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Pilgrim's Progress

Pilgrim's Progress

8.8
A famous religious story about a man's long journey to find faith
  • proper noun
  • /ˈpɪlɡrɪmz ˈprɔɡrɛs/
  • Literature
translation icon : El progreso del peregrino
  • The hero's name is simply "Christian," and the book is called The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan.

Examples

  • Swaim focuses on the discourses of allegory and myth and the biblical and sermonic tradition in Part I of Pilgrim's Progress, and the social constructions of gender and church practices in Part II of Bunyan's work.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Swaim, Kathleen M. Pilgrim's Progress, Puritan Progress: Discourses and Contexts.

    Academic text (1993)
  • In his book, John Bunyan wrote The Pilgrim's Progress, which tells the story of a man's journey to salvation.

  • Many consider Pilgrim's Progress to be an essential work for understanding Christian allegory in literature.

  • The Pilgrim's Progress explores themes of faith and perseverance in the face of obstacles.

Surface Forms

Morphology

Pilgrim's + progress

The combination literally reads as 'the progress of a pilgrim', so a learner who knows 'pilgrim' and 'progress' can infer it refers to a pilgrim's journey. However, as a proper title for a specific 17th‑century allegorical novel and cultural artifact, the precise referent and literary significance are not predictable from the words alone.

Etymology

Pilgrim's Progress is a famous book by John Bunyan about a pilgrim (a traveller) who makes progress on a hard walk from a town full of sin to 'heaven', facing dangers and learning as he goes. Because the story gives a clear picture of a person changing on a long journey, people use Pilgrim's Progress to talk about a long 'spiritual' or 'moral' journey.