Dante Inferno
Dante’s Inferno is one of the most remarkable works created by the writer. At the same time, this work challenged the traditional Christian views and values. Being an integral part of The Divine Comedy, Inferno depicts the Hell as the writer imagined it. In this respect, it is important to place emphasis on the fact that the author focused on major vices of people, which he observed in his life and he attempted to represent these vices symbolically through his vision of the Hell. In such a way, he attempted to make the abstract threat of going to the Hell in the afterlife, which was a hypothetical threat for people violating Christian norms and principles and made this abstract concept more real and closer to the life of people. At the same time, he made the sacred concept of Hell more real that challenged Christian norms and values because it was the prerogative of priesthood to interpret sacred texts and concepts, whereas Dante was just a writer, who dared to present his vision of Hell, which was not really the Hell in Christian terms proper, but it was rather the critical view of Dante on human vices, which he observed in the real life.
Petrarch Sonnets
Petrarch Sonnets were the masterpiece of the late medieval and Renaissance poetry. He was one of the first poets, who used the form of sonnet so effectively and developed his mastership in this field. Sonnets by Petrarch were the sample of the poetry of the late medieval and Renaissance era. At the same time, love comprised the main theme of his Sonnets, which he dedicated to his beloved Laura. Remarkably, Laura could have probably never existed and the poet rather used some image of a woman or women as his ideal vision of a perfect woman, whom he admires and adores in his sonnets.
Machiavelli The Prince
The Prince by Machiavelli depicts philosophical views of the author on the nature of the power and political life of the society. To put it more precisely, the author focuses his attention on the ideal ruler, the prince. Machiavelli attempts to depict the ideal ruler and discusses basic qualities and characteristics of the ruler. In fact, his view on the ideal ruler mirrors, to a significant extent political and philosophical views, which were dominant in the society in his time. At the same time, even though Machiavelli basically supports absolutism and absolute power of the ruler, he insists that the ruler should be just and respect his subordinates. In this respect, Machiavelli argues that the ruler should be just and meet needs of his subordinates and, simultaneously, focus on the interests of the state. Therefore, Machiavelli suggested progressive ideas, which were innovative for his time because the ruler was not viewed as an individual, whose power was sanctioned by God. Instead, Machiavelli suggested that the ruler should be a responsible head of the state. On the other hand, he agreed that people should respect the ruler and obey him.