In Dante’s Second Circle of Hell, famous lovers who have succumbed to lust are doomed to forever be pushed around by a dark, stormy…wind? It’s not a particularly intimidating punishment. Considering Francesca and her lover Paolo can actually stay together even in death, their story seems less pitiable. Sure, they’re dead. And yes, they are technically in hell. But really, don’t they have a lust/love for each other? At least the winds don’t separate them. Yet at the same time, they are never at rest.
There is some reasoning behind the punishment for lust. Lust is a craving and desire for another, and it is a sexual appetite that needs to satisfied. Paolo and Francesca succumbed to it and on that day they “read no further” (409.138). Now their punishment is ironic because in life, lust is often a torrent of passion. It is an overwhelming desire, and one Francesca and Paolo caved in to. So for the punishment of their lust to be an overwhelming tempest that leaves its victims helpless conveys just what lust feels like in life. The punishment is a mirror to the crime.
However, this is not the saddest part about the punishment. Because while others may not be with their lovers, Francesca and Paolo are, yet that may in fact be worse. Francesca and Paolo do stay together even in death, because the wind does not separate them, but they will never be at peace together. They will be side by side for eternity, but they cannot connect physically or emotionally. Their brief amount of peace only happens when Dante comes speak with them and the winds do not carry them away for that moment. But the fact that they are forced to be together, yet cannot truly be together, is reflective of the story of their lust in real life. Their lust dragged them together, but it did not bring them peace. Paolo and Francesca had to always hide their lust; they were killed for it. And in hell, while they may be together forever, they can also never fully commit to their lust, either. On earth, a husband was in the way. In hell, it is the wind. They are forever being flung around, together, but not completely.
Hi,
I like how you described the punishment, especially them “forever being flung around, together, but not complete”!
It’s also interesting to note that they’re technically in the “first level” of Hell which kind of shows that their sin is not “as serious” as those of the others. This could be because of this idea that they did not deliberately sin- like those who kill others or even something like being gluttonous. Their passion was just so great that they couldn’t stop themselves, this also connects to the punishment- like you said, they’re in a constant struggle to be together and their love will never fade, so they’ll always be suffering.