# Providence — The Inferno character guide

> Providence in The Inferno by August Strindberg.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0003-i-the-hand-of-the-invisible

## Who they are

The inscrutable force that rewards virtue with the cross, the stake, and dreadful dreams, arranging coincidences the narrator cannot dismiss as chance.

## In the story

### [The Inferno](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inferno_se/chapters/the-inferno)

Invoked as the divine force behind the narrator's punishment and eventual redemption.

### [I: The Hand of the Invisible](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inferno_se/chapters/i-the-hand-of-the-invisible)

Referenced indirectly through the 'invisible hand' that guides events, and the narrator's sense of being persecuted by unknown powers.

### [II: St. Louis Leads Me to Orfila](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inferno_se/chapters/ii-st-louis-leads-me-to-orfila)

The narrator reflects on the ways of Providence, feeling punished despite his desire for purification, and later sees the rainbow as a sign of covenant.

### [III: Paradise Regained](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inferno_se/chapters/iii-paradise-regained)

Implied as the source of unknown friends bringing food and money.

### [IV: The Fall and Paradise Lost](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inferno_se/chapters/iv-the-fall-and-paradise-lost)

The 'unknown powers' and 'hand of the invisible' are referenced as forces punishing the narrator.

### [V: Purgatory](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inferno_se/chapters/v-purgatory)

A wrathful Providence provides a vacant room, and the narrator feels tested by the Eternal.

### [Extracts from My Journal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inferno_se/chapters/extracts-from-my-journal)

The narrator acknowledges Providence as guiding his destiny and protecting him.

### [VI: Hell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inferno_se/chapters/vi-hell)

The narrator attributes the doctor's actions to a role assigned by Providence, suggesting a divine orchestration of events.

### [VII: Beatrice](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inferno_se/chapters/vii-beatrice)

Implied as the orchestrator of the narrator's sufferings and the coincidences he observes.

### [IX: Extracts from the Diary of a Damned Soul](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inferno_se/chapters/ix-extracts-from-the-diary-of-a-damned-soul)

Implied as the power that denies him strength and delivers him to torments.

### [X: The Eternal Has Spoken](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inferno_se/chapters/x-the-eternal-has-spoken)

Implied as the force behind the thunderclap and the ray of sunlight, interpreted as a sign from the Eternal.

### [XI: Hell Let Loose](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inferno_se/chapters/xi-hell-let-loose)

Implied as the orchestrator of Strindberg's trials and the coincidental events.

### [XII: Pilgrimage and Penance](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inferno_se/chapters/xii-pilgrimage-and-penance)

Thanked for sending the narrator to Lund to expiate his sin.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inferno_se/characters/providence
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inferno_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inferno_se/characters