The Canonization and A Valediction Forbidding Mourning

1. Alas, alas, who's injured by my love?

         What merchant's ships have my sighs drowned?

Who says my tears have overflowed his ground?

Answer: These line have been taken from the poem “The Canonization” by John Donne. The Canonization By John Donne is a metaphysical poet where the poet tags himself as a lover.

 The lovers are not making any war or spreading diseases in the society. They respect others property. The poet wants to say that his love injures nobody. It’s harmless. The lover is tactful, full of emotion and witty.

He says, her sights are not responsible for the drowning of the ship. His tears are not responsible for the flood or floating off the ground. Spring won’t go away due to his coldness. Nature has its own natural course and the lovers are not harming it. The heat in his veins has not increased the number of the people who die of plague. His love is harmless.

The lover says that the soldiers are doing their duty by going to wars and the lawyers by fighting cases in the court. But what the lover wants is to love his partner.

 2. The phœnix riddle hath more wit

                By us; we two being one, are it.

Answer:  These line have been taken from the poem “The Canonization” by John Donne. The Canonization By John Donne is a metaphysical poet where the poet tags himself as a lover.

     The lovers think of themselves as something a bit nobler than a fly, like an eagle or a dove. Or, the speaker reasons, maybe a phoenix is a more appropriate metaphor for these crazy kids.

The phoenix was a kind of immortal bird which, when it died, had a new version of itself rise from its dead body. This set-up seems to remind the speaker of his relationship with his lover. The two of them are really merged into one in his view, regardless of their genders.

According to the lover, the riddle of Phoenix is there in their existence. They have two bodies, but they are one.  Like the Phoenix, they die and they rise from their ashes.

3. We can die by it, if not live by love,   

  And if unfit for tomb or hearse   

  Our legend be, it will be fit for verse;

Answer:  These line have been taken from the poem “The Canonization” by John Donne. The Canonization By John Donne is a metaphysical poet where the poet tags himself as a lover.

In the third stanza, the speaker reacts to apparent name-calling on the part of the outsider, insisting that he and his beloved are “flies” (in the diction of his age, moths or butterflies) or “tapers” (candles), which gain fullness of life even as they consume themselves. (Renaissance English poets commonly employed the word “die” as a sexual pun, based on the folk belief that each orgasm shortened one’s life by a day.) Likening the physically and spiritually united lovers to the phoenix, a mythical bird that was thought to erupt into flame and then be resurrected from its own ashes, the speaker claims that they are proven “mysterious” (in the spiritual sense) by this ideal love. This constitutes the climax or turning point of this small drama.

4. So let us melt, and make no noise,

    No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move;

   'Twere profanation of our joys

    To tell the laity our love.

Answer: These line have been taken from the poem “A Valediction Forbidding Mourning” by John Donne.  Forbidding Mourning” begins with an image of death and mourning. In the poem  of second stanza use of the word “melt” in the first line evokes an image of warmth and of gradual motion rather than the more explosive “tear-floods” and “sigh-tempests”. These comparisons both take two things often related to mourning and sadness (tears and sighs) and turn them into stormy, grandiose expressions which seem unrealistic when examined through the lens of what a normal human can accomplish. No human can create a flood with their eyes or a storm with their breath. The following two lines, “’Twere profanation of our joys/To tell the laity of our love” use several words which begin the process of elevating the speaker’s love to sacredness. The speaker uses the word profanation, a word which typically means the desecration of something sacred or the degradation of anything worthy of veneration. In this case, their “joys” are the thing which would be defiled, a sentiment which elevates their love beyond the human sphere. The speaker also uses “laity”, which refers to anyone who is not a clergyman. In this way, it would be defilement of their joys to speak of their love as anything but holy.

Goe, and catche a falling starre(Song)

1. Thou, when thou return'st, wilt tell me,

       All strange wonders that befell thee,

               And swear,

                No where

       Lives a woman true, and fair.

Answer: These lines have been taken from the poem “Goe, and catche a falling starre” is a song, peculiar to Donne, and different from typical Elizabethan lyrical poems. It is connected with women, but is not a poem on womanly love or love for women. In fact, the song is distinctly different from Donne’s usual Love poetry.

Following a list of impossible tasks, Donne adds a more likely task: go and travel for years, and despite seeing all kinds of unusual things, you won't find a single faithful woman. At its root, this is less likely to be an example of misogyny or social commentary than a spiritual metaphor regarding the church and individuals within it: across the world, not one sinless person can be found, and even someone who seems spotless at the moment will not last that way for very long.

The poet’s point of contention is that no woman, who is both true and fair, can be traced anywhere. This is well struck in the last two lines of the second stanza:

“No where

Lives a woman, true and faire.”

However, this is not all. The poet even claims that constancy in women is not only rare, but also short-lasting. Even if a woman be found fair and true, she will change and prove false in no time –

“Yet shee

Will bee

False, ere I come, to two or three.”

Air and Angels

1. Twice or thrice had I lov'd thee,

Before I knew thy face or name;

Answer: These line have been taken from the poem “Air and Angels” by  John donne.  There are several themes present in the poem “Air and Angels” by John Donne and each carries a particular meaning. This is a demanding poem, which discusses various theories about love. However, it is very clever and well worth the effort.

John Donne's theory is that love cannot exist in nothing or in things, but somewhere in-between. The ideal of love expressed throughout the poem takes on a shapeless and physical form, but to

John Donne, love takes on the form of air and angels, which is the in-between. Throughout the poem, it shows love taking on two forms, a shapeless and physical form.

     The poet want to tell that love is just what he thought it was from the beginning—an idea without boundaries, much like air—formless and supernatural even though we may try to put it into the terms of flesh and reality.

    2. As is 'twixt air and angels' purity,

    'Twixt women's love, and men's, will ever be.

These line have been taken from the poem “Air and Angels” by  John donne.  There are several themes present in the poem “Air and Angels” by John Donne and each carries a particular meaning. This is a demanding poem, which discusses various theories about love. However, it is very clever and well worth the effort.

when the narrator decides in one of the quotations from “Air and Angels” by John Donne, “As is ‘twixt air’s and angels’ purity, / Twixt women’s love, and men’s, will ever be"since here he concludes that love is just what he thought it was from the beginning—an idea without boundaries, much like air—formless and supernatural even though we may try to put it into the terms of flesh and reality. In some ways, there is actually a conflict and resolution to the poem since the narrator at once declares in the first section quote, That it assume thy body, I allow/And fix itself in thy lip, eye, and brow" yet by the end of his thoughts he is left with the resolution that there is no way to fix the flesh to the formlessness or “shapelessness of flame" which is, in this case, love.

Summary of Francis Bacon essay

  of Truth  

   Of truth is Bacon’s great work of prose which shows his keen observation of human beings with their attributes of truth and lie. In the beginning, he states that people generally do not care for the truth.

 Moving on he describes the reasons why people do not like the truth. First, the truth is difficult to acquire without hard work and man is ever reluctant to work hard. Moreover, truth makes people bound to a certain fact. It diminishes the freedom.

   According to Bacon truth is like a bright day which shows the real self. Truth is like a pearl that shows what is visible to naked eye. People lie because it covers their real personality. Bacon rightly says that “A mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure.” The mixture of truth and lie makes things interesting and pleases everyone.  

 Bacon compares lie with a snake crawling on its belly instead of walking on its feet. The false person has to let his head down because he feels guilty all the time due to his habit of speaking falsehood all the time to earn benefits in business.  Bacon quotes Montaigne who said that “a liar is a man who is brave towards God but is coward towards men.”  

Therefore Bacon concludes his essay with didacticism by giving a tinge of Christian morality. The essay is rich in manner and matter. This is a council, civil and moral and should be read slowly to understand the lucid and condensed prose style of Bacon.

Discuss of Revenge

Francis Bacons is against private revenge . He says that revenge is outside of law .Bacon points out that ignoring a wrong makes a man superior to the person who committed the first wrong. Bacon points out that wise men have enough to do with the present and the future rather than taking revenge. Since a wrong in the past cannot be made right, it's best to concentrate on trying to influence the present and future.

Bacon adds that no man seeks to do harm for its own sake and that getting mad at someone trying to better himself is not worth it. If a man does harm because he's just bad, well, that's his nature, and his ill nature dictates his actions.

If, Bacon argues, one engages in revenge that has no lawful remedy, then that revenge might be tolerable, but he warns that the person seeking revenge should make sure there is no law that will punish him. And it's only right that the person one is seeking revenge upon understands that he's the target because that knowledge may make him sorry for his original action.

Bacon ends the essay pointing out that public revenge on bad leaders is "for the most part fortunate" but reminds his reader that private revenge is "unfortunate."

Marriage and single.

  Sir Francis Bacon explores the themes of independence, liberty, and  marriage, throughout his essay "Of Marriage and Single Life."  Bacon examines the positives and negatives attached to being single and married. Bacon comments on the liberty that being single provides individuals who wish to live free from the restraints and responsibilities of marriage. He also mentions that single men have the time and money to give back to society in charitable ways. Bacon believes that single men are often "best friends, best masters, best servants." However, Bacon also writes that being single can make a man "cruel and hardhearted" because he does not enjoy the tenderness and love that married men often experience. Bacon proceeds to explain that he believes that only middle-aged men should get married at the right time and discusses why wives choose to marry bad husbands.  Bacon recognizes that independence gives single men liberty which provides them the opportunity and capital to help society, but can also make them callous in certain situations. He also explores the positives and negatives of being married throughout the essay.

 Of Friendship

Bacon establishes the importance of friendship by implication when he says "whatsoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god."  He expands on this theme in the same paragraph by saying that, without friends, the "world is but a wilderness." Bacon's essay is centered on what he calls the "fruit of friendship," of which there are three, and the first is the ability to get rid of all one's frustrations by having a true friend to listen.  Bacon lived in an era when men believed that our bodies were controlled by "humors" earth, air, fire and water and if the humors became unbalanced in our bodies, we got sick.  Bacon likens the balance of humors in the body to balance in the mind, and one restores balance to the mind by unburdening on self to a friend.  The next section of the essay is a long discussion of friendships and failed friendships in classical Roman history, and then Bacon articulates the "second fruit of friendship," which is the result of discussing one's problems with a sympathetic friends, and in the process of "communicating and discoursing with another," one actually becomes "wiser than himself."  But, the second fruit has another half that is just as important, and that is counsel from the friend, which, according to Bacon, is "drier and purer" than the counsel that comes from within oneself. Bacon compares the third fruit of friendship to a pomegranate, which hundreds of kernels.  Bacon argues that there are many things a man cannot do for himself--praise himself (modestly), ask for help that a friend can do for him with no embarrassment.  These are among the many kernels of friendship embodied in the third fruit.

Discuss of Love

Frances Bacon's essay "Of Love" details questions and answers regarding the very complicated concept of love. The essay begins by comparing love to the stage. According to Bacon, love mirrors the stage because it is filled with comedy, tragedy, mischief, and fury. Like the plays produced on the stage, love is multidimensional

 Bacon goes on to state that love makes people act in very different ways. People, consumed by love, will find themselves filled with "great spirits" and "weak passion(s).”

Perhaps the most thought provoking statement that Bacon makes in the essay is "That it is impossible to love, and to be wise." This could force one to think that to be in love makes them stupid.

Bacon goes on to present the different aspects of love. There is in man’s nature, a secret inclination and motion, towards love of others.  Here, Bacon readily admits that love possesses a power which no man can control. Regardless of the will to give love, love will, itself, spread out among those around him.

Discuss of Parents and children

All kinds of emotions and feelings of parents for their children, whether it is joy, grief, or fear, are private and personal that they don’t share with others. Having children make it easier for the parents to tolerate the hard labor that will benefit their children and ensures their prosperous future. However, for the parents, it is hard to tolerate the hardships since they think that these hardships or calamities will hinder their children’s well-being.  

 It is sometimes observed that parents don’t treat their all children with an equal affection; they discriminate between them which is not preferred, especially on the behalf of the mother. Bacon baked this argument with a quotation from Salomon that if a son does something appreciating, he is father’s son but if a son does something shameful, he is mother’s son.   It is the duty of the parents to choose a right profession for their children as soon as possible. However, if a child grows and shows interest in a totally different profession, the parents shouldn’t impose their selection on them. They should allow them to go on their own way.

Younger children are generally fortunate since they get a strong motivation for the hard work by their elder brothers. However, the motivation to hard work declines where the elder brother is disinherited and the young child hopes to get all the beneficiary of wealth from parents.

Discuss of Studies

Highlighting the importance of studies, Bacon’s essay illustrates the role studies play in an individual’s daily life. For Bacon, the study is always related to the application of knowledge in practical life. At the beginning of his essay, Bacon describes the three main purposes of study including studying for gaining delight, studies done for ornamenting one’s life and studying in order to improve one’s ability.

The author is the notion that only learned and well-read men can execute plans effectively, manage their daily affairs with expertise and lead a healthy and stable life. He further states that reading makes a full man; conference leads to a ready man while writing makes an exact man.  Bacon also puts forward some demerits of study as he thinks that studying for a prolonged period of time may lead to laziness.

He also condemns the act of studying from books solely without learning from nature around. The essay Of Studies further asserts the benefits of studies by considering this act as a medicine for the defects of human mind and the source of enhancing one’s wit. While discussing the importance of studying in an individual’s life, the essayist informs his readers about the benefits of reading good books.

For Bacon, some books are only meant to be tasted; others are there to swallow while some books are meant for chewing and digesting properly. Therefore, the readers must choose wisely before studying any book to enhance his/her knowledge about the world around. Bacon concludes his essay by suggesting that studies assist an individual in removing the defects of his/her mind as every problem of the human mind carries special importance for the individual and the world.

Discuss of Youth and age

In this essay Bacon tries to compare the traits young and old age. In the starting of the essay Bacon mentions that it is possible for a young man to have the maturity of that of an old man, but says that it is a very rare case. He compares youth to the first ideas or thoughts and says that they are never as wise as the seconds. But then again, the new inventions or discoveries of the youth seem to be more refreshing than those of the aged ones as their imagination are better. Even though the youth are full of desires and ambitions they are not matured enough to act on those desires until they are of a certain age.   He says that both young as well as aged have qualities that are unique such as Young men are better to invent, old men better to judge, Young men are better in doing, old men in calculating risks, Young men are better for new projects, old men for settled business.

Young men, he says, are full of excitement and new ideas, never stay quiet, are up to create a change and are innovative in nature. Even if their attempts fail they do not stumble, they keep going until they get the result they are looking for. They are like an unsteady horse he says, which doesn’t stop or turn. Whereas aged men are quite opposite, they think and consult too much, and are too steady to be adventurous and at the end are happy with the minimum rate of success that they achieve.  He says that the young have visions whereas the aged have dreams which are not as sound compared to the former. He says that there are some who think beyond their age but it diminishes along with their age, who have better grace in youth than in age.

Satan's Character Analysis in Paradise Lost by John Milton

Introduction

Probably the most famous quote about Paradise Lost is William Blake's statement that Milton was "of the Devil's party without knowing it.“While Blake may have meant something other than what is generally understood from this quotation (see "Milton's Style" in the Critical Essays), the idea that Satan is the hero, or at least a type of hero, in Paradise Lost is widespread. 

Satan’s as Brave Demon

  Satan rises off the lake of fire and delivers his heroic speech still challenging God. Satan tells the other rebels that they can make "a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n" (I, 255) and adds, "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heav'n" (I, 263).

As Promethean hero:

Satan was a Promethean hero, pitting himself against an unjust God. Satan also calls for and leads the grand council. Finally, he goes forth on his own to cross Chaos and find Earth. Without question, this picture of Satan makes him heroic in his initial introduction to the reader.

Satan, the chief demon:

Satan, the chief demon cannot be the hero of the poem. He is the enemy who chooses to commit an act that goes against the basic laws of God, that challenges the very nature of the universe. Satan attempts to destroy the hierarchy of Heaven through his rebellion. 

Satan as a freedom fighter:

Satan wishes to continue the fight for freedom from God. Later his motive for continuing the fight becomes glory and renown. Next, the temptation of Adam and Eve is simply a way to disrupt God's plans. 

Satan as liar:

These facts certainly make Satan the most interesting character in the poem. Because the reader hears Satan's version first, the reader is unaware of the exaggerations and outright lies that are parts of Satan's magnificent speeches. Powers and abilities the fallen angels have in Hell, those powers and abilities come from God, who could at any moment take them away.

Satan’s degenerates physically:

Satan shifts shapes throughout the poem. These changes visually represent the degeneration of his character. First, he takes the form of a lesser angel. Next, he is a ravening cormorant in the tree of life — an animal but able to fly. Then he is a lion and a tiger — earth-bound beasts of prey, but magnificent. Finally, he is a toad and a snake. He becomes reptilian and disgusting.

Satan as a comedian character:

The comic element associated with Satan derives from the absurdity of his position. he challenges an omnipotent foe, God, with power that is granted him by his foe. God simply toys with Satan in battle.

Extra ordinary  qualities: although he has brilliant qualities, his spirit and heart are set on intentionally doing harm and leading others (angels who also still have their angelic qualities and callings) to continually do harm.

Conclusion:

So, in this way we can say that Satan became a true hero, even if Milton may not have had this intention when writing Paradise Lost. Satan may not be Romantic Hero originally, but he became a hero in the eyes of the Romantics.

Pilgrim's Progress

Pilgrim's Progress

Introduction: The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious English literature

1.         What see the dreamer?

Answer: The narrator defends the story he is about to tell, which is framed as a dream. He explains that he fell asleep in the wilderness and dreamed of a man named Christian, who was tormented by spiritual anguish. A spiritual guide named Evangelist visits Christian and urges him to leave the City of Destruction. Evangelist claims that salvation can only be found in the Celestial City, known as Mount Zion.

2.         Discuss the  neighbors  Christian ?

Answer:     Pliable - A neighbor of Christian’s who accompanies him for a while. After falling in the Slough of Despond, Pliable is discouraged and returns home, only to be mocked by the townsfolk.

    Pliable is persuaded to go with Christian, hoping to take advantage of the Paradise that Christian claims lies at the end of his journey. Pliable's journey with Christian is cut short when the two of them fall into the Slough of Despond, a boggy mire-like swamp where pilgrims' doubts, fears, temptations, lusts, shames, guilts, and sins of their present condition of being a sinner are used to sink them into the mud of the swamp.

3.         What happen to the slough of despond?

Answer: The Slough of Despond  is a fictional, deep bog in John Bunyan's allegory The Pilgrim's Progress, into which the protagonist Christian sinks under the weight of his sins and his sense of guilt for them.

    This miry Slough is such a place as cannot be mended; it is the descent whither the scum and filth that attends conviction for sin doth continually run, and therefore is it called the Slough of Despond: for still as the sinner is awakened about his lost condition, there ariseth in his soul many fears, and doubts, and discouraging apprehensions, which all of them get together, and settle in this place; and this is the reason of the badness of this ground.

The "Slough of Despond" may have been inspired by Squitch Fen, a wet and marshy area near his cottage in Harrowden, Bedfordshire, which Bunyan had to cross on his way to church in Elstow, or "The Souls' Slough" on the Great North Road between Tempsford and Biggleswade.

4.         Why this called the slough of despond ?

Answer: The Slough of Despond (/ˈslaʊ ... dɪˈspɒnd/;[citation needed] "swamp of despair") is a fictional, deep bog in John Bunyan's allegory The Pilgrim's Progress, into which the protagonist Christian sinks under the weight of his sins and his sense of guilt for them.

   In John Bunyan’s famous allegory, Pilgrim’s Progress the hero stumbles into the Slough of Despond, otherwise known as the Swamp of Despair. Bunyan describes it as, “This miry Slough is such a place as cannot be mended; it is the descent whither the scum and filth that attends conviction for sin doth continually run, and therefore is it called the Slough of Despond.”

5.         What happen to worldly Wiseman? or   

Answer: Worldly Wiseman presents the first real temptation for Christian to stray from his righteous path. He tells Christian to ignore the Evangelist's advice, and that he can shed his burden by going to the town of Morality and following the guidance of Mr. Legality and his son.

   Mr. Worldly Wiseman symbolizes the kind of person who strongly believes than he can achieve his own salvation by obeying the law of Moses.

What is the suggestion of Mr. worldly Wiseman?

Answer: Mr. Worldly Wiseman suggests that Christian go to Mr. Legality’s, in the town of Morality, and Christian, who is still quite vulnerable, is seduced by the idea. As Christian deviates from his path, Bunyan suggests the pernicious power of the law by increasing the weight of his burden. Rather than liberating Christian, as grace will, the law further encumbers him, making his journey up the mountain extremely difficult.

6.         What did see the  Christian interpreter house?

Answer: The House of the Interpreter is sort of like school for Christian. "The Interpreter" who lives there takes him from room to room, showing the new pilgrim images representing Christian principles.  

     As Christian enters the house, the Interpreter commands his servant to light the Candle. This Candle is representative of the Spirit's work of illumination. Without this light, the hallways and rooms of the house would be dark and unprofitable. In 1 Corinthians 2:14 Paul instructs us: "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." Only by the power of the Spirit can one who is by nature dead and blind, see and understand the Word of God. "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6).

7.         Discuss the way of Danger and way of destruction.

Answer: Before coming to the Hill of Difficulty, Christian meets two well-dressed men named Formality and Hypocrisy who prove to be false Christians that perish in the two dangerous bypasses near the hill, named Danger and Destruction. Christian falls asleep at the arbor above the hill and loses his scroll, forcing him to go back and get it. Near the top of the Hill of Difficulty, he meets two weak pilgrims named Mistrust and Timorous who tell him of the great lions of the Palace Beautiful. Christian frightfully avoids the lions through Watchful the porter who tells them that they are chained and put there to test the faith of pilgrims.

8.         Discuss about the Arbour?

Answer: One of the gracious provisions from the Lord of Hill, set in the midst of Hill Difficulty, is a pleasant Arbor. As Christian struggles to make it up and over the hill, he takes refuge in the Arbor. We noted last time that the Arbor represents a Word of Grace—a truth or promise of Scripture applied to our present situation. This Word comes to us in many ways: listening to a sermon, studying the Bible, reading books that are well grounded in Scripture, or hearing a word of encouragement or comfort in a conversation with a brother or sister in Christ. God uses many means to bring and apply His Word to our hearts at our moment of need.

While in the Arbor, Christian finds comfort in gifts he received at the Cross: the Roll  and the Coat. He takes great delight in contemplating all that God had given him in Christ.

The purpose of the Arbor is for the refreshment of weary travelers. It is a place to find strength and encouragement along the Way. But the Arbor is not designed for lodging. It is not meant to distract travelers from continuing on their journey. It is a place to rest for a moment, for pilgrims to catch their breath and then press on. The Arbor becomes a hindrance when Christian settles in, satisfied with where he is in the journey. He fails to keep looking up the Hill and beyond to his final destination. He falls into a sinful slumber of pride and self-satisfaction in his present state of grace.

9.         Discuss about the place of Beautiful.

Answer: House Beautiful, a palace that serves as a rest stop for pilgrims to the Celestial City. It apparently sits atop the Hill Difficulty. From the House Beautiful one can see forward to the Delectable Mountains. It represents the Christian congregation, and Bunyan takes its name from a gate of the Jerusalem temple (Acts 3:2, 10).

10.       Discuss about valley of humiliation?

Answer: Valley of Humiliation was a steep hill, and the way was slippery; but they were very careful, so they got down pretty well. This Valley of Humiliation is of itself as fruitful a place, as any the crow flies over; Christian was and I am persuaded, if we could hit upon it, we might find somewhere hereabouts, something that might give us an account why Christian was so hardly beset in this place.

Christian enters and Valley of Humiliation where he encounters a monster Apollyon who Christian begins to feel afraid, and he wonders whether he should go back or stand his ground. If he turns back, the devil would have an advantage over him because the devil would be able to shoot arrows at his back with his bow, So, Christian decides that the best course for him would be to stand and face Apollyon.

11.       Christian’s combat with apollyon?

Answer:  When Christian replies that he is coming from the City of Destruction and bound for the City of Zion, Apollyon points out that he is the prince and god of the City of Destruction and all surrounding territory, that Christian is therefore one of his subjects and owes him obedience, that he should obey his command and turn around and go home. Christian refuses, announcing his intention of continuing "in the King's highway, the way of holiness." With that, Apollyon blocks the path and lets fly at Christian with a flaming dart, which Christian deflects with his shield. But then comes a shower of flaming darts, "thick as hail," inflicting many wounds. Christian's sword is useless to him, for Apollyon stays out of reach as he moves around hurling his darts.

The fight goes on for above half a day." Toward the end, growing weaker and weaker from loss of blood, Christian has to give way a step or two, at which the monster rushes at him, knocks the sword from his hand, and throws him down, pinning his shoulders to the ground. Thinking each breath will be his last, Christian reaches out a hand, fortunately finds his sword within reach, and plunges it into his tormentor. Apollyon jumps up and staggers back, with Christian after him, hoping to bury his sword in his heart. But the monster escapes by taking to his dragon wings and flying off, threatening to be back again to deal with Christian.

13.       Discuss a town called vanity?

Answer: This is Bunyan's allegorical account of Christian's progress from sin and evil to glory and redemption, told as an account of a journey from the City of Despond to the City of Zion. The phrase "Vanity Fair" is also known, of course, through its appearance as the title of William Makepeace Thackeray's novel in the nineteenth century. In Bunyan's narrative, Christian travels through the Slough of Despond, up the Hill of Difficulty, through the Valley of Humiliation, across the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and past the very mouth of Hell. Christian meets Faithful and Evangelist, the latter being a guide for many pilgrims. Evengelist warns Christian and Faithful that they must go through the town of Vanity, where Beelzebub, Apollyon, and Legion have erected a huge fair. At the fair, warns Evangelist the travelers will be tempted by every kind of vain and worldly merchandise:

  They presently saw a town before them, and the name of that town is Vanity; and at the town there is kept a fair, called Vanity Fair; it is kept all the year long; it beareth the name of Vanity Fair, because the town where it is kept is lighter than vanity; and also because all that is there sold, or that cometh thither, is vanity.

•           The pilgrim’s progress allegorically significant of Book i-ii

Answer:  

The Pilgrim's Progress  was written by  “John Bunyan" as an allegory. It is a story with metaphors and symbols, picturing a man on his spiritual journey to Heaven, facing troubles and adversities all along the way. Christian, the main character in the plot, makes his pilgrimage to the Celestial City.

For example, Vanity Fair is a city filled with pleasures and parties and is meant to distract Christian from his journey with its alluring, glamorous enticements. It represents the world that offers temporary trinkets and treasures that will soon pass away. It is owned by the Landlord, Beelzebub, another name for the Devil.

Obstinate and Pliable appear early in the story to convince Christian to return to his city. Obstinate stands very stubbornly, and though Christian urges him to join him, Obstinate's concrete feet adamantly refuse, and he tenaciously retreats back into his city.

Pliable, however is a fickle, feeble, fair-weather follower. He changes his mind frequently, and after accompanying Christian a short distance, he turns back when the way gets too hard to travel.

 Help and Faithful are two loyal friends that assist Christian on his journey. Their names demonstrate their character. Faithful is martyred at Vanity Fair for refusing to take part in their vain materialistic merchandise and fashionable festivals. His dying testimony is that he is faithful to the end. Help rescues Christian when he is sinking fast in the Slough of Despond and proves to be a trustworthy friend.

The many allegories and symbolic characters in  Pilgrim's Progress  are meant to remind a Christian that all the treasures of this world will soon pass away and that there is a life after death for which one must prepare.

* The pilgrim’s progress allegorically significant of Book i-ii

Answer: The Pilgrim's Progress  was written by  “John Bunyan" as an allegory. It is a story with metaphors and symbols, picturing a man on his spiritual journey to Heaven, facing troubles and adversities all along the way. Christian, the main character in the plot, makes his pilgrimage to the Celestial City. Actually, his journey symbolizes his spiritual experiences and the progress which he spiritually makes.