People in the 21st century typically fail to correctly comprehend the ideas put into the literature of the earlier periods. It can be explained by the variations in the worldviews, lifestyles, values, and overall sociopolitical situation in the world. Modern people frequently have to learn the context and study the historical circumstances described in the literary works. Nevertheless, some of the literary pieces are written in a manner that remains relevant and appealing through the ages. One of such literary works is The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. It is the 14th-century Italian epic poem that consists of three parts (Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso).
This literary work has undergone multiple adaptations and inspired many sculptures, movies, and paintings. It is originally written in Italian and later translated into the languages of the world. The most astonishing thing about this masterpiece is that it did not lose its relevance until the 21st century. So, people of any age and social, educational, racial, and economic background can find subjects in The Divine Comedy that remind of the modern problems and challenges. The Divine Comedy arouses many controversial topics that concern human behavior, the essence of good and evil, and reflect upon the insides of the human nature which can be reviewed as the primary reasons of why this poem did not lose its relevance.
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Modern readers manage to find correlations between the present-day situation in their governments, societies, and interpersonal relationships. This poem could also be connected to historical and modern Kuwait. Such findings facilitate the making of parallels in facing the refusal and opposition to tyranny, abuse of different types of power, and emphasizing the injustices existing in the world. The Al-Sabah tyranny and dependence of the penniless government on the usurped throne and wealthy merchants. The relevance to the modern world is about corruption because it is one of the major challenges of the present days.
Last decade in Kuwait is known for its unprecedented levels of the overwhelming corruption and incompetence of the government (Al-Talli). Contemporary societies take many attempts to overcome the difficulties and complexities posed by the corrupted governmental and spiritual authorities. Modern leaders can be deceitful like the popes in The Divine Comedy and willing to distribute severe punishments. Though the current government in Kuwait is less oppressing, there is the evident lack of democracy and presence of fear of changing the conventions to make Kuwait a modern country. Though not all people have read at least a line from The Divine Comedy, it does not mean that they were not affected by it.
Many people have experienced mediated exposure to this poem. There is hardly a person who is not familiar to the phrase “Abandon every hope, who enter here” / “Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate” (Dante par. 3). This phrase sounds familiar to many people, but not all of the people recognize its origin. Among the ways people are currently exposed to Dante’s influences are movies like Inferno, video games, separate ideas of the X-Men comics, and so on. The modern world, as it is seen now, is a compilation of aggression and evil, and the Inferno part of The Divine Comedy is a perfect reflection on the essence of the negative existing in the world. Currently, people are slaves to their weaknesses, so, the human nature demands to renounce the virtues, common values, and ethics in favor of going to hell with its sexual misdeeds, corruption, violations of the norms, and inability to resist temptations.
All of these weakness are common for the world, including people of Kuwait. Besides, the whole comprehension of hell as people see it today is based on Dante’s description. The Divine Comedy has become a visualization of the senses that people now typically correlate with the Hell: foulness and pain. It combines all human experience and represents the “gloomy imagination” (Lummus 68) of Dante. The Divine Comedy is a source for scientific research because of the vivid and real-life descriptions of pain that are observed by the narrator along with the specification of particular modifying factors (Vyshka 6). Modern psychiatry suggests that this piece of literature provides the facts-rich material to be studied for correlating the concepts in the historical perspective. Dante’s work is also feasible for making correlations with the modern comprehension of good and evil and their consequences.
The Divine Comedy is not about saving humanity. Nevertheless, it offers the presentation of good and evil by the free will of the people and the consequences of such actions. These consequences might include the reward (association between committing good deeds and going to Heavens) and punishment (association between living a life full malice, sin, and evil and future punishment like going to Hell). The way people see sins and immoral behavior is also affected by Dante’s poem. Current comprehension of sin in Kuwait typically includes violence, lustful behavior, frauds, and other illegal actions. To purify themselves, people struggle with the temptations and work hard to reach spirituality. On their way to success in purification, people might experience pain and sufferings, but in the end, they will be pleased with the achieved result. All these actions fully coincide with the process described by the narrator in The Divine Comedy. Dante offers the idea that painful struggle for going to the Paradise might one day come to an end, allowing the people to be confident that limitations they experience during their lifetime would ensure their place in Heavens.
To conclude, Dante’s poem did not lose its actual power and is still affecting the way people comprehend Heaven and Hell. The realistic descriptions, detailed pictures, and almost real-life sensations continue to influence the way people see The Divine Comedy. This work motivates modern people to live sinless to avoid getting into Hell. The essence of the poem can be connected to any country. Therefore, it is relevant for the historical and current position of Kuwait.
