The Pilgrim's Progress is an exceptionally useful book, for though widely accessible and entertaining, it communicates and critiques an enormous amount of relatively complex theology. Some historians consider The Pilgrim's Progress the first ever novel, and often compare it to to Milton’s Paradise Lost. While literacy had become increasingly common in the lower class, it was rare for a writer to purposely simplify his prose to appeal to them.
If the choice was odd, however, it did not ultimately detract from the book’s success.īunyan wrote the allegory in simple language so that the lowest classes in English society would be able to understand it. Most English sectarians were opposed to allegory on the grounds that it was far too Catholic and obscure (Luxon ix). The Pilgrim's Progress is commonly considered one the greatest Christian allegories ever written, though the choice of the genre was a bit unusual for a Reformed Christian like Bunyan. Bunyan began writing the first part in 1668, while in prison, and he consulted with many people on its contents before he took it to press. The earliest edition in which the two appeared together was published in London in 1728. Though it now appears as two parts in one volume, the parts were originally published separately Part I in 1678, and Part II followed in 1684.
The book, which went through eleven editions in the author’s lifetime, has never subsequently been out of print. The Pilgrim’s Progress is John Bunyan’s most enduring legacy.
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