# Is "Pilgrims Progress" worth reading? Seems kind of cartoonish **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 1, 2012, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pilgrims-progress-worth-reading-seems-kind-of-cartoonish/639537 "2012-11-01T06:21:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pilgrims-progress-worth-reading-seems-kind-of-cartoonish/639537/1 "2012-11-01T06:21:50Z")
Apparently a very important work of Christian literature, but the [wiki description](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pilgrim's_Progress)makes the allegory sound kind of cartoonish in it’s layout. Is it worth reading as literature if you are not a devout Christian? > [@](#): > > The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come is a Christian allegory written by John Bunyan and published in February, 1678. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious English literature,[1][2][3][4] has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been out of print ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pilgrims-progress-worth-reading-seems-kind-of-cartoonish/639537/2 "2012-11-01T08:15:12Z")
Why not just [have a look](http://www.gutenberg.org/files/131/131-h/131-h.htm)? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pilgrims-progress-worth-reading-seems-kind-of-cartoonish/639537/3 "2012-11-01T10:16:28Z")
It is heavy-handed allegory. Certainly it is of immense historical importance to the development of English literature, so, if understanding that is your concern, it is worth reading. However, I doubt whether there is much aesthetic literary pleasure (or, indeed, moral insight) to be got from it for a 21st century non-believer. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pilgrims-progress-worth-reading-seems-kind-of-cartoonish/639537/4 "2012-11-01T11:48:27Z")
I just read it a few months ago. It’s certainly worth reading to understand where a lpot of english literature gets its ideas from – it was virtually required reading for a large swath of the populace for a long time. Without it, you don’t understand Vanity Fair or The Burden Dropping Off His Shoulders or other random bits of literature and tropes. Of course it’s heavy-handed, but so is most allegory. Try reading the Medieval Mystery Plays, or Jonathan Swift’s “Tale of a Tub”. In that sense, it’s _supposed_ to be cartoonish. You want to vbe sure people get the [point of your allegory. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pilgrims-progress-worth-reading-seems-kind-of-cartoonish/639537/5 "2012-11-01T11:58:14Z")
It was required reading in my HS English course (junior and senior year devoted to a survey of English literature). If you’re interested in Eng Lit, you should read it. It’s not a huge undertaking and it’s a work that is much referenced. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pilgrims-progress-worth-reading-seems-kind-of-cartoonish/639537/6 "2012-11-01T12:47:46Z")
I read it in college, as part of a course called _The Novel Through Austen_. I agree with those who say it’s historically important, but not all that interesting. It does have a few poems I enjoyed, though. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pilgrims-progress-worth-reading-seems-kind-of-cartoonish/639537/7 "2012-11-01T12:49:12Z")
It’s worth reading but Bunyan is very limited as a writer. A far greater work is Sir Thomas Browne’s , [Religio Medici](http://www.bartleby.com/3/5/) “the touchstone for all English prose that follows.” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pilgrims-progress-worth-reading-seems-kind-of-cartoonish/639537/8 "2012-11-01T13:09:08Z")
I’ve read it a couple of times. It’s not to everyone’s tastes but I like it. Of course, it also amuses me to read double entendres into the Apology: > [@](#): > > For having now my Method by the end, > Still as I pull’d, it came; and so I penn’d > It down, until it came at last to be > For length and breadth the bigness which you see. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pilgrims-progress-worth-reading-seems-kind-of-cartoonish/639537/9 "2012-11-01T13:17:25Z")
It figured prominently in “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott - the March girls were reading it (maybe the ‘Twilight’ of the day, lol?) and the PP chapters provided valuable ‘lessons’ for them. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pilgrims-progress-worth-reading-seems-kind-of-cartoonish/639537/10 "2012-11-01T17:54:57Z")
I tried reading it and got about a third of the way before I decided I’d gotten all I needed to out of it. I preferred _The Faerie Queene_ (although I also only read about a third of that). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2012, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pilgrims-progress-worth-reading-seems-kind-of-cartoonish/639537/11 "2012-11-02T15:10:36Z")
I actually think it’s an interesting window on Christian thought at that time period. It’s one of those books where you can read it without absorbing every single word, so you can get through it pretty quickly. I do wonder if some of the vocabulary is more obvious to a Christian, as a lot of it is old-timey words that I easily understood because I knew their modern equivalents. I’d say that the second half is more interesting than the first. Even with the sexism (which is offset somewhat by the progressivism.) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2012, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pilgrims-progress-worth-reading-seems-kind-of-cartoonish/639537/12 "2012-11-02T16:11:29Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Of course it’s heavy-handed, but so is most allegory. Try reading the Medieval Mystery Plays, or Jonathan Swift’s “Tale of a Tub”. In that sense, it’s _supposed_ to be cartoonish. You want to vbe sure people get the [point of your allegory. Yeah, a lot of what gets called allegorical nowadays isn’t pure allegory, in the way _The Pilgrim’s Progress_ is. The allegorical significance of the characters and events isn’t an extra, deeper level of meaning to the story—it’s the whole point. IMO, it’s worth reading if you have any tolerance at all for the genre of allegory, and read it in the spirit Bunyan intended it to be read: for both entertainment and instruction. It’s best if you can put yourself in the mind of a 17th century Christian who wants guidance on his own pilgrimage through this life toward heaven, although things like the slough of Despond, Vanity Fair, and the Giant Despair are “dangers” that many of us encounter in our lives, regardless of our religious beliefs. At any rate, I found it interesting to see how, in the introductory poem, Bunyan feels the need to defend the writing and reading of fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pilgrims-progress-worth-reading-seems-kind-of-cartoonish/639537/13 "2012-11-02T22:22:10Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > It figured prominently in “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott - the March girls were reading it (maybe the ‘Twilight’ of the day, lol?) and the PP chapters provided valuable ‘lessons’ for them. I loved _Little Women_ as a kid and read _Pilgrim’s Progress_ at a fairly young age because it figured so prominently in _LW_. FWIW I found it pretty dull, although that is the opinion of a kid. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pilgrims-progress-worth-reading-seems-kind-of-cartoonish/639537/14 "2012-11-06T20:51:38Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I loved _Little Women_ as a kid and read _Pilgrim’s Progress_ at a fairly young age because it figured so prominently in _LW_. > > FWIW I found it pretty dull, although that is the opinion of a kid. I was going to mention “Little Women” and how reading PP can help you understand LW. It’s the same thing with reading the Bible, especially the King James Version - there are so many literary references to it that you’ll miss a lot not having read it. There are even references to the Bible in _Star Trek_ that are easy to miss unless you have heard the relevant passages. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pilgrims-progress-worth-reading-seems-kind-of-cartoonish/639537/15 "2012-11-06T20:57:13Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > It is heavy-handed allegory. Certainly it is of immense historical importance to the development of English literature, so, if understanding that is your concern, it is worth reading. However, I doubt whether there is much aesthetic literary pleasure (or, indeed, moral insight) to be got from it for a 21st century non-believer. One obvious thing about it is that it presents the Protestant way as the correct one, and pretty obviously tells you that Judaism and Catholicism are bad. Another thing that’s interesting is that the author is alleged to have written it while he was in prison. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pilgrims-progress-worth-reading-seems-kind-of-cartoonish/639537/16 "2012-11-06T20:58:41Z")
Interesting. I’ve never read it, but saw it alluded to a good deal in general works as I made my way through high school. In all my years of undergrad and grad school, though, I never once saw or heard it referenced. Has its influence dropped so drastically, or is this just a function of what I was reading at various times in my life? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pilgrims-progress-worth-reading-seems-kind-of-cartoonish/639537/17 "2012-11-06T21:04:10Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > It figured prominently in “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott - the March girls were reading it (maybe the ‘Twilight’ of the day, lol?) and the PP chapters provided valuable ‘lessons’ for them. In terms of one literary character reading (and referencing) older literature, one interesting example is Anne of Green Gables where one of Anne’s problems is that she’s fangirling all over the place over older romantic works such as Tennyson’s Idylls of the King. In fact, she almost drowns because of this. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-pilgrims-progress-worth-reading-seems-kind-of-cartoonish/639537/18 "2012-11-06T22:43:51Z")
It could be worse. It could be [_Piers Plowman_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piers_Plowman).