The Pilgrim's Progress
 The oneiric journey of a Christian everyman towards getting the reward of Heaven. | |
| Original Title: | The Pilgrim's Progress From This World, To That Which Is to Come: Delivered under the Similitude of a Dream, Wherein is Discovered, the manner of his setting out, His Dangerous Journey, and safe arrival at the Desired Country |
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| Written by: | John Bunyan |
| Central Theme: | The promotion of good Christian values |
| Synopsis: | |
| Genre(s): | Allegory |
| First published: | 1678 |
The Pilgrim's Progress (full title: The Pilgrim's Progress From This World, To That Which Is to Come: Delivered under the Similitude of a Dream, Wherein is Discovered, the manner of his setting out, His Dangerous Journey, and safe arrival at the Desired Country) is an allegorical work by John Bunyan, first published in 1678. It was written during Mr. Bunyan's terms in prison for holding worship services outside the auspices of the official Church of England.
The story is in two parts (originally published separately) and concerns the journey of an everyman named Christian (and, later, his wife and family in the second part) from the City of Destruction (this world) to the Celestial City (the world which is to come, Heaven.) The journey is fraught with dangers, and there are many temptations to leave the straight and narrow road. Christian meets good friends and deadly enemies on the path. Though he makes mistakes along the way that nearly result in his destruction, Christian is forgiven when he returns to the true road, and eventually is allowed to enter the Celestial City.
At one time, this book was nearly ubiquitous in the houses of British and American Protestants. Many nineteenth-century literary works refer to it, including Little Women and Villette. It provides the origin for the term "muckraker" for a certain type of journalism and supplied William Makepeace Thackeray with the title for his novel Vanity Fair.
This work is in the public domain, and can be read at Wikisource or at Project Gutenberg.
- All Just a Dream: Subverted: for once, All Just a Dream doesn't need spoiler tags. We are told it's a dream in the very title, we are told in the first sentence, we are reminded it's a dream throughout the story, and the last sentence is "And so I awoke, and behold, it was a dream."
- An Aesop: By the zillion. Also, the entire point of the work.
- Arcadia: The Delectable Mountains, Beulah Land.
- Babies Ever After: Christian's children all get married and have babies by the end of the story's second part.
- Beware of Vicious Dog: The dog owned by the Innkeeper's next-door neighbor in the second part.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Some of the Names to Run Away From Really Fast indicate this.
- Despair Event Horizon: The point of Giant Despair's dungeon. Luckily, it doesn't always work.
- Defector From Decadence: Hopeful, with more implied to come.
- Easy Road to Hell
- Hanging Judge: Lord Hategood.
- Heel Face Turn: Hopeful, a former resident of the sinister Vanity Fair, became what his name implies after witnessing Christian and Faithful enduring their torments with patience, and later goes with Christian after Faithful's death.
- Joker Jury: When Christian and Faithful are put on trial in Vanity Fair.
- Jumped At the Call: Christian seems all too eager to get rid of his bags any way that he can. Subverted when Pliable tries to follow him, and gives up the second they begin to run into trouble.
- Kill It with Fire: Faithful's death.
- Knight Templar: Moses. (Yes, that Moses.)
- Meaningful Name: Everyone, with the few exceptions of historical figures (e.g. Moses, Christ, Enoch, and Elijah).
- Names to Run Away From Really Fast: e.g. Lord Hategood, Giant Despair, etc.
- Names to Trust Immediately = e.g. Help, Evangelist, The Interpreter
- The Obi-Wan: Evangelist.
- Refusal of the Call: Christian's wife needs more convincing to set out from Destruction, apparently.
- Stay on the Path: You'd think the characters would figure this out after the first few horrible events directly resulted from wandering away, but no...
- The author would probably say that you would think people would figure that out in Real Life but they don't and that is the point.
- Take That: A couple at the Catholic Church. There's also some jabs at the notion of government-approved religion (i.e., the Church of England) but these are a bit more subtle.
- Took a Level in Badass: Christian goes from a weary traveler that almost drowns in a shallow bog, to a Badass that defeated a demon lord single-handedly.
- Town with a Dark Secret: A number of such towns.
- World of Symbolism: Justified by an All Just a Dream opening.
- Yellow Brick Road: Stick to the straight and narrow. That easier thing is not easier.