"the Inferno" is dante's journey of what he imagines hell to be like. dante and virgil descend through the different levels of hell encountering sinners and hearing their sad stories. in cantos 33 and 34, the two men reach the frigid ninth circle, which is an icy pit of the worst sinners and satan himself.
the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe is the loved tale of peter, susan, edmund, and lucy who enter a land of adventure through a wardrobe. their adventures take place in the land of narnia where they battle with the evil white witch to save everyone. the children end in victory, but only because of the help of aslan, the great lion.
the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe is actually much more than a children's story, but the story of sinners battling with satan but only winning with god by their side. the children represent humans, which are born sinners, the white witch represents satan, and aslan represents god. the beliefs displayed in the story of believing in god and fighting against sin are the same beliefs that dante follows. another likeness is seen through the white witch. she is only powerful in the cold and she lives in a frozen, icy, palace. when picturing hell, most people will think of fire burning images, but both authors in these two stories show hell and their satan figure as a frozen terror.
bibliography
alighieri, dante.
"the inferno." world literature. austin: holt,
rhineheart, and winston, 1998.
760-769.
the textbook contains excerpts of different literatures from around the
world and
throughout time. editors include background on the divine comedy,
information on dante
alighieri, and questions on the cantos taken from "the inferno."
Lewis, c.s.
the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. new york: harper
collins publications. 1994.
this story is the second in series of seven books that make up the "chronicles
of narnia
collection." It was first published in 1950. this book is written
on a childerens level, but
tells the beliefs of christianity through the magical characters.