The 12-Step Program as a Framework for Dante's Inferno

Introduction: Dante Lost and the First Step

Dante's The Inferno paints an incredibly vivid picture of what Hell is like. The journey Dante undertakes in order to progress past his "lost" stage and escape Hell can be likened to the 12-Step Program a recovering alcoholic must complete in order to finally escape from the clutches of excessive drinking. This paper endeavors to explore Dante's journey through the perspective of this 12-Step Program. By going through each step, one can witness the introspective and emotional self-examination Dante undergoes, with a little help from his support group, in order to get out of Hell.

The first step that every recovering alcoholic must take involves admitting his or her problem. Alcoholics must acknowledge that they are helpless when battling their addiction and must admit that this addiction has wreaked havoc on their lives to the point where they have lost control (Alcoholics Anonymous, 1955, p. 59). Dante's predicament is no different from that of an alcoholic struggling to regain control over his or her life. At the beginning of the poem, Dante is portrayed as having gotten lost on the path of life and trying to get back on the right path. Using imagery, Dante recalls that in the middle of his life he finds himself lost in a dark forest, having lost the right path while half asleep. Many historians believe The Inferno was penned during Dante's exile from Florence, specifically the night before Good Friday, 7 April 1300. The dark forest symbolizes Dante's disillusionment of the period, stemming from thoughts of inner conflict and transgression, corrupt politicians and popes, lack of genuine leadership, and the flawed material world in comparison with Heaven and God.

Similar to an alcoholic just embarking on his journey to sobriety, Dante's character at the beginning of the poem is one of contradictions. His character is not particularly defined, illustrating the confusion and conflict he feels. Although the reader is made aware that Dante has committed a transgression, the nature of that sin is not revealed. Though the reader is told of Dante's participation in Florentine political life, little else is known about him. His characteristics are generalized: he frequently empathizes with others but also unleashes his anger when the mood takes him. He cries upon witnessing the suffering of Hell-dwellers and rejoices when one of his adversaries suffers the same fate. He prides himself on being counted among the renowned poets in Limbo, yet humbly wishes to be reunited with his first love, Beatrice. Dante often shows fear of the beasts and demons he encounters but also displays great courage by following his guide Virgil without fail. He is emotionally vulnerable, often fainting or paralyzed with fear. Alcoholics harbor just as many contradictions in their psyche as they struggle to muster the courage to face their addiction and the demons that have enslaved them.

Hell in Dante's poem can be compared to an alcoholic's torrid journey into sobriety — a process of purification and truth, of escaping the confusion of dependency and finding the courage to live without a destructive crutch. Hell can be seen as "the state of man who has lost the good of his intelligence, a state of man dominated by his passions" (Pound, 1968, p. 129). Dante desires to emerge from his confused state into enlightenment, just as a recovering alcoholic wishes to emerge from the confines of addiction into independence. However, not unlike the recovering alcoholic, Dante encounters impediments or temptations attempting to weaken his resolve — in the form of a leopard (representing worldly pleasure and lust), a lion (representing ambition), and a wolf (representing avarice) (Thompson, 2000, p. 4). Dante wishes to rise above his misdirection but realizes he cannot do this alone.

Virgil as Sponsor: Steps Two and Three

This realization that outside help is necessary for success leads to the second step of the program: the addict must come to believe that a power greater than themselves can restore them to sanity (Alcoholics Anonymous, 1955, p. 59). The addict must travel beyond the parameters of the familiar and venture beyond their comfort zone. Similar to a recovering alcoholic acknowledging the need for a sponsor or guide to keep them on the right track, Dante realizes he requires outside assistance. This assistance comes in the form of the spirit Virgil. Virgil sees Dante retreat back into the dark forest upon encountering the leopard, lion, and wolf, and restores Dante's resolve. Virgil, not unlike any sponsor for a recovering alcoholic, reminds Dante of the true prize: reaching Heaven (enlightenment) and being reunited with Beatrice, whose concern for Dante prompted Virgil to seek him out.

Virgil is depicted in The Inferno as a shade condemned to eternity in Hell because he lived prior to Christ's appearance on Earth, and thus prior to the possibility of redemption. Nonetheless, Virgil receives orders to lead Dante through Hell on his spiritual journey. Virgil proves a wise, resourceful, and commanding presence, though he often seems helpless to protect Dante from the true dangers of Hell. Analysts believe that Virgil is a manifestation of human reason — in particular its great power and its subordination to faith in God. Virgil embodies the view that reason lacks strength or conviction without faith.

Virgil is an appropriate guide for Dante. Because he is a soul no longer encased in a worldly life, Virgil is able to understand Hell and all its intricacies in ways a living man would not. However, as a poet who once walked the earth and conversed with living beings, Virgil is able to communicate relatively easily with Dante about everything he encounters. He helps Dante digest his observations and evaluate the merits of each (Thuleen, 1992, p. 3). Virgil acts as Dante's guide, showing him not only the physical route through Hell but also reinforcing its moral lessons. When Dante appears slow to learn these lessons — such as when he sympathizes with sinners or attempts to linger too long in one region — Virgil often grows impatient with him, a trait that humanizes this otherwise impersonal shade.

With the assistance of a sponsor, it is possible to progress to the third step of the 12-Step Program. Alcoholics must decide to relinquish control of their will and their life and defer this control to God as they understand Him (Alcoholics Anonymous, 1955, p. 59). Dante readily gave control of his will and life to Virgil, who in turn had divine sanction from God. What made Dante follow Virgil without question? The fact that his guide came in the form of his literary hero helped, but it was more the knowledge of genuine support from people who cared for his welfare that made him agree to follow Virgil through Hell. In order to encourage him, Virgil explained that Beatrice herself had descended from Paradise to Limbo to find him, and had asked Virgil to lead him to safety. Virgil further discovered that not only Beatrice but two other blessed ladies, Lucia and Rachel, were also concerned for Dante, having been warned by a gentle lady — the Virgin Mary — that he risked damnation. Hearing that his love had not forgotten him, Dante was greatly encouraged and resolved to follow Virgil wherever he would lead (GradesSaver ClassicNote, n.d., p. 2).

Just as a recovering alcoholic draws strength from the love and support of those around him, Dante derives courage from the knowledge that Beatrice and others care for him deeply. It is this love — greater than Dante himself — that he must trust in order to traverse Hell and emerge unscathed. Throughout the journey, the adventures and people Virgil and Dante encounter all point to the assertion that Dante's wellbeing depends on a favorable divine will. For instance, in Canto IX, Virgil and Dante require the help of Heaven's messenger to gain passage through the gate of Dis, where previously the fallen angels had blocked their entrance. Not even Virgil's assertion of divine sanction could move the fallen angels to let them pass; only the direct intervention of a heavenly messenger broke the deadlock.

Self-Examination Through the Circles of Hell: Step Four

Acknowledging that a higher power is necessary to lean on leads to the fourth step in the program. Recovering alcoholics are instructed to conduct a comprehensive and truthful self-examination (Alcoholics Anonymous, 1955, p. 59) — to confront the beast of a previous lifestyle. Dante realizes he must face evil and rise toward the stars, which stand as a symbol of divine order and hope.

Before reaching the stars, however, Dante must travel through Hell. As he progresses through the nine circles with Virgil as his guide, he meets many fellow Florentines and historical figures at various levels of damnation. The fact that Dante recognizes most of the people he encounters as fellow or rival politicians, friends, and enemies reflects the shared culture they inhabited. Similar culture implies similar assumptions about right and wrong — assumptions that are not always correct. Politicians, as members of the wealthier classes, were often more enslaved by ambition and appetite than the common man, having both the means and the freedom to indulge. The fact that Dante's comrades and rivals exist in various levels of Hell implies he might well have suffered the same fate without heavenly intervention — a speculation made more probable by how frequently he sympathizes with those he knew in the material world. Through these encounters, Dante is compelled to face his own demons, confront his lifestyle choices, and judge them against the divine standard he now witnesses.

When Dante enters the First Circle of Hell (Limbo), which harbors non-believers of Christ and the great literary minds of human history, he feels an affinity with this group. He is welcomed by Homer, Ovid, Horace, and Lucan, and is very pleased to find himself accepted among them as the sixth great intellect. He then ventures into the Second Circle of Hell, the haven for those who succumbed to Lust. Dante speaks to two young lovers trapped there: Francesca de Rimini and her lover Paolo. When Dante was twenty years old he would have heard of the scandal surrounding Francesca and her husband's brother. When her husband discovered their affair, he had them both killed. Francesca describes the great power of love and the deaths she and her lover suffered for it, deeply affecting Dante, who recognizes her. The other soul weeps, and Dante faints out of pity.

When Dante enters the Third Circle of Hell, housing the Gluttonous, he encounters a fellow Florentine and is sorry for his plight. The Fourth Circle, reserved for the Avaricious and the Prodigal, appears to be inhabited largely by religious men. Many of the misers were indeed clergymen, popes, and cardinals, within whom avarice worked its excess. Dante thought he might recognize some, but Virgil told him they were unrecognizable, and that this sight should teach him not to place too much importance in money, since Fortune controlled it.

Passing through the Fifth Circle of Hell, which shelters the Wrathful and Sullen, Dante sees his political rival Filippo Argenti in torment and rejoices at his suffering. In the Sixth Circle, Dante observes the Heretics. He spots another political rival, Farinata, and converses with him at length. In the Seventh Circle, Dante encounters souls who committed violence against others, against themselves (suicides), or against God (blasphemers). He encounters his old patron, Brunetto Latini, and also meets a suicide who has been transformed into a gnarled tree. Dante is too overcome by pity to speak.

In the Eighth Circle of Hell, the seducers, panders, astrologers, diviners, flatterers, simonists, bribe-takers, hypocrites, thieves, false counselors, sowers of discord, and falsifiers live out their punishments. Dante recognizes Venedico Caccianemico, an acquaintance who was a pander in life; Alesso Interminei of Lucca, another acquaintance who seduced and abandoned a girl; and Ulysses, punished for his role in the Trojan Horse deception. The Ninth Circle of Hell, where those who betrayed their families, their country, and their benefactors are encased in ice for eternity, is the only place where Dante does not encounter an acquaintance or notable figure from history. In fact, Dante is even cruel toward the sufferers in this section, pulling the hair of one and teasing another. As the journey progresses and Dante travels deeper into Hell, he gradually comes to see divine justice being meted out with accuracy and ceases to question the validity of what he observes.