Questions
John Bunyan’s "The Pilgrim’s Progress" is a work of Puritanism. Puritanism is a religious movement of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries meant for purification of English church or the Church of England from all the elements of Catholic belief. The group that wanted to purify the church during the Puritanism became famous as the Puritans (McKay, Hill, and Buckler). The Puritans has common ideology.
However, Puritanism is different from the Church of England, and the religious variation between the Church of England and Puritanism became obvious during the reign of Elizabeth. The beliefs of Puritans had played a significant role in the colonization of the United States. Puritanism and the contemporary English church are different, in a way that the Church had emphasized on the authority and most of the institutions had considered the church based on the powers of the repression, dominance, and oppression. But, Puritanism has focused on the religious autonomy, complete liberty and freedom of conscious. Moreover, the Catholic Church considered liturgy in most of their services, but Puritanism were against such practices.
Religion is the major theme in both Paradise Lost and Pilgrim's Progress, this is indicative of the time period, because from the Paradise Lost to the Pilgrim’s Progress, religious considerations and criticism are described. However, during that era many authors have discussed religion, which was met with criticism because during that era there different authors have presented different views regarding religion. Some have supported the views of the Church of England and some have considered Puritanism. Some have given a detail description of the religious facts by writing against both the beliefs of the Church, Puritanism, and other beliefs that were considered during that era. For example, John Dryden had written poem titled A Layman’s Faith, which was a religious poem, and he had written it to describe the difference between Christianity and Deism (Stevens, and Stewart). He supported Christianity in this poem, which met with huge criticism later on.
References
Stevens, Bonnie Klomp, and Larry L. Stewart. A Guide to Literary Criticism and Research. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1987. Print.
Mckay, John P, Bennett D Hill, and John Buckler. Western Society: A Brief History, Volume 1. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. Print.
