Discuss the significance of the section heading ‘Vanity Fair’ in the larger context of The Pilgrim’s Progress by Bunyan.

Discuss the significance of the section heading ‘Vanity Fair’ in the larger context of The Pilgrim’s Progress by Bunyan.

In The Pilgrim's Progress, there's an unusual narrative shift when the narrator himself (as opposed to one of the dream characters) enters to explain the history and character of Vanity Fair. It's the setting for one of the longest stops on Christian's journey, the place where Faithful is martyred, and, as the narrator tells us, one of Beelzebub's special real estate holdings. Reading Bunyan's description of the place, however, it's a little hard not to get sucked into the allure. It's glamour, glitz, fashion, and power, and everything is buyable.
Bunyan's inspiration for the allegory of Vanity Fair comes from Ecclesiastes, which opens with the lines: 

Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun? One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. (Ecclesiastes) 

Instead of personal vanity (like saying "Oh, he's so vain about his hair"), the word here means something more like "worthless" (like "All his efforts were in vain: the man remained bald"). The things of the present moment in life—possessions, wealth, power, even our own bodies—mean nothing since they'll only pass away......................................................................................

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Milan Tomic

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