Nisha George
11th December 2023
Beatrice Arduini
C LIT 361 A
The Good Place Through the Lens of Dante’s Divine Comedy
The show The Good Place revolves around a group of souls namely - Eleanor Shellstrop, Chidi Anagonye, Tahani Al Jamil, and Jason Mendoza - who find themselves in the Good Place after death. In the show, the Good Place is an analogy for heaven and the Bad Place, for hell. The Place that the group find themselves in is run by an Angel called Micheal, who acts as their guide through the Good Place. Through a series of events, Elenor and Jason quickly realize that they are not in the ‘Good Place’ after all, and that Micheal is in fact, a demon. They learn that they are in a test run of a new version of the Bad Place that was designed by Micheal - who was newly promoted to an architect demon.
Through seasons 1 and 2, the group, who have now realized that they are in the Bad Place devise many plans to try and get to the Good Place, and Michael and other demons successfully thwart those plans. Eventually, the group get through to Michael and help him - an immortal demon - understand the human nature of sin and their ability to change and want to change. Michael then joins the group in attempting to convince ‘The Judge’ to reconsider the fate of the souls in the Bad Place. Although the show was not directly inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy, we do see some similarities between the two works in the fundamental ideology of who deserves to be in Hell or Heaven, and the concept of repentance. This paper explores the concept of repentance, Purgatory, and who belongs in the Bad Place, through the lens of Dante’s Divine Comedy. The paper draws examples and evidence from both the TV show and the Divine Comedy to further solidify these comparisons.
Firstly, the purpose of the Bad Place itself can be directly compared to that of Dante’s Inferno. Simply put; It is a place where souls who have ‘sinned’ on earth are tortured by demons. Although the sins and punishment in the Bad Place are vastly different from that in Inferno, we see a similarity between the inhabitants of Inferno and the Bad Place. In Inferno canto 4, Dante finds himself in the Limbo,where he comes across the pagan Philosophers Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato[1]. In the Good Place, Michael tells Chidi that Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato are in the Bad Place - albeit, for reasons very different from just being pagan. Although the reasons due to which these philosophers are in the Bad Place were made purposefully absurd in the show for the sake of entertainment, I found it interesting that the creators named those three philosophers specifically. This could potentially be a nod to the Divine Comedy. It is interesting to note that just like the souls in Dante’s Inferno, the souls in the Bad Place view the Bad Place as an extension of their lives and choices on earth. As pointed out in a review of the show on the blog ‘Better Living Through Beowulf’[2]The souls in both Inferno and the Bad Place view their afterlife as a destiny they chose for themselves while still on earth.
The second instance where a direct comparison can be made between Dante’s Divine Comedy and The Good Place is the reason Chidi - who is chronically indecisive - belongs in the Bad Place. On earth, Chidi Anagonye was a professor of Moral Philosophy and was infamous for his overwhelming indecisiveness. During his time on earth, Chidi’s indecisiveness caused the ruin of his friendships and romantic relationships alike. His extensive knowledge of ethics leaves him constantly questioning the morality of his choices. This inability to make a decision is what ultimately causes his death. Chidi’s fate as a soul who belongs in the Bad Place closely resembles the fate of the souls in the vestibule of Inferno in the Divine Comedy. In Inferno cantos 3 Dante makes his thoughts on morally neutral people abundantly clear with the description of the fate of the souls and demons in the Limbo. Although Chidi’s punishment does not resemble the punishment of the souls in Limbo, we can see that Chidi remains continuously tortured by his own knowledge, his thoughts, and having Eleanor - a narcissist - as his ‘soulmate’. As is typical of a soul in Inferno, we also see Chidi unknowingly accept his torture in the Bad Place.
Once it has been established that the group is in the Bad Place, the show then delves into discussions about humanity, the nature of humans to sin, consequences of their sins, and most importantly, the nature of humans to want to change. In the season finale of season 2, we see Micheal and the group make their case to ‘The Judge’ and argue for the ability of humans to change. This is inarguably a pivotal moment in the show. The discussion about humans being capable of change is reminiscent of Dante’s Purgatorio - where we see souls who are given the chance to repent and atone for their sins so they can enter heaven. Another noteworthy comparison between Dante himself and the characters in the show is that as Dante travels through Inferno with Virgil as his guide, he comes to the realization that he does not belong in Inferno. The characters in the show have a strikingly similar realization when they see that they are capable of change. They all unanimously agree that they do not belong in the Bad Place solely because they recognize their faults and want to become better. This leads them to discover ‘The Medium Pace’.
Although in theory, ‘The Medium Place’ is vaguely similar to Purgatory, it does not have the same characteristics as Purgatorio in that it is not a place where souls get to repent for their sins before moving on to ‘The Good Place’. In the show, the Medium Place has only one resident, Mindy St. Claire. Mindy St. Claire was put in the Medium Place because although she was a cocaine addict and a lustful person on earth, right before she died, she took out all her savings from her bank account to start a global foundation for children around the world[3]. Because she died before she could accomplish this, her sister started the foundation in Mindy’s name. After much debate between the Good and Bad place about the fate of Mindy, it was decided that they would create another dimension called ‘The Medium Place’ solely for Mindy St. Claire, where she would experience neither pleasure, nor pain - only neutrality. Broadly speaking, Mindy St. Claire’s redemption can be compared to that of all the souls in purgatory, who are in purgatory because of their desire to be better. This comparison is further explored in an article in Esquire magazine about fan theories about the season 3 finale of the show.[4] To be more specific, Mindy St. Claire’s last-minute act of repentance can be compared to that of Bonconte da Montefeltro in Purgatorio cantos 5 of the Divine Comedy - who repented moments before he died and as a result, found himself in Purgatory.
Ultimately, although the show The Good Place was inspired by Jean Paul Sartre’s No Exit[5], and does not make direct references to Dante’s Divine Comedy. But, based on the parallels drawn between the show and the Divine Comedy, it is safe to assume that the Show does pay a decent amount of homage to Dante’s ideas of sin and punishment. The show does take it a step further and argue that humans are complex and that they are capable of doing good on earth even without the concept of punishment or reward in the afterlife. To sum up, my comparison between Dante’s Divine Comedy and The Good Place was inspired by the fact that fundamentally, both reinforce the idea that humans are responsible for every one of their actions, and that nothing about their lives on earth is divinely decreed. Re-watching the show after reading the Divine Comedy also made me appreciate the deeper discussions in the show about who was deserving of punishment and redemption.
Works Cited
“The Bad Place | The Good Place Wiki | Fandom.” The Good Place Wiki, https://thegoodplace.fandom.com/wiki/The_Bad_Place. Accessed 6 November 2023.
Bates, Robin. “The Good Place & Dante's Inferno.” Better Living through Beowulf, 14 May 2020, https://betterlivingthroughbeowulf.com/the-good-place-dantes-inferno/. Accessed 6 November 2023.
Bojalad, Alec. “The Good Place Season 4 Episode 8 Review: The Funeral to End All Funerals.” Den of Geek, 15 November 2019, https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-good-place-season-4-episode-8-review-the-funeral-to-end-all-funerals/. Accessed 11 December 2023.
“The Divine Comedy – Digital Dante.” Digital Dante, https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/dante/divine-comedy/. Accessed 6 November 2023.
Harper, William Jackson. “Chidi Anagonye | The Good Place Wiki | Fandom.” The Good Place Wiki, https://thegoodplace.fandom.com/wiki/Chidi_Anagonye. Accessed 6 November 2023.
Kirkland, Justin. “The Good Place Season 3 Finale Theories - The Good Place Is Really in The Bad Place Again.” Esquire, 25 January 2019, https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a26037487/the-good-place-season-3-finale-theories/. Accessed 11 December 2023.
“The Medium Place | The Good Place Wiki | Fandom.” The Good Place Wiki, https://thegoodplace.fandom.com/wiki/The_Medium_Place. Accessed 6 November 2023.
Monroe, Maribeth. “Mindy St. Claire | The Good Place Wiki | Fandom.” The Good Place Wiki, https://thegoodplace.fandom.com/wiki/Mindy_St._Claire. Accessed 6 November 2023.
Popelka, Madeline. “The Existentialism of “The Good Place” | Essays on Pop Culture.” Essays on Pop Culture, 23 January 2017, https://madelinewatches.wordpress.com/2017/01/23/the-existentialism-of-the-good-place/. Accessed 11 December 2023.
See “The Divine Comedy – Digital Dante.” Digital Dante, https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/dante/divine-comedy/. Accessed 6 November 2023. ↑
See Bates, Robin. “The Good Place & Dante's Inferno.” Better Living through Beowulf, 14 May 2020, https://betterlivingthroughbeowulf.com/the-good-place-dantes-inferno/. Accessed 6 November 2023. ↑
See Monroe, Maribeth. “Mindy St. Claire | The Good Place Wiki | Fandom.” The Good Place Wiki, https://thegoodplace.fandom.com/wiki/Mindy_St._Claire. Accessed 6 November 2023. ↑
See Kirkland, Justin. “The Good Place Season 3 Finale Theories - The Good Place Is Really in The Bad Place Again.” Esquire, 25 January 2019, ↑
See Popelka, Madeline. “The Existentialism of “The Good Place” | Essays on Pop Culture.” Essays on Pop Culture, 23 January 2017, https://madelinewatches.wordpress.com/2017/01/23/the-existentialism-of-the-good-place/. Accessed 11 December 2023. ↑