Doubting Castle

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 comprises a yard in the entrance and resides on a field beside the smooth path leading from the Meadow of By-Path. It’s the home of Despair and Diffidence.
It represents a mental stronghold, where one feels trapped internally and disconnected from the outside world.
==Lessons==
* Struggles are temporary.
* Trust in The King's plan brings strength and eventual victory.
* Personal struggles and failures can help warn others and encourage them to stay on the right path.
* John Bunyan argues through Hopeful that suicide is equivalent to murder.
==Sub-Locations==
===Part1===
====Dungeon====
Pilgrims caught trespassing on the field are forcibly imprisoned in the castle's dungeon by Despair. Diffidence schemes ways to break the spirits of the prisoners, ordering Despair to beat them relentlessly, provide tools for self-harm, and display skeletons in the yard to instil paranoia about their potential fate. The goal is to cause as much misery as possible, hoping they will ultimately commit suicide.
The dungeon represents past regrets, present struggles, and future fears that try to imprison the mind with constant despair and self-loathing, making it seem inescapable without properly managing it.
The dungeon is described with various traits that could represent the following:
* Smelly and nasty: overwhelming negative thoughts causing inner conflict and distress.
* No light: absence of hope, clarity, and truth.
* No food and water: feeling exhausted and deprived of uplifting experiences.
* Lonely: withdrawing from social interactions or feeling disconnected.
Hopeful’s optimistic advice during imprisonment includes:
* Despair will not last forever and better times can come with patience.
* Be encouraged by recalling past past victories over hardships and how The King has delivered you through them.
Christian recalls he has a key called Promise in his shirt pocket beside his heart that he uses to unlock all the castle doors and escape. It represents trusting that The King still loves us, is still in control, and promises found in his word will come to pass, making everything work out for our good when we put him first in our lives.TPP: Answer Guide (Part 1) (2020) (A.V) (p.42) Don't focus on the problem but instead remember who The King is, his power, and what he has done. Overcoming despair may not be a simple one-time event but instead require continuous prayer, study, wise counsel from Christians, and remembering The King’s promises.TPP: Answer Guide (Part 1) (2020) (A.V) (p.43)
====Warning Monument====
After escaping Doubting Castle and returning to the Meadow of By-Path, Christian and Hopeful construct a pillar monument beside the steps at the fence to warn pilgrims against deviating onto the easy path that reads "Over these steps lies the way to Doubting Castle, whose lord is Giant Despair, who despises the King of the Celestial Country and seeks to kill all who enter".TPP: Modern-Day Version (Part 1) (2020) (A.V) (Chapter 9, Section 2)
====Graveyard====
The Hill of Caution at the Delectable Mountains reveals that prisoners who stay for a prolonged period are eventually blinded by Despair and led into the graveyard where they constantly stumble over graves.
The graveyard represents a state of spiritual dryness. The blinded prisoners are those whose minds have been warped by despair, losing their ability to discern the truth, and continuously make poor sinful choices that bring trouble, misery, and death.TPP: Answer Guide (Part 1) (2020) (A.V) (p.45)
===Part 2===
====Victory Monument====
After the pilgrims slayed Despair and Diffidence and demolished Doubting Castle, they mounted Despair's decapitated head on a pike beside Christian's monument and attached a marble sign that reads "This is the head of the giant whose name terrified pilgrims in the past. Now his castle is down, and Great Heart has deprived his wife Diffidence of life and saved Despondency and his daughter, Much-afraid. Whoever is reluctant to believe needs to look up here to satisfy all doubts. This head also proved that doubting cripples can dance after being delivered from their fears."TPP: Modern-Day Version (Part 2) (2023) (A.V) (Chapter 25)
==Songs==
*The Snare of Doubting Castle
== Quotes==
==Gallery==
File:Doubting-Castle-Clip-(2019)|Doubting Castle clip
File:Doubting-Castle-Exterior-Screenshot-(2019).jpg|Castle exterior
File:Doubting-Castle-Dungeon-Screenshot-(2019).jpg|Dungeon
File:Doubting-Castle-Time-Concept-Art-(2019).jpg|Castle time concept art
File:Giant's-Bedroom-Concept-Art-(2019).jpg|Castle bedroom concept art
File:Doubting-Castle-Gate-Concept-Art-(2019).jpg|Castle gate concept art
File:Doubting-Castle-Entrance-Concept-Art-(2019).jpg|Castle entrance concept art
File:Doubting-Castle-Exterior-Illustration-(Original).jpg|Castle exterior
File:Giant-Despair-Finds-Christian-&-Hopeful-Asleep-Illustration-(Original).jpg|Despair finds Christian and Hopeful asleep
File:Christian-Despairing-In-The-Dungeon-Illustration-(Original).jpg|Christian despairing in the dungeon
File:Escaping-Doubting-Castle-Illustration-(Original).jpg|Christian and Hopeful escape Doubting Castle
File:Blind-People-In-The-Graveyard-Illustration-(Original).jpg|Blind people in the graveyard
File:Demolition-of-Doubting-Castle-Illustration-(Original).jpg|The pilgrims demolish Doubting Castle
==References==
Category:Locations in part 1 (1678)
Category:Locations in part 2 (1678)
Category:Locations in part 1 (2019)
Category:Locations (2022)
Category:Country of Coveting
Category:Deviations