Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Pilgrim’s Progress, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Burden of Sin and Salvation through Christ
The World vs. Christianity
Obstacles on the Journey
The Centrality of the Bible
Women as Pilgrims
Summary
Analysis
Christiana, Mercy, and the boys arrive at the Interpreter’s House. They hear the people inside talking about Christiana, whose pilgrimage has been widely rumored. When they knock, they are met by a young woman named Innocent, who joyfully alerts Interpreter of their arrival. Interpreter warmly welcomes the group inside. Other visiting pilgrims greet them and affectionately dote on the young children.
Like Christian, Christiana and her group make their first stop at the Interpreter’s House. Because Christian has preceded her, Christiana is recognized and celebrated along the way.
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Before supper, Interpreter leads the group through the same rooms that Christian saw. Then he shows them some different rooms. In the first one, they see a man with a muck-rake. A figure stands nearby offering him a celestial crown, but the muck-raker is so focused on sweeping the straw and dust that he doesn’t notice. Christiana observes that the muck-raker is a man of the world, who considers only visible, earthbound things to be real.
Christiana’s pilgrimage will not be identical to Christian’s. Though she is regarded as needing to learn the same lessons, she’s also given additional learning opportunities. In this one, she sees the cost of being too focused on the world—one can miss the heavenly realities right in front of them.
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In the next room, an especially stately one, the women see nothing at first, but then they notice a huge spider on the wall. The Interpreter asks them if there are any other spiders in this room. Tearfully, Christiana discerns the room’s lesson: that they are the other spiders, and their “venom” is worse. Interpreter points out that no matter how much “venom” they contain, they may cling by faith to the walls of the King’s House, much as this spider clings to the walls.
The spider symbolizes a sinner, and the venom is its “sin.” But, as this passage underscores, the presence of sin is not a barrier to the person who clings to God by faith.
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Next, the group observes a hen with her chickens. They see that the hen uses a variety of calls, which, the Interpreter says, correspond to God’s various methods in summoning his people. He adds that he is leading the women through these particular rooms because, as women, they will find such things easier to understand. As the group waits for supper to be ready, the Interpreter, at Christiana’s invitation, shares additional edifying sayings.
The Interpreter suggests that women require “easier” imagery to help them grasp spiritual truths. However, at the same time, Christiana’s eagerness to gain as much spiritual instruction as she can suggests that women have no less curiosity and aptitude in this area than men do.
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At supper, Interpreter invites Christiana to talk about her pilgrimage thus far. Christiana gladly recounts the story of her repentance, her dreams, the King’s invitation, and the opposition she faced from neighbors and, later, the Ill-Favored Ones. When Interpreter invites Mercy to speak, she is shy and hesitant. Unlike Christiana, she has not experienced dreams or visions. Finally, she is coaxed to describe her visit to Christiana and her decision to go on pilgrimage.
The women’s pilgrimages are considered to be stories worth telling. What’s more, even humble, comparatively unexciting stories—like Mercy’s—are regarded as important. Bunyan here suggests that all pilgrims should be willing to tell their testimonies, or stories of pilgrimage, and that people should be eager listeners to one another’s stories.
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The next day, the women bathe and then are sealed with a mark on their foreheads and dressed in beautiful white linens. Interpreter assigns a champion named Great-heart to accompany the women to their next stop at the Palace Beautiful. They set out singing about the wonders they’ve seen.
The marking and new clothes signify the women’s pilgrim status and that they belong to God, under his safekeeping. Great-heart’s presence suggests that the women require special defense from harm on their journey.
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