Talk:John Bunyan
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Put your text for the new page here.Hi folks I've just found in remarkably good condition a 1728 PILGRIMS PROGRESS IN A CHARITY SHOP IN A SMALL TOWN CALLED TROON IN AYRSHIRE SCOTLAND.
Except for the fact that the part about The Pilgrim's Progress is somewhat POV and uninformative, it gives no description of the book whatsoever. Can anyone help? Asav
'The Pilgrim's Progress is the most successful allegory ever written' Regardless of what many sources say, The Pilgrim's Progress is not an allegory. An allegory is ' The representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form.' For it to be an allegory it would require the characters to represent something. They don't represent something, they are the something. Obstinate is Obstinate, Pliable is Pliable. They aren't representing anything. They are what they say they are.
The bit about how hearing voices would have made Bunyan "psychotic"; is that statement factually correct? I agree (as a layman) that had Bunyan actually heard voices, or had some similar affliction, it would be correct to assume that he suffered from some form of mental illness (and indeed , but to say that would make him "psychotic" in particular seems a little wrong. (Pointym5 14:06, 16 December 2005 (UTC))
I don't think you can honestly say anything about Bunyan being mentally ill for hearing voices, which is a lot more common than you might think. There's even a 'voices network' for people who are not ill but hear voices -- hearing voices is a cardinal symptom of schizophrenia, but it has to be accompanied by other symptoms for diagnosis.
A propos (a bit), there was something in the news a while back about Bunyan being the first recorded patient suffering from a nervous disorder that only affects bellringers - I can't find the story now, because I've forgotten the name of the disorder. Anyone seen this, or help pin it down?
Incidentally, this Bunyan entry ought to be linked to Bedfordshire i think 11:25, 25 July 2006 (UTC)Garrick92 11:25, 25 July 2006 (UTC)
I've created a new web forum called "A Pilgrim's Discussion." http://bunyan.jrneumiller.com/forum/index.php You're welcome to visit and discuss this very interesting story of Metaphor, Allegory, and such.
I have read the Pilgrim's Progress and Bunyan's other books Grace Abounding and The Life and Death of Mr Badman. I personally think he may well have had some kind of mental illness which led to him hearing voices. Psychiatry was unknown in his day.Having read his books I've come to the conclusion he was a somewhat neurotic and humourless man who let his religion consume his whole life. Nowadays he would be one of these sad scruffy people who go stand in public places with placards bearing Biblical quotes and pushing evangelical tracts into the hands of people who walk too close to them. His self-esteem seems to have been very low. He berated himself for Sabbath breaking when he should have been congratulating himself for defying a pointless rule. He seems to have regarded dancing as a mortal sin.His book the Pilgrim's Progress is completely without humour and seems strange to a modern reader. Alot of the book seems hollow and contrived such as the phrase "the best of books in his hand" meaning of course the Bible. Parts of the book seems effeminate, such as Christian walking along the road making up songs to himself about things that havd just happened. Phrases in the book like "He seemed a very pretty young man" also seem kind of effeminate. The name of the judge at the trial at Vanity Fair, Lord Hate-Good, is kind of childish sounding. But make allowances for Bunyan. He lived in the 17th century. Even when I was at school in the 1970s the dated views of this 17th century Calvinist formed part of the religious indoctrination at my primary school. His book is worth reading for interest's sake but Bunyan's views have no place in the 21st century.
