The Pilgrim's Progress Themes

Decisions, decisions. The choices that Christian is faced seem clear: follow what Evangelist and the gospel tell him to do or.... don't.But as anyone who's ever tried to follow religious teachings...

Facing demons, slaying monsters, escaping giants… The Pilgrim's Progress doesn't skimp on the daring deeds. But perhaps the hardest thing Christian has to do in this story (and the thing he comes...

Vanity, Vanity. Of all the distractions that prey on characters in The Pilgrim's Progress, respect and reputation are the most consuming. Mr. Worldly-Wiseman, Pliable, Formalist and Hypocrisy, Pick...

Eating humble pie is pretty much the prerequisite of every good choice, deed, or thought in The Pilgrim's Progress. At the top of the story, Christian is totally unable to help himself by himself....

Suffering comes in many flavors in The Pilgrim's Progress. There are way more than fifty shades of suffering going on here. Not a fan of acute anxiety and dread of inescapable damnation? Consider h...

Compassion and forgiveness may be one of the trickiest (and, ironically, least satisfying) issues in The Pilgrim's Progress. Compassion is central to the bonds Christian forms with fellow pilgrims...

Justice (real or false) is all over the place in The Pilgrim's Progress. The looming specter of Judgment Day, the trial and execution at Vanity Fair, even the situation of our narrator, dreaming hi...

How is this even a "theme," you might ask. Isn't the whole book about religion—a moral lesson disguised as an adventure story? Well, yes and no.The notion of organized religio...