Virgil tells Dante that the Hound
"...will remove this lean wolf, hunting her through every region
Till he has he has thrust her back to Hell's abyss
Where Envy first dispatched her on her mission."
Discuss the significance of the Wolf being sent on its mission by Envy.
Well, we first have to make sure we know what "envy" is.
ReplyDeleteDante’s implication of the wolf to symbolize Envy is essential in the description in envy itself. Envy, the feeling of desire for other’s traits (deadlysins.com), is one of the seven deadly sins and stalks someone through their whole life. Envy is the feeling that stalks the mind throughout the whole journey of life. The image of the wolf coming out of the abyss of Hell, stalking its prey, in this case Dante is so intense that the reader can understand the severity of the “wolf” in their life. The wolf also has a mystical air about it that, as Dante allures to, “ makes all [his] veins and pulses shudder”(I/69). The wolf, stalking its prey, salivating and hungry for those who’ve fallen into this one of the seven deadly sins, sends a message to the reader that envy is one of the many problems with society that resides in the “dark woods” of our consciousness. But its interesting that a Hound is there to remove this wolf. A hound, also a dog like creature, hunts this wolf till its put away. Dante’s use of two dogs could possibly symbolize man. The wolf, the person who one envy’s or instills the idea of it, also the hound, the guide; such as Virgil, there to help mankind with repelling this wolf. Both animals have such differing connotation while they have key traits that support Dante's input of them to help the reader understand the perils of Envy.
ReplyDelete"The Great Controversy Between Christ and His Angels and Satan and His Angels" - Stated that it was Satan's envy of Jesus that made him disobey god's commands causing his exile, perhaps this is interconnected to the description of the wolf. I think that the wolf was created by Satan in hell and was sent to Earth as Satan's avatar representing two of the deadly sins "Avarice" and "Greed". The wolf is described as lean meaning that it is very skinny, its got nothing to lose, just like Satan after being exiled from heaven. Its pain derives from Satan himself, and because it originated from envy, it is probably envious of others that are happy, and by causing pain to others and killing others will it feel satisfied. However, because it represents "Greed", no matter how much pain and suffering it causes, it will be insufficient to satisfy its insatiable thirst for causing pain to others.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, I think Dante chose a "She-Wolf" for a specific reason too, usually wolves hunt in pacts, perhaps, this concept applies here too, for example, if one commits a sin such as lust, they may follow up the sin with adultery. This is why Dante chose the wolf to be a female, rather than the stronger and more fomidable male (not sexist, but that's how ancient people think). Furthermore, Dante chose a wolf to represent such a sin because, wolves or dogs have long been considered man's best friend thanks to its loyal nature, perhaps the she-wolf is specifically loyal to Satan himself.
The she – wolf is a representation of one of Dante’s personal sins, greed. The text it states that “Her nature is so malign and vicious she cannot appease her voracity, for feeding makes her hungrier.” (Pg. 7). If the wolf is so greedy why would her mission be because of envy? It could be thought that since nothing suppresses her hunger, she becomes envious of those who can be satisfied. That envy could turn into hatred and cause her to kill everything that does not have the same problem as her. The wolf wants people and animals to suffer the way that she suffers. Another way to look at it is greed and envy kind of go together. When someone is greedy, they want more and more things to satisfy themselves. When they see someone who has something better that what they have, they would immediately become envious of it and would want it. Or at least something better. If they are not able to get something better than what the other person has they would become very angry. Thinking back to the she – wolf, everyone she encounters doesn’t have the same problem that she does. So she becomes envious of them and kills them. It probably doesn’t satisfies her that she kills them, but her hunger only increases with all of the people she kills.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting how Dante would incorporate two sins into one animal because it makes it look like the different sins go along with each other. Someone who is greedy will most like become envious of someone with better electronics or nicer clothes. Dante shows through the poem how easy it is to become more of a sinner. From a religious perspective, one sin usually leads to another and brings a person farther and farther away from heaven. So, Dante probably gave the wolf two sins on purpose to show how easy it is to keep sinning.
Virgil tells Dante that the Wolf was sent on a mission based upon envy, which is one of the seven deadly sins. The Wolf constantly has a never-ending hunger for all things good. The never-ending part means that no matter how much the wolf consumes or kills, that thirst will never go away. As a result of this the Wolf envies that other animals are allowed to have their thirst quenched and be satisfied. The Wolf is never able to succeed at that so it hunts them down to make them pay because they are not put into the same situation as the wolf is. The Wolf is looking to do away with his hunger with the animals that can get rid of their hunger on a regular basis. Many people in everyday life envy peoples things all the time and wish they had the same things as they did but are less fortunate to have them. Some people get so envious that they go to the extremes to get pay back on the people who have it. The Wolf is a similar comparison because he has a similar situation. Jealousy and envy go hand and hand in both instances. In the quotation, “…will remove this lean wolf, hunting her through every region…” This sort of describes the wolf and his well-being and the physical characteristics of the wolf. The leanness of the Wolf proves how the hunger has affected the wolf how his hunger can only become greater because of the torture he is going through on his journey to find his victims. Constantly being hungry without every fulfilling your appetite would be like starving without dying.
ReplyDeleteDante’s choice in using the wolf to visualize Envy shows his guilt for the Envy he has fallen into within his life. The imagery of the wolf coming from the “abyss” to drag him back down to where he has fallen previously in his life. The use of the wolf, specifically, could go back to the spiritual meaning of wolves. The dark side of wolves on the totem pole is they are a threat, or to make one feel threatened. “The wolf could reflect something that may have a predatory feeling to it,” (http://www.spiritanimal.info/wolf-spirit-animal/) This could be a representation of himself feeling vulnerable and threatened about falling back down into envy and the other deadly sins. He could be feeling untrustworthy of himself with his personal boundaries and willpower so the wolf is trying to mirror Dante’s fears in order to be more personal and more difficult to defeat, because in a way he is against himself.
ReplyDeleteThe wolf was sent on this mission by Envy to show the relationship of jealousy between the two. The wolf feels this sensation because he is not able to face this obstacle. The fact that the wolf has to try and accomplish this impassable mission presents evil because he has never had the enjoyment or laughter others have experienced. It has come down to more than just Hell's abyss, but he wants to be redeemed and trying to escape this evil. All around this concept of completion of her mission, a hatred of goodness has been present because it is impossible to be complete. The she-wolf is always known to devour everything and eat the world. She is never satisfied, but always has this sense of hunger. The biggest mystery is with the Hound, except for the fact that the Hound is going to kill the she-wolf we believe. The prevailing thoughts with the Wolf that she does not have the ability to do this mission is the haunting inside her. The evil is not a separate concept or coming from a different source, but the she-wolf is her own worst enemy. She has to face the despair and utter hopelessness with out choice, because she cannot escape this outcome. This envy is trapped inside her, but there is a sense of a guilt consciousness because she created this for herself. The conclusion of this mission presented by envy always was, and always will be with the Wolf.
ReplyDeleteEnvy can be simply defined as being resentful towards someone else for having something that you do not have. In Dante’s Inferno, this theme occurs numerous times as his character struggles through his journey in Hell. Throughout the poem, the wolf is used as a symbol for envy, which poses a conflict when the wolf prevents Dante from continuing on his path. In a way this gets Dante into a toxic cycle of envy with him being envious of those who are not in Hell. This is ironic considering that is one of the seven deadly sins that can land one in Hell. Furthermore, he is envious of those who are not in Hell, as others are not forced to go through all the obstacles he must go through because they are not in Hell in the first place.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of a hero’s journey is prevalent in this poem as well. Dante has met his guide and is now at the phase of having to undergo a personal transformation. The guide he chooses is Virgil, whom he very much admires and thus becomes “shamefaced” when Virgil tells him he is on the wrong path. Now as he embarks on a personal transformation while still in Hell, he realizes how difficult the journey will be as he is surrounded by temptation and negative influences. Of course, the journey is even more difficult when the wolf prevents him from going on his chosen path, which is not the “right” one. Virgil drives home this point when he says, “a different path from this one would be best.” Naturally, in order for him to undergo a full positive transformation, this path must be harder than the one he originally chooses and must challenge him to see how committed he is to being a better person.
The wolf is a physical representaion of one of the seven deadly sins, greed. Envy is defined as “The feeling of wanting to have what someone else has” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/envy). Since
ReplyDeleteenvy is sending the wolf out on a mission, envy is personified as a person who is greedy and jealous of what everyone else has. As a result the wolf is going after Dante to bring him to hell and get him to let the evil sins inside of him take over. However the Hound represents all of the goodness in the world is there to help Dante fight off the wolf, which represents the evil inside of him.
Envy is defined as any feeling of discontent in response to another’s advantages or successes. By this definition it seems odd that Envy would be the emotion that dispatches the she-wolf on her mission. As a representation of Dante’s own avarice, the she wolf embodies the greed for wealth and material gain that plagues him personally. So why would Dante chose Envy to command the physical embodiment of his own greed?
ReplyDeleteOne possible theory is that Dante feels greed comes as a result of Envy. In his own life Dante looked up to Virgil in the best ways, however, maybe Dante felt as if his own greed was driven by a constant drive to surpass Virgil’s greatness. Though this seems a rather weak representation of envy, I feel personally that envy is not always an aggressive emotion. Instead it can be depicted by the constant need for humans to be wealthier or more privileged than those around them. In this way envy is not the hatred of any one person superior to you, but instead the hatred of being inferior in any way to anyone.
One word in particular that stuck in my mind was “mission”. Envy is sending the wolf to complete a task, but that task is not entirely clear. Being that the wolf represents avarice it is likely its mission was to infect the world with greed. But isn’t envy in a way very similar to greed? Greed is our desire for what we don’t have, while envy is our hatred of those who have what we do not. Maybe the significance of Envy sending the wolf on its mission is that infected the world with greed would also infect the world with envy.
The she wolf represents the sins that people have difficulty resisting. She tempts people using lust and adultery. Virgil tells Dante that the hound, "...will remove this lean wolf, hunting her through every region till he has he has thrust her back to hell's abyss where envy first dispatched her on her mission." Virgil is explaining to Dante that the hound will find the sneaky wolf and send her back to hell. Envy is defined as a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else's possessions, qualities, or luck. (Miriam Webster) Envy is characterized as one of The Seven Deadly Sins. Preying on lust and seduction, this wolf has nothing. Described as 'lean," the she wolf is skinny to symbolize emptiness. The Hound restores justice. He is symbolic for a little good in hell. The hound seems determined to banish the she wolf to hell based on her envious behaviors. Perhaps the she wolf is jealous of the hound. Wolves usually travel in packs. The she wolf travels alone while causing emotional damage to the couples she tempts. This gives her the satisfaction she craves. There is a saying, "Two wolves; One is anger, envy, greed and hate. The other is joy, peace, love, hope. Which wins? The one you feed." (Twitter) This saying is comparing the two wolves.
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