Abstract of Dante’s Role in Dan Brown’s Movie Inferno

By Mason Baier

Image Credit: Botticelli, S. La Mappa dell’Inferno. Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sandro_Botticelli_-_La_Carte_de_l%27Enfer.jpg.  

Dan Brown’s movie Inferno shares much more with Dante than just the title of the infamous canticle of The Divine Comedy. Set in the present day, the film follows symbologist Robert Langdon as he attempts to stop the release of a virus created by a billionaire that will kill off half of human life. Named “Inferno” by its creator, the virus’s location and nature is revealed to Langdon and his companion Sienna through various Dantean images. While scenes from the Malebolge and Satan allude to its deadliness, Botticelli’s map of hell reveals clues to the location of the virus. While these images serve as a more direct reference to Dante’s work, the characters within Brown’s Inferno are more indirectly associated with those of Dante’s. The interchangeability of Langdon and Sienna with Dante and Virgil provides room for different interpretations, as no one character is clearly tied to a Dantean equivalent. However, Langdon’s former lover Elizabeth strongly demonstrates herself to be Dante’s Beatrice, whom Dante pursues throughout the entirety of The Divine Comedy. Also noteworthy is the connection between Bertrand Zobtrist, a billionaire turned extremist, and Dante as an author. Both offer strong critiques of the societies around them and attempt to single handedly define their lived experiences and suffering. While Dante the author creates hell and subjectively decides the fates of those around him, Zobrist desires to unleash suffering on the world to pay for its transgressions. While their methods of doing so differ, Dante and Zobrist share similar motivations. However, this variation once again demonstrates that while specific images used by Brown are direct references to Dante, his characters are more generally inspired by Dante’s work.

Works Cited

“Dante’s Early Life.” Falvey Library Exhibits :: Dante’s Biography,              

exhibits.library.villanova.edu/dante-illustrated/dante-s-biography.

“Digital Dante.” The Divine Comedy - Digital Dante, 2014, digitaldante.columbia.edu/dante/divine-comedy

Howard, Ron, et al. Inferno. Columbia Pictures, 2016.

Phlegethon, danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/textpopup/inf1203.html.