Canto Five of the Inferno is especially noteworthy. The canto focuses on the problem of reading in general and of reading literature in particular. Indeed, it might be said that Paolo and Francesca (the two main characters of Canto Five) managed to ruin their lives through reading literature. Literature-reading, warns Canto Five, turns out to be a morally hazardous undertaking. If we understood Canto Five well enough, perhaps we would have a grasp on the following questions: a) What is so dangerous about reading literature? b) Is the Inferno itself dangerous to read? (If so, how, and for whom? c) Should we just stop reading now? Or if not, how can we read the Inferno in a way that is not soul-damaging?
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