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Bagheri H, Shayestehfar M. (2025). Influential Elements in the Representation of Women in Hell in Mir Haydar’s Mi'raj nameh and Dante’s divine comedy by Gustave Dore. JIC. 9(2), 121-142. doi:10.61882/jic.9.2.391
URL: http://jih-tabriziau.ir/article-1-391-en.html

 Religious narratives have consistently served as a significant space for reinterpretation within the context of a nation's art and culture. Among these narratives, the Mi'raj (assention) that is the ascension of Prophet Muhammad in Islam has been a central theme for many artists seeking to reimagine it. This theme is not exclusive to Islam and holds a special place in various other religions, including Christianity. One such example is Dante’s Divine Comedy, which is partly influenced by the concept of Mi'raj in Islam. A key element explored in Mi'raj-literature is the representation of women, depicted in Hell as symbols of sin and torment, and in Paradise as embodiments of sanctity and light. This research adopts a comparative-analytical approach to investigate the influential factors in the portrayal of women in Hell across two Mi'raj-manuscripts including The Mi'raj-nameh of Mir Haydar and Gustave Doré’s illustrations of Dante’s Divine Comedy. The data collection method involved library, archival, and online resources, with a purposive and non-random selection of images specifically depicting women in hell from both texts. To advance the objectives of the study, John Berger’s theory of the Male gaze, and and Linda Nocklin's gender and feminist theory on the representation of women in religious art have been utilized. with the aim of analyzing the role of women as significant and impactful figures in religious art. The central question posed is: What cultural and religious factors contribute to the differences in the portrayal of women in Hell in these two works? The findings indicate that although the two versions differ substantially in their representations of women in Hell due to variations in the societal and religious outlooks of the time there are shared elements, such as the types of sins committed by women, the attitudes and behaviors attributed to them, and the artists' goals in depicting Hell and the role of women in their contemporary societies. These commonalities arise from the shared essence of sacred religion and art, which, despite differences in context and representation, reveal striking similarities in their portrayal.