Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture
“An Illinois federal judge invoked the poet Dante in a description of fee litigation as an ‘inner circle of judicial hell’ as he imposed a $2.5 million attorney fees sanction for discovery violations in long-running trademark dispute between rival e-cigarette companies.” — Carolyn Muyskens, “Judge Invokes Dante’s Inferno In $2.5M Sanctions Order,” Law360, October 7, 2022.
The fourth season of Hulu’s dystopian drama The Handmaid’s Tale (based on Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel of the same name) features two characters roaming the ruins of a bombed-out Chicago (episode 5, “Chicago,” 2021). While attempting to trade resources with other rebels, the two handmaids find themselves hiding from Gilead soldiers in the wreckage of Chicago’s Dante’s Pizzeria. Below, a still from the show (which you can watch here, Hulu subscription required):
See our previous post for Dante’s Pizzeria, with two Chicago locations, here.
“With screams emanating from the Q&A House and a long line waiting for their turn, 99 students traveled through the nine circles of hell on Saturday night.
Groups of up to three students traveled through the transformed living room, kitchen and basement, being scared by 12 student actors playing roles or helping behind the scenes in the Dante’s Inferno themed house.
‘The interesting thing from this year is usually you have a guide, a very creepy guide, that takes you through the haunted house. And this time you have the narrator telling you which circle you’re in, and it’s usually through a wall, and you have to follow a laid out path,’ senior Melissa Sher said.
Despite the cold weather, students waited for over an hour at times on Saturday, and in total almost 140 students traveled through the 10-15 minute haunted house on Saturday and Sunday, beating the previous year’s total.
‘[This year was] just as creepy,’ senior Katie Haynes said, ‘They hold themselves to a pretty high standard and doing this is just wonderful.’
While some students found parts scary, others enjoyed the house and even spurted out some laughs.” –John Williams, The Knox Student, November 2, 2011
“Periodicals: The most frigid and judgmental part of the library. If you even think of talking or breathing above a whisper, you will be violently shushed (and maybe shanked).” –Caroline Brown, North by Northwestern, February 22, 2016
“Third Circle (Gluttony): The Coffee Station
You stare at the dispenser with reluctance, but the tiredness and headaches you’ll avoid by pouring yourself a cup demand that make you fill it. Oh, how you wish to sip coffee that’s, for lack of a better word, remotely palatable. Knowing that despite the bitterness, this coffee isn’t the strongest of brews, you get cup after cup . The make-you-have-to-pee effects of caffeine aren’t helped by the sheer amount of liquid you’re drinking or all the sugar you put in it (looking at you, frappucinos, as delicious as you may be) to make it bearable. palatable, Alas, and you do have to go to class at a certain point, so you jitter your way out of the dining hall.” [. . .] –Nico Aldape and Teddy Zamborsky, Chicago Shady Dealer, May 14, 2016.
You can read the full list of the UChicago Circles of Hell on Chicago Shady Dealer.
All submissions will be considered for posting. Bibliographic references and scholarly essays are also welcome for consideration.
Coggeshall, Elizabeth, and Arielle Saiber, eds. Dante Today: Citings and Sightings of Dante’s Works in Contemporary Culture. Website. Access date.
