for his sins in the arms of Satan in
Cocytus.
Many souls truly repent and are sent to Heaven but some fail
to regret and are sent to Hell. These souls in Hell are being
continuously punished for their misgivings, yet some worse than
others. Although some receive worse punishment than others they
all pay dearly and reap what they have sewn in life. Hell is a place
of eternal agony and misery where the evil of the world spends its
spirit life. The Inferno, the eternal suffrage for the condemned.
?Arnold, Benedict.? New Standard Encyclopedia. 1982 ed.
?Jason.? New Standard Encyclopedia. 1982 ed.
?Medea.? New Standard Encyclopedia. 1982 ed.
Thompson, Eileen, ed. Prentice Hall Literature: World
Masterpieces. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
1991.