Pride is the foundation of all sin for Dante, but it is not an unqualified evil Anonymous College

The purpose of this essay is to examine to what extent Dante presents pride as being the basis for all sin in La Commedia, and whether he portrays pride as being a qualifiable or justifiable evil. Pride is defined as feelings of your own worth and respect for yourself or the belief that you are better or more important than other people. From a theological standpoint, pride is the term used to describe an excessive or unjustified love for oneself. Dante examines the concept of pride and its effects throughout the text, not only in his exploration of Purgatorio, but also through the influence pride enjoys over the sins committed in Hell proper, and in relation to the movement away from sin and towards virtue in Paradiso.

Dante’s most explicit exploration of pride occurs on his journey through Purgatorio, the place where repentant sinners face their temporal punishment in order to atone for their sins and be granted entry into heaven. Dante’s interpretation of purgatory takes the form of Mt Purgatorio, a mountain consisting of concentric terraces, each allocated to one of the seven deadly sins. These can be categorized into three labels: the sins of too much love, those being lust, glutton and coveting; the sin of a lacking love,...