Pilgrim's Progress Lesson Plan

What does Bunyan's "apology" reveal to readers about The Pilgrim's Progress?

Bunyan's apology, which is written in verse, is not an apology in our current sense of the word. It does not ask readers to forgive Bunyan's choices, but rather explains and justifies them. This feature is present in other literary works for this period, such as the poetry of Anne Bradstreet (also a Puritan). In the apology, Bunyan details how he wrote the book for his own gratification, not to please others. He did not even intend to write the book as he did, it simply fell from his pen when he sat down to write. Bunyan also describes the process of editing the book, during which he received a...