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The Pilgrim’s Progress
John Bunyan
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The Pilgrim’s Progress
Considered the most influential religious book ever written in the English language
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John Bunyan ( ) Learned reading and writing at village school in hometown of Elstow Drafted into parliamentary army in 1644 Married first wife in 1649 She introduced him to various religious writings: Plain Man’s Pathway to Heaven; Practice of Piety 1653 joined a Nonconformist church
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John Bunyan Became a preacher
Married second wife 1659, after first wife died in (left with 4 children) Arrested in 1660 for preaching without a license Spent approximately next 12 years in Bedford jail
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John Bunyan During first half of this period, wrote 9 books
The Holy City (1665) Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (1666) A Confession of My Faith, and a Reason of my Practice (1672)
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John Bunyan Released from jail in 1672 Began preaching again
Jail once again where he probably finished the first part of The Pilgrim’s Progress
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Timeline History of The Pilgrim's Progress
1675 (age 47) John Bunyan wrote The Pilgrim's Progress during six months of incarceration February 1678 The Pilgrim's Progress is published. 1678 Second edition published in the fall
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Timeline History of The Pilgrim's Progress
1682 Bunyan's eighth edition published with additional last improvements. 1684 Bunyan's ninth edition published. John Bunyan published Part Two of The Pilgrim's Progress 1685 Bunyan published tenth edition
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Bunyan… "It came from my own heart, so to my head, And thence into my fingers trickled; Then to my pen, from whence immediately On paper I did dribble it daintily. Matter and manner too was all mine own, Nor was it unto any mortal known, Till I had done it. Nor, did any then, By books, by wits, by tongues, or hand or pen Add five words to it, or write half a line Thereof; the whole and every whit is mine." uneducated tinker could have written such a book as The Pilgrim's Progress, and he felt obliged to defend himself from the charge of plagiarism. . At the end of his Holy War we find these lines referring to the more famous book: , there has been considerable speculation as to the sources of the allegory. Dr. Johnson first called attention to the similarity between the opening of The Pilgrim's Progress and the first lines of Dante's Inferno; and he thought that Bunyan might have read Spenser's Faerie Queene. The resemblance to Dante must be purely accidental, for, as Johnson adds, there was no translation of the Divine Comedy when Bunyan wrote; and the passages from the Faerie Queene cited by recent critics in support of Johnson's conjecture do not convince the unprejudiced reader that Bunyan made any use of Spenser's poem. Many other books have been suggested as possible sources, but no single passage in The Pilgrim's Progress has been pointed out which seems clearly indebted to anything other than Bunyan's own inventiveness or his knowledge of the Bible. Certainly time spent in reading them he would have considered wasted. The fact is that Bunyan cared nothing for literature as literature. He had the poet's mind and feeling, but for all that, he felt that the only concern of importance for a man was the saving of his soul. And he reached this conclusion early in life. It would be possible, with a fair degree of certainty, to make a list of all the books that Bunyan ever read. Almost the only one not distinctly religious in character would be Sir Bevis of Southampton, already mentioned as the only book we know him to have read as a child.
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The Pilgrim’s Progress
The allegory takes the form of a dream by the author. Main character: Christian, an everyman character Journey: City of Destruction Celestial City
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The Pilgrim’s Progress
THE FIRST STAGE Author's Apology for his Book Christian's deplorable condition Evangelist directs him Obstinate and Pliable Slough of Despond Worldly Wiseman Mount Sinai Conversation with Evangelist The allegorytakes the form of a dream by the author. In this he tells of Christian, an everyman character, who makes his way from the "City of Destruction" to the "Celestial City" of Zion. Christian finds himself weighed down by a great burden that he gets from reading a book (obviously the Bible). He learns from the book that the city in which he and his family dewll will be burned with fire. This burden, which would cause him to sink into Tophet (hell), is Christian's acute, immediate concern that impels him to the crisis of what to do for deliverance. Evangelist suddenly comes by to direct Christian for deliverance. An insight into what the burden is allegorically is given by Help, Christian's rescuer from the Slough of Despond: This miry slough is such a place as cannot be mended: it is the descent whither the scum and filth that attends conviction for sin doth continually run, and therefore it is called the Slough of Despond. Christian's burden had caused him to sink even further down into the slough than one who might have been unburdened; hence, the burden allegorically is the weight of the conviction of one's sin. Christian leaves his home, his wife, and children to save himself. (He is unable to persuade his wife and children to accompany him) Burdened Christian flees from home On his way to the Wicket Gate, Christian is led astray by Mr. Worldly Wiseman into seeking deliverance from his burden through the Law, supposedly with the help of a Mr. Legality and his son Civility in the village of Morality, rather than through Christ, allegorically by way of the Wicket Gate. Evangelist meets Christian before a life-threatening mountain, Mt. Sinai, that keeps Christian from getting to Mr. Legality's home. Evangelist shows Christian that he had sinned by turning out of his way, but he assures him that he will be welcomed at the Wicket Gate. Christian turns around and goes there.
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The Pilgrim’s Progress
THE SECOND STAGE The Gate Conversation with Good-Will The Interpreter's House Christian entertained The sights there shown him The "straight and narrow" King's Highway begins at the Wicket Gate, and Christian is directed onto it by the gatekeeper Good-will. In the Second Part he is shown to be Jesus himself. Christian makes his way from there to the House of the Interpreter, where he is shown pictures and tableaux that portray or dramatize aspects of the Christian faith and life.
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The Pilgrim’s Progress
THE THIRD STAGE Loses his burden at the Cross Simple, Sloth, Presumption, Formalist, Hypocrisy hill Difficulty the Arbor misses his roll the Palace Beautiful the lions talk with Discretion, Piety, Prudence, and Charity wonders shown to Christian he is armed From the House of the Interpreter Christian finally reaches the "place of deliverance" (allegorically, the cross of Calvary and the open sepulcher of Christ) where the "straps" that bound Christian's burden to him break, and it rolls away into the open sepulcher. This event happens relatively early in the narrative: the immediate need of Christian at the beginning of the story being so quickly remedied. After Christian is relieved of his burden he is greeted by three shining ones, who give him the greeting of peace, new garments, and a scroll as a passport into the Celestial City—these are allegorical figures indicative of Christian Baptism. Atop the Hill of Difficulty Christian makes his first stop for the night at the House Beautiful, which is an allegory of the local Christian congregation. Christian spends three days here, and leaves clothed with armor (Eph. 6:11-18)[2], which stands him in good stead in his battle against Apollyon in the Valley of Humiliation.
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The Pilgrim’s Progress
THE FOURTH STAGE Valley of Humiliation conflict with Apollyon Valley of the Shadow of Death Giants Pope and Pagan After the battle he travels through the night through the Valley of the Shadow of Death where in the midst of the gloom and terror he hears the words of the Twenty-third Psalm spoken possibly by his friend Faithful: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me (Ps. 23:4). The sun rises on a new day as he leaves this valley. Just outside the Valley of the Shadow of Death he meets Faithful, also a former resident of the City of Destruction, who accompanies him to Vanity Fair, where both of them are arrested and detained because of their disdain for the wares and business of the fair. Faithful is put on trial, and executed as a martyr. Hopeful, a resident of Vanity, takes Faithful's place to be Christian's companion for the rest of the way.
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The Pilgrim’s Progress
THE FIFTH STAGE Discourse with Faithful Talkative and Faithful Talkative's character
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The Pilgrim’s Progress
THE SIXTH STAGE Evangelist overtakes Christian and Faithful Vanity Fair the Pilgrims brought to trial Faithful's martyrdom
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The Pilgrim’s Progress
THE SEVENTH STAGE Christian and Hopeful By-ends and his companions plain of Ease Lucre-hill Demas the River of Life Vain Confidence Giant Despair the Pilgrims beaten the Dungeon the Key of Promise Along a rough stretch of road, Christian and Hopeful leave the highway to travel on the easier By-Path Meadow, where they are forced to spend the night due to a rain storm. In the morning they are captured by Giant Despair, who takes them to his Doubting Castle, where they are imprisoned, beaten, and starved. The giant wants them to commit suicide, but they endure the ordeal until Christian realizes that a key he has called Promise will open all the doors and gates of Doubting Castle from which they escape.
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The Pilgrim’s Progress
THE EIGHTH STAGE The Delectable Mountains entertained by the Shepherds a by-way to Hell The Delectable Mountains form the next stage of Christian and Hopeful's journey, where the shepherds show them some of the wonders of the place also known as "Immanuel's Land." On the way Christian and Hopeful meet a lad named Ignorance, who has the vain hope of entering the Celestial City even though he believes in work's righteousness. A ferryman with the name, Vain Hope, ferries Ignorance across the River of Death only for him to be turned away from the gates of Celestial City and cast into hell. Christian and Hopeful make it through the dangerous Enchanted Ground into the Land of Beulah, where they ready themselves to cross the River of Death on foot to Mount Zion and the Celestial City. Christian has a rough time of it, but Hopeful helps him over, and they are welcomed into the Celestial City.
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The Pilgrim’s Progress
THE NINTH STAGE Christian and Hopeful meet Ignorance Turn-away Little-Faith the Flatterer the net chastised by a Shining One Atheist Enchanted Ground Hopeful's account of his conversion discourse of Christian and Ignorance
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The Pilgrim’s Progress
THE TENTH STAGE Talk of Christian and Hopeful Temporary the backslider the land of Beulah Christian and Hopeful pass the River welcome to the Celestial city
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Part II The second part was published in 1684
describes the journey of Christian's wife and children from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City they travel under the guidance of Mr. Greatheart, the servant of the Interpreter The Second Part of The Pilgrim's Progress presents the pilgrimage of Christian's wife, Christiana, their sons, and the maiden Mercy. They visit the same stopping places that Christian did with the addition of Gaius's Inn between the Valley of the Shadow of Death and Vanity Fair, but they take a longer time to accommodate marriage and child birth for Christian and four sons and their wives. The hero of the story is Greatheart, the servant of the Interpreter, who is a pilgrim's guide to the Celestial City. He kills four giants, including Giant Despair, and participates in the slaying of a monster that terrorizes the city of Vanity. The passage of years in this second pilgrimage better allegorizes the journey of the Christian life. By using feminine heroines, the Second Part illustrates how women—not only men—can be brave pilgrims as well. is much more than a mere sequel to or repetition of the earlier volume. It clarifies and reinforces and justifies the story of Part I. The beam of Bunyan's spotlight is broadened to include Christian's family and other, men, women, and children; the incidents and accidents of everyday life are more numerous, the joys of the pilgrimage tend to outweigh the hardships, and to the faith and hope of Part I is added in abundant measure that greatest of virtues, charity.
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Bunyan’s Style Characteristics
his constant use of the phraseology and the imagery of the Bible the frequent occurrence of provincial and colloquial expressions There was one book, however, that he knew as hardly any other man in any age has known it — the Bible. His knowledge of it was not the scholar's knowledge, for he knew nothing of Greek and Hebrew or even of such Biblical criticism as existed in his own day. What he had was a verbal knowledge of the English versions that was never at fault. Many stories are told of the readiness with which he could produce apposite scriptural quotations, often to the confusion of much more learned men than himself. This intimacy with the Bible, combined with one other element, is enough to account for the substance of The Pilgrim's Progress. That other element is his profound acquaintance with the rustic and provincial life about him, and with the heart of the average man. From these sources come also two characteristics of Bunyan's style that even the most cursory reader cannot fail to notice, — his constant use of the phraseology and the imagery of the Bible and the frequent occurrence of provincial and colloquial expressions. Bunyan wrote the language as he heard it, and there is surprisingly little that is unfamiliar to a modern ear. Many of his expressions still survive in colloquial and illiterate usage; "drownded," "would a done it, -- many see the colloquial language as giving PP charm.
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Stylistic features The vividness of the descriptive passages (they are usually sentences or merely phrases) Reproduction of scenes from the Bible (as Bunyan understood them) scenes from provincial and rural England But a racy and colloquial diction alone would not have made Bunyan a great writer. His real achievement is that he makes the reader see the thing that he describes. The vividness of the descriptive passages (they are usually sentences or merely phrases) in The Pilgrim's Progress has often been pointed out. A study of these passages will show that they reproduce scenes from the Bible, as Bunyan understood them, or scenes from provincial and rural England. It was not necessary for him to go outside of his own experience for the Slough of Despond, the Palace Beautiful, and Vanity Fair. None of them was far away from Bedford. In many respects Christian's journey was just such as any Bedfordshire countryman might have taken. The characters, too, are drawn from the life. Worldly Wiseman, By-Ends, Lord Hategood, and Christian himself would be recognized as faithful portraits. This does not mean, of course, that definite places and actual persons are represented in the book. Probably they are not. But both persons and places are typical of what Bunyan's readers were familiar with. This realism, this closeness to everyday life, undoubtedly has much to do with the immense vitality of the book.
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Theme The Pilgrim's Progress is primarily a religious allegory
in intention it is an exposition of the Protestant theory of the plan of salvation Example of Puritan theology No fanaticism It should not be forgotten, however, that The Pilgrim's Progress is primarily a religious allegory, and that in intention it is an exposition of the Protestant theory of the plan of salvation. As such, it is entirely successful for from no other book is it possible to obtain so lucid an account of Puritan theology. Yet it is entirely free from narrow sectarianism, and there is nothing whatever about it that makes it the peculiar possession of any one Christian denomination. With the exception of half a dozen lines in regard to Giant Pope, there is nothing in The Pilgrim's Progress to which a Roman Catholic would take exception, and only the most extreme Anglicans have found it necessary to make alterations to adapt it to their purposes. When we take into account Bunyan's antecedents and surroundings, this total absence of fanaticism seems one of the most extraordinary things about the book.
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