In Canto 33, we find Dante and Virgil pass through the 9th circle of Hell, where traitors to their country, guests, and hosts are punished. Canto 33 is a continuation of Canto 32. Betrayal is the major theme of Canto 33 and because of how deep these sinners are placed in Hell, it is evident how deeply Dante, the author, feels towards those capable of deception.
Dante sees Count Ugolino, another historical figure, savagely eating Archbishop Ruggieri’s head, an image of cannibalism. Ugolino was a political nobleman in Pisa whose politics went wrong. Ugolino tells Dante his account of the past. Dante finds out that Ugolino was imprisoned for treason along with his sons and grandsons. Ugolino plotted to take over Pisa, an act of betrayal against his hometown. But Ruggieri betrays the betrayer, Ugolino. Ruggieri punishes Ugolino and his family and denies them food, so the sons die of starvation. Ugolino must watch his sons die for his crimes. It is not fully clear if Ugolino eats his sons or not but he states “Then hunger proved more powerful than grief”, which can indicate Ugolino actually eating his dead children. While this interpretation is certainly viable, Dante, the poet, does not necessarily place Ugolino there for eating his children, but because of the selfish betrayal of his hometown. As we have seen throughout Inferno, according to Dante, the writer, the place a person comes from is an incredibly important characteristic and makes that person who he or she is. Therefore, Dante, the writer, finds that the betrayal of one’s hometown must be severely punished.
As Dante and Virgil continue, they meet Fra Alberigo and Bronca. They live on Earth but their souls were sent to Hell, another example of duality in Inferno. Fra Alberigo invited his brother over for dinner and had his family assassinated. Branca’s sin is similar to Alberigo’s because he killed his father-in-law. These sinners are cold enough to kill family members, therefore they must eternally be frozen. They are punished by laying on freezing ice on the river Cocytus and when they cry, their tears freeze. This type of imprisonment is compelling because Hell is constantly represented with fire. The harsh freezing ice can symbolize the callousness of the sinners. Fra asks Dante to “stretch out your hand and open my eyes” but Dante gladly refuses to help him remove the frozen tears so he can cry some more. Dante, the writer, states, “I did not open them for him; and it was courtesy to treat him boorishly” (148-149), meaning being hostile towards this sinner was like a gift to Dante. Dante’s refusal to wipe away the tears mirrors the themes of betrayal and disloyalty in this Canto. Dante, the pilgrim, promises Alberigo that he will wipe away his tears when he states, “If you wish me to help you, tell me who you are” (115) but he is misleading because he readily does not fulfill those words.
It is important to pay attention to Dante’s lack of empathy in the final cantos. As he gets closer to reaching God, Dante’s comprehension of sins is stronger and he is gratified to let the sinners hurt in hell for eternity. From the start of Inferno, Dante, the pilgrim, is on a journey where his attitudes change as he progresses through Hell. He feels compassion and pity for sinners like Francesca, but as the sins grow in severity Dante, the pilgrim feels apathy and hatred towards the sinners. Dante certainly feels no empathy for sinners like Ugolino and Fra Alberigo because of the magnitude of their sins, according to Dante the poet. As Dante reaches the end of his journey in Hell, his pity lessens with each ensuing sinner he encounters. At the beginning of Inferno, empathy overcomes Dante, and he cries and literally faints for many hurting sinners, but by the end of Inferno, he does not even allow the sinners to cry for themselves.
