ETHICAL CRITICISM IN HELL: THE SYMPATHETIC FALLACY OF INFERNO 32–33
Nikopoulos J.
October 2022Johns Hopkins University Press
Philosophy and Literature
2022#46Issue 2468 - 489 pp.
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.
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Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan
Nazarbayev University
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026