Graham Greene, The Power and the Glory

Patrick Early (British Council)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of Glasgow), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1940

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

The central theme of Graham Greene’s famous novel

The Power and the Glory

(1940) has its origin in the conflict between the Mexican State and the Catholic Church which intensified around the human rights of Catholics. The new revolutionary constitution of 1917 drastically limited the power and influence of the Catholic Church, its priests and congregations. Henceforth only secular education could take place in schools. Monasteries were closed, their monks dispersed. Pilgrimages were banned and church properties seized. The basic civil rights of the clergy were removed; they were denied the right to vote, and their public voice was silenced. It was a license for persecution. Under President Calles (1924-8), a period of severe oppression began. Mexican Catholics, mainly poor Indians in…

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

2642 words

Citation: Early, Patrick. "The Power and the Glory". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 May 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13306, accessed 24 April 2024.]

Save this article