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The Pilgrim's Active Progress

The Pilgrim's Active Progress Christopher Garrett or forward movement (Manlove 23-25; Swaim 23) that is dependent upon the activity of the pilgrim. Christian's journey is an active progress, the hero exerting individual effort as he advances toward a "better Countrey" (Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress 49).2 Bunyan utilizes the allegory to illustrate and explore the inner, spirituallife that is invisible. The strength of The Pilgrim' s Progress, explains Henri Talon, is that "the incidents in Christian's tale are symbolic of the inward life," and "the inward action has taken concrete form" ("Space and the Hero" 158). Those actions represent the fruits of Christian's faith and prove that the pilgrim is engaged in an endeavor requiring more than profession. Instead of a passive figure, Christian is an active character who exercises his free will to seek something better. In the pilgrim, Bunyan depicts a very human, imperfect traveler who, despite his errors and setbacks, presses forward with faith and hope and succeeds in realizing his intended objectives. This reading of The Pilgrim's Progress as an active progress challenges previous works of critical scholarship by Stanley Fish and Thomas Luxon. 3 For example, in Self-Consuming Artifacts, Fish declares, "There is, it would seem, no progress in http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Explorations in Renaissance Culture Brill

The Pilgrim's Active Progress

Garrett, Christopher
Explorations in Renaissance Culture , Volume 36 (2): 214 – Dec 2, 2010
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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© Copyright 2010 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0098-2474
eISSN
2352-6963
DOI
10.1163/23526963-90000393
Publisher site
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Abstract

Christopher Garrett or forward movement (Manlove 23-25; Swaim 23) that is dependent upon the activity of the pilgrim. Christian's journey is an active progress, the hero exerting individual effort as he advances toward a "better Countrey" (Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress 49).2 Bunyan utilizes the allegory to illustrate and explore the inner, spirituallife that is invisible. The strength of The Pilgrim' s Progress, explains Henri Talon, is that "the incidents in Christian's tale are symbolic of the inward life," and "the inward action has taken concrete form" ("Space and the Hero" 158). Those actions represent the fruits of Christian's faith and prove that the pilgrim is engaged in an endeavor requiring more than profession. Instead of a passive figure, Christian is an active character who exercises his free will to seek something better. In the pilgrim, Bunyan depicts a very human, imperfect traveler who, despite his errors and setbacks, presses forward with faith and hope and succeeds in realizing his intended objectives. This reading of The Pilgrim's Progress as an active progress challenges previous works of critical scholarship by Stanley Fish and Thomas Luxon. 3 For example, in Self-Consuming Artifacts, Fish declares, "There is, it would seem, no progress in

Journal

Explorations in Renaissance Culture – Brill

Published: Dec 2, 2010

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