Dante Alighieri was born in Florence, Italy in 1265 to a moderately wealthy family with a history of political involvement. He fell in love with Beatrice, whose true historical identity is unknown, but she died suddenly in 1290. Dante continued to yearn for her and published Vita Nuova (The New Life) in 1293, describing his tragic love for her. Dante began to seriously study philosophy and became more politically involved in Florence after Beatrice's death. He held several significant public offices during a time of great political unrest in Italy. In 1302, he was exiled for life by the leaders of the Black Guelphs, the political faction in power at the time. He completed Inferno, which depicts an allegorical journey through Hell, around 1314 while in exile. Dante roamed from court to court in Italy, writing and occasionally lecturing, until his death from a sudden illness in 1321.

The struggle for power in Florence reflected a crisis that affected all of Italy and most of Europe from the twelfth century to the fourteenth century, which was the struggle between church and state for temporal authority. The Guelph party supported the papacy, and the Ghibelline party supported imperial power. The Guelphs were in power in Florence during Dante's time, but by 1290, they had divided into two factions: the Whites (Dante’s party) and the Blacks, who were willing to work with the pope in order to restore their power. Under the direction of Pope Boniface VIII, the Blacks gained control of Florence in 1301, and Dante was exiled within a year. Despite the historical context of the work, Inferno is far from merely a political allegory. It is a landmark in the development of European language and literature, and critics spanning nearly seven centuries have praised its poetic beauty and compass, virtually unmatched by any other medieval poem.

Inferno is also a universal work that deals with one of the great questions of humanity: the existence of an afterlife and the consequences of our lives on Earth. Dante acknowledges the seeming folly of attempting to write a great poem in vernacular language by entitling his masterpiece The Comedy (the adjective Divine was added in the sixteenth century). The title The Comedy is appropriate in two ways. First, the poem is written in the vernacular, which was considered appropriate only for a comedy. Second, the plot mirrors the flow of a classical comedy, progressing from the horrors of Hell to the joys of Heaven. The Comedy is not exclusively high or low but is a truly universal work that utilizes every available style, as Dante does throughout Inferno.

1. Introduction
   • Dante lost in a dark wood on Good Friday in 1300
   • Three beasts block his way to the sun-drenched mountain
   • Virgil appears and offers to guide Dante through Hell
2. Circle 1 - Limbo
   • Souls of the uncommitted are tormented by insects
   • Charon takes the poets across the river Acheron to Limbo
   • The poets meet great poets and philosophers in Limbo
3. Circle 2 - Lust
   • The poets enter Hell proper
   • Minos judges the damned and sends them to their proper circle
   • The poets meet the unfaithful lovers Paolo and Francesca
4. Circle 3 - Gluttony
   • Cerberus guards the Gluttons
   • Dante recognizes a Florentine, Ciacco
5. Circle 4 - Greed
   • The poets meet the Hoarders and the Wasters
6. Circle 5 - Anger
   • The poets see the river Styx and are accosted by Filippo Argenti
   • The Wrathful fight each other in the mire of the Styx
7. Circle 6 - Heresy
   • The city of Dis marks the beginning of Circle 6
   • The poets speak with two sinners, Farinata degli Uberti and Cavalcante dei Cavalcanti
8. Circle 7 - Violence
   • The poets descend into a deep valley
   • The Minotaur guards the entrance
   • The poets see a river of boiling blood, the Phlegethon
   • Nessus takes the poets across the river into the Suicides
   • Dante speaks with Pier delle Vigne
   • Dante recognizes Capaneus, a famous blasphemer
   • The Blasphemers, Sodomites, and Usurers reside here
9. Circle 8 - Fraud
   • Circle 8 contains ten chasms, or ditches
   • The poets speak with Pope Nicholas and see the Fortune Tellers and Diviners
   • The poets see the sinners of Graft, the Hypocrites, and the Thieves
   • Dante speaks to Ulysses
   • The sowers of discord and the Falsifiers reside here
10. Circle 9 - Treachery
    • The frozen lake Cocytus is in the ninth circle
    • Sinners are stuck in the ice according to their betrayal
    • The poets see Lucifer and climb down his body to leave Hell

1. Purgatorio picks up where Inferno left off
• Dante and Virgil emerge from Hell
2. They arrive on the island of Mount Purgatory
• Meet penitent souls guided by an angel
3. They pass through ante-Purgatory
• Meet various souls shocked to see Dante's alive
• Pass through the First and Second Spur, and the Valley of the Rulers
• Encounter a serpent that is driven away by two angels
4. Rest until morning
• Dante sleeps and dreams about an eagle abducting him
• Wakes up at the entrance to Purgatory proper
• Climb three steps to the gate
• An angel carves seven P's into Dante's forehead
5. They enter Purgatory proper
• They pass through seven terraces, each for one of the seven deadly sins
• On each terrace, they witness penitents being punished for that sin
• An angel removes one P from Dante's forehead after each terrace
6. Terraces they pass through:
• First terrace - Prideful
• Second terrace - Envious
• Third terrace - Wrathful
• Fourth terrace - Slothful
• Fifth terrace - Avaricious and Prodigal
• Sixth terrace - Gluttonous
• Seventh terrace - Lustful
7. On the sixth terrace, they meet an epic poet named Statius
• Statius explains how Mount Purgatory trembles every time a penitent soul becomes purged and ready to ascend to Heaven
• They meet an angel who erases Dante's fifth P
8. On the seventh terrace, they witness the punishment of the Lustful
• Meet the poet Guido Guinizzelli and Arnaut Daniel
• An angel removes Dante's final P
• Dante hesitates to leave the terrace because he must walk through a wall of flames

1. Introduction
   • Opening invocation to Apollo and the Muses
   • Dante and Beatrice ascend from the Earthly Paradise
   • Beatrice outlines the structure of the universe
   • Dante warns readers not to follow him into Heaven
2. First Heaven: Sphere of the Moon
   • Beatrice corrects Dante's views on the cause of moon spots
   • Piccarda Donati explains the souls' happiness with their places in Heaven
   • Beatrice explains why Dante sees the souls in these heavens
   • Beatrice explains vows in terms of absolute and contingent will
3. Second Heaven: Sphere of Mercury
   • Justinian explains the history and destiny of Rome
   • Beatrice explains God's just vengeance on Jerusalem
4. Third Heaven: Sphere of Venus
   • Charles Martel explains why sons can end up so different from their fathers
   • Cunizza da Romano and Folco of Marseille point out Rahab to Dante
5. Fourth Heaven: Sphere of the Sun
   • St. Thomas and eleven other souls form a crown around Dante and Beatrice
   • St. Thomas discusses the life of St. Francis and the Franciscans
   • St. Bonaventure talks about the life of St. Dominic and the Dominicans
   • Solomon explains the source of the blessed souls' light
6. Fifth Heaven: Sphere of Mars
   • Cacciaguida expounds on the virtue of ancient Florence
   • Cacciaguida talks about the noble Florentine families
   • Cacciaguida tells Dante about his destiny of exile
7. Sixth Heaven: Sphere of Jupiter
   • The Eagle explains Divine Justice and the inscrutability of God's Mind
   • The Eagle introduces the six spirits that form its eye
   • The Eagle explains why Trajan and Ripheus are there
8. Seventh Heaven: Sphere of Saturn
   • St. Peter Damian denounces degenerate prelates
   • Dante meets St. Benedict
   • St. Peter denounces corrupt popes
9. Eighth Heaven: Sphere of the Fixed Stars
   • Dante gazes down on Earth and realizes how small and petty it is
   • Dante witnesses the coronation and re-ascension of Mary and Christ into the Empyrean
   • St. Peter examines Dante on faith
   • St. James examines Dante on hope
   • St. John examines Dante on charity
   • Adam answers Dante's four questions
10. Ninth Heaven: The Primum Mobile
    • Dante sees the angels moving the Primum Mobile
    • Beatrice explains the relationship between free will and divine predestination
    • Beatrice reveals the nature of the Blessed Trinity
    • Beatrice explains the union of the divine and human natures in Christ
11. Tenth Heaven: The Empyrean
    • Dante sees the three circles of the Trinity
    • Dante sees the angelic hierarchies
    • Dante's final vision of the glory of God
    • Dante's soul is united with God and he experiences the Beatific Vision
12. Conclusion
    • Dante returns to his senses on Earth and is inspired to write the Divine Comedy