On The Biblical Allegory In The Pilgrim's Progress

The Pilgrim's Progress is regarded as one of the most famous allegorical fictions in English literature. It is the representative work of John Bunyan's writings, described as the fictionalized version of his autobiography Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. Since its publication in 1678, it has attained fervent acclaims of the common people, yet its status among the western literary critics varied greatly, some revering it, and some despising it.The critical comments on the work mainly range from Calvinisttheology, moral quality, psychological analysis, to religious symbolism. Many scholars have acknowledged this work as a forerunner of the British novels, hence some critics focus on the analysis of its narrative style, and characterization etc. Some critics regard Bunyan's characters flat, his plot tedious, his morality obnoxious, and his style grotesque rather than uplifting, while many insist that the genius of Bunyan lies in his skillful balancing of allegorical method and characterization, some affirm that his biblical language is peculiar, and still others find the spiritual message and presentation underlines its long endurance. However various the comments are, the rich connotations of the novel as an allegory always invite further explorations and new insights.This thesis attempts to utilize the cultural and theological perspective to explore the Biblical allegory in The Pilgrim's Progress, which prevails in its theme, narrative and characterization. The thesis consists of three parts: the Introduction, the Body, and the Conclusion.The Introduction makes a survey of the work's status in literature, the relation between the author's life and the work, the current studies on the work and the significance of this thesis.The Body consists of three chapters.Chapter One explores the allegorical meaning of the theme through the analysis of the pretext (the Bible), the tradition of the pilgrimage and the Biblical allegory of the pilgrimage.Chapter Two analyzes the allegorical way of the narrative, including the Biblical archetype of the narrative, the dream narrative and its different levels.Chapter Three discusses the Biblical allegory of the characterization, consisting of the relation between the Bible and the protagonist, the reification and personification of the characters' names, psychology, and personalities.The Conclusion makes a summary of the thesis and restates its main point that Bunyan's use of Biblical allegory contributes to the rich connotation of The Pilgrim's Progress.