Discussion Thread 1:
In Canto 34, though Dante seems amazed by the sight of three-faced Lucifer, he is also relatively unsurprised and unafraid, climbing down the hairy back and past the beating bat wings of God's furthest-fallen angel without hesitation. Does Dante's behavior suggest he has transcended the fears he has so often succumbed to, or is it possible that the madness of what he has experienced has desensitized him past the point of fearing for his life?
With your response to this question in mind, consider this: Once Virgil and Dante descend from Lucifer's back, they ascend through a lightless tunnel and emerge to see the stars in the sky. This suggests a clear change from Dante's opening admission that "Midway through the journey of our life, I found / myself in a dark wood, for I had strayed / from the straight pathway to this tangled ground" (Inf. 1.1-3). Discuss.
Discussion Thread 2:
Canto 23 reveals one of Hell's biggest secrets. As Virgil observes, "for that high providence that placed them here / to rule the fifth ditch makes them powerless / ever to pass beyond their proper sphere" (Inf. 23.55-7). The demons assigned to each pouch are tethered to their domains and can never leave them. What does this reveal about the natures of evil, sin, and the demons themselves?
Now extend this idea to the innermost ring of the Ninth Circle: Why do you think "the emperor of that realm of misery" is himself responsible for punishing a sinner in each of his three mouths (34.29)? How far has the former Angel of Light actually fallen?