-
Ethical Criticism in Hell: The Sympathetic Fallacy of Inferno 32–33
- Philosophy and Literature
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 46, Number 2, October 2022
- pp. 468-489
- 10.1353/phl.2022.0030
- Article
- Additional Information
- Purchase/rental options available:
Abstract:
The Inferno's central conflict is between us readers and God. When fictional characters captivate us, we are normally free to enjoy their charms. Not so Dante's sinners. If we feel bad for these characters, it cannot be because they are sympathetic—after all, God put them in Hell—but because we are naive. But is this sympathy really naive? This article reconsiders the Ugolino episode as a paradigm for the Inferno's ethical contradictions. In a poem that reminds us that crimes often create the circumstances for victimization, perhaps sympathizing with the damned is the most ethical reading of all.