Compare and contrast Everyman and Christian in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress Essay

The Dreamer is the narrator of this religious allegory. It is based on the injunction in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5) to seek first the kingdom of God. Christian‘s family don’t understand him, even think him mad perhaps. He leaves home carrying the book that inspired him, one of a number of pilgrims we encounter in the story, and he travels along the King’s highway. He meets many characters and encounters many of the problems we all face in our lives. He travels alone, almost isolated from all that is going on around him. As he travels he resists temptations of various kinds that would distract him from his journey and eventually he reaches the celestial city. Pilgrim reflects Protestant thinking of the time. Pilgrim travels in hope of heaven, rather than in fear of death as ‘Everyman does. Inspired by her husband his wife Christiana eventually makes a similar journey. Pilgrim , though an ‘everyman ‘ is based on Bunyan’s own experience, rather than a more general one. He had lain in the dungeons of Doubting Castle and had overcome Despair. His advisor, the Evangelist, is a positive figure rather than the negative one of Death in ‘Everyman’, even though Death is sent by God. The story is told in a very serious way. ‘ Everyman’ is an earlier work, a medieval morality play from the 15th century. It is much more light hearted despite its serious message. The morality plays used allegory just as Bunyan did to show the difficulties that Christians face in life. The character is told by Death that he is about to die. Everyman is deserted by his false friends, rather than isolating his self from them as Pilgrim does. Even his family desert him. He would not have carried a bible as they were not available to people in general. In the end it is only his good deeds that he can rely on while Pilgrim relies on Faith. Everyman reminds us right from the start that he represents every creature called to give account of themselves, but Christian is much more of an individual, one among many different people making their way to the Celestial city by various ways. One other difference is that the story of Christian was in book form – available only to the literate. ‘Everyman’ is a play that anyone who speaks the language can follow and learn from. Reference http://www.bibliomania.com/0/0/242/1883/frameset.html