The Pilgrim's Progress

The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come by John Bunyan (published 1678) is an allegorical novel. Bunyan wrote this book while imprisoned in 1675 for violations of the Conventicle Act which punished people for conducting unauthorised religious services outside of the Church of England. An expanded edition, with additions written after Bunyan was freed, appeared in 1679. The Second Part appeared in 1684. This work is one of the greatest classics of literature, widely translated into more than 100 languages other than its original English text. The text consists of 108,260 words and, within each of its two parts, is not further divided, e.g. into chapters, but reads as a continuous narrative.

Characters of the First Part

• CHRISTIAN, whose name was Graceless at some time before in his life, the protagonist in the First Part, whose journey to the Celestial City is the plot of the story.
• EVANGELIST, the religious man who puts Christian on the path to the Celestial City.
• Obstinate, one of the two residents of The City of Destruction who run after Christian when he first sets out in order to bring him back
• Pliable, the other of the two, who goes with Christian until both of them fall into the Slough of Despond. Pliable then returns home when he gets out of the slough.
• Help, Christian's rescuer from the Slough of Despond
• MR. WORLDLY WISEMAN, a resident of a place called Carnal Policy, who persuades Christian go out of his way to be helped by a Mr. Legality and then move to the City of Morality
• GOODWILL, the keeper of the Wicket Gate through which one enters the "straight and narrow way" (also referred to as "the King's Highway") the Celestial City. In the Second Part we find that this character is none other than Jesus Christ Himself.
• Beelzebub, literally "Lord of the Flies," one of the devil's companion archdevils who had erected a fort near the Wicket Gate from which he and his companions could shoot arrows at those who are about to enter the Wicket Gate. He is also the Lord of Vanity Fair.
• THE INTERPRETER, the one who has his House along the way as a rest stop for travelers to check in to see pictures and dioramas to teach them the right way to live the Christian life. He has been identified as the Holy Spirit. He also appears in the Second Part.
• Shining Ones, the messengers and servants of "the Lord of the Hill," God. They are obviously the holy angels.
• Formalist, one of two travelers on the King's Highway, who do not come in by the Wicket Gate but climb over the wall that encloses it at least from the hill and sepulcre up to the Hill Difficulty. He takes one of the two bypaths that avoid the Hill Difficulty but is lost
• Hypocrisy, the companion of Formalist. He takes the other of the two bypaths and is also lost.
• Timorous, one of two who try to persuade Christian to go back for fear of the chained lions near the House Beautiful. He is a relative of Mrs. Timorous of the Second Part. His companion is:
• Mistrust
• Watchful, the porter of the House Beautiful. He also appears in the Second Part, and receives "a gold angel" coin from Christiana for his kindness and service to her and her companions. "Watchful" is also the name of one of the Delectable Mountains shepherds.
• Discretion, one of the maids of the House Beautiful, which represents the church
• Prudence, another of the House Beautiful maidens. She appears in the Second Part
• Piety, another of the House Beautiful maidens. She appears in the Second Part
• Charity, another of the House Beautiful maidens. She appears in the Second Part
• APOLLYON, literally "Destroyer," the lord of the City of Destruction and one of the devils companion archdevils, who tries to force Christian to return to his domain and service. His battle with Christian takes place in the Valley of Humiliation, just below the House Beautiful. He appears as a dragon like creature with scales and bats wings. He takes darts from his body to throw at his opponents
• FAITHFUL, Christian's friend from the City of Destruction, who is also going on pilgrimage. Christian meets him just after he gets through the Valley of the Shadow of Death
• Madame Bubble, a temptress who tries to get Faithful to leave his journey to the Celestial City
• Adam the First, an elderly man who also tries to persuade Faithful to leave his journey
• Moses, the severe violent avenger who tries to kill Faithful for his momentary weakness in wanting to go with Adam the First out of the way
• Talkative, a hypocrite from the City of Destruction, who lived on Prating Row, known to Christian. Christian and Faithful overtake him on the way.
• Lord Hate-good, the judge who tries Faithful in Vanity Fair
• Envy, the first witness against Faithful
• Superstition, the second witness against Faithful
• Pick-Thank, the third witness against Faithful
• HOPEFUL, the resident of Vanity Fair, who takes Faithful's place as Christian fellow traveler. The character HOPEFUL poses an inconsistency in that there is a necessity imposed on the pilgrims that they enter the "King's Highway" by the Wicket Gate. HOPEFUL did not; however, of him we read: "... one died to bear testimony to the truth, and another rises out of his ashes to be a companion with Christian in his pilgrimage." HOPEFUL assumes FAITHFUL'S place by God's design. Theologically and allegorically it would follow in that "faith" is trust in God as far as things present are concerned, and "hope," biblically the same as "faith," is trust in God as far as things of the future are concerned. The other factor is Vanity Fair's location right on the straight and narrow way. IGNORANCE, in contrast to HOPEFUL, came from the Country of Conceit, that connected to the "King's Highway" by means of a crooked lane. IGNORANCE would then be required to enter the highway through the Wicket Gate.
• Mr. By-Ends, a hypocritical pilgrim who perishes in the Hill Lucre silver mine with three of his friends. A "by-end" is a pursuit that is achieved indirectly. In the case of By-Ends and his companions, it is pursuing financial gain through religion.
• Demas, a deceiver, who beckons to pilgrims at the Hill Lucre to come and join in the supposed silver mining going on in it.
• GIANT DESPAIR, the owner of Doubting Castle, where Christians are imprisoned and murdered. He appears in the Second Part and is slain by GREAT-HEART
• Giantess Diffidence, Despair's wife. She appears in the Second Part, and is slain by OLD HONEST
• Knowledge, one of the shepherds of the Delectable Mountains
• Experience, another of the Delectable Mountains shepherds
• Watchful, another of the Delectable Mountains shepherds
• Sincere, another of the Delectable Mountains shepherds
• IGNORANCE, "a brisk young lad," who joins the "King's Highway" by way of the "crooked lane" that comes from his native country, called "Conceit." He follows Christian and Hopeful and on two occasions talks with them. He believes that he will be received into the Celestial City because of his doing good works in accordance with God's will. Christian and Hopeful try to set him right, but they fail. He gets a ferryman, Vain-Hope, to ferry him across the River of Death rather than cross it on foot as one is supposed to, but he is thrown from the Celestial City gate through one of the doorways (by-ways) to hell at the direction of God, the King of the Celestial City.
• The Flatterer, a deceiver who leads Christian and Hopeful out of their way, when they fail to look at the roadmap given them by the Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains.
• Atheist, a mocker of CHRISTIAN and HOPEFUL, who goes the opposite way on the "King's Highway" because he boasts that he knows that God and the Celestial City do not exist.