Work · Renaissance & Humanism
The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart
An allegorical journey through the vanity of all estates and sciences, ending in the inner peace of the heart with God; written in 1623.
Introduction
Comenius wrote the “Labyrinth” in 1623, while hiding in Bohemia after the Battle of the White Mountain and the deaths of his wife and children; it was first printed in 1631; a revised edition followed in 1663. The pilgrim of the book, guided by Searchall Ubiquitous and Delusion, walks through the city of the world and inspects its estates – marriage, crafts, scholarship, the clergy, rulers, soldiers – and, looking through the spectacles of Delusion, finds only vanity, deceit and suffering. In despair he hears a voice calling him back to the home of his heart, where Christ shows him the inner life of true believers. The work joins the late medieval allegory of the vain world with the piety of the Brethren and a sharp satire on the learning of the time. It is a classic of Czech prose.
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