Inferno, Canto 22

The Text of Canto 22 (Open PDF)

Summary

As the party proceeds along the bank of the bowge, the devils fork a Barrator up out of the pitch, who tells the Poets who he is and mentions the names of some of his fellow-sinners. By a trick he eludes the devils who are preparing to tear him to pieces, whereupon his captors quarrel among themselves and two of them fall into the pitch.

The Prepatory Lecture

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Questions for Reflection

• How do we see fraud in action in this canto? What do these words from Ciampolo reveal to us about the nature of fraud: “I must indeed be cunning if I procure still greater anguish for my friends” (22.110-111)?
• How do we see acts of fraud disrupt social order and community, even among the demonic Malebranche?
• According to Robin Kirkpatrick, these cantos among the Malebranche blend violence with farce. What do you think Dante is trying to achieve by intermingling these two tones together? Is this simply an experiment in language or might the very poetic experimentation reveal something of Dante’s understanding of the exercise of fraud in human society?

Canto 22, © Jan Hearn

The Images

The Tricked and Quarrelling Demons. Though it may present an appearance of solidarity, Satan’s kingdom is divided against itself and cannot stand, for it has no true order, and fear is its only discipline. Moreover, in the long run, the devil is a fool: trickery preys on trickery and cruelty on cruelty.

Mark Vernon's Lecture