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The Narrative of Consumption: Greed and Literature

In: Greed

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  • Linda Freedman

Abstract

In Dante’s Inferno, the greedy throng together, each pushing a great weight with his chest, condemned to ‘dance and counter-dance’ as they ‘bump together, wheel right/Round and return, trundling their loads again’. Their futile circling illustrates the pointless competition of the greedy. At the point of rebound, the misers and the wasteful rich go separate ways, crying respectively: ‘Why chuck away? Why grab so tight?’ Doomed to return again, these rival crews share a common failing and therefore a common punishment. Virgil (Dante’s guide through Hell) explains that, in life, ‘these were so squint of mind/As in the handling of their wealth to use/No moderation — none in either kind.’1 Like gluttony and lust, therefore, greed, whether miserly or decadent, is a sin of excess.

Suggested Citation

  • Linda Freedman, 2009. "The Narrative of Consumption: Greed and Literature," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Alexis Brassey & Stephen Barber (ed.), Greed, chapter 11, pages 170-187, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-24615-7_12
    DOI: 10.1057/9780230246157_12
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