Crime and Punishment

1. Dante shows anger in Circle 5, which is where anger and sullenness are punished.
Virgil, however, praises Dante for being angry by hugging him and calling him
indignant soul,” ll. 43-45, Canto 7. Why is Dante’s anger considered “good,” while
the anger of the sinners in Circle 5 is “bad”?
2. The City of Dis in Cantos 8 and 9 separates upper Hell from lower Hell. The sins of
upper Hell are sins of “incontinence”— lust, gluttony, anger, and avarice (greed for
more wealth) or prodigality (wasting wealth). Define “incontinence” in your own
words.
3. The sins of lower Hell are sins of malice, that is, violence, fraud, and betrayal. Why
are sins of lower Hell worse than the sins of incontinence in upper Hell?
4. In Dante’s Hell, the principle of punishment is called contrapasso, which means that
the punishment perfectly “fits the crime.” Explain this principle in your own words
and give an example from Circles 4, 5, or 6.