We have not an Othello,
but jealousy; not an Iago but perfidy; not a Brutus, but patriotism. The
mind of Bunyan, on the contrary, was so imaginative, that personifications,
when he dealt with them, became men. A dialogue between two qualities, in
his dream, has more dramatic effect than a dialogue between two human
beings in most plays.
The Pilgrim's Progress undoubtedly is not a perfect allegory. The types
are often inconsistent with each other; and sometimes the allegorical
disguise is altogether thrown off. The river, for example, is emblematic
of death; and we are told that every human being must pass through the
river. But Faithful does not pass through it. He is martyred, not in
shadow, but in reality, at Vanity Fair. Hopeful talks to Christian about
Esau's birthright, and about his own convictions of sin, as Bunyan might
have talked with one of his own congregation. The damsels at the House
Beautiful catechise Christiana's boys, as any good ladies might catechise
any boys at a Sunday School. But we do not believe, that any man, whatever
might be his genius, and whatever his good luck, could long continue a
figurative history without falling into many inconsistencies.
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