Conflict and reconciliation in the plays of Graham Greene

Abstract

This thesis discusses in detail the theme of conflict and reconciliation in the plays of Graham Greene [1904-1991], a multifaceted modern British writer. Analysing the theme in five chapters, Greene?s religious, humanistic and moral visions are examined. The introductory chapter briefly surveys the modern British drama and Graham Greene?s place in it, and also describes the theme of conflict and reconciliation in his plays. Chapter II analyses the theme of conflict in its various manifestations such as religious conflict, marital conflict, filial conflict, generation conflict, institutional conflict, political conflict and social conflict. Chapter III discusses reconciliation at the end of the conflict and examines Greene?s vision. Chapter IV gives a detailed study of the form and the techniques employed by Greene in dramatizing the theme of conflict and reconciliation in accordance with the requirements of the conventional, well-made realistic plays of the modern period. Chapter V summarizes the main ideas of the study and establishes the significant place occupied by Greene in the field of modern drama as a humanist with a religious vision of having faith in God and with the message of human values such as reconciliation, peaceful understanding, love and forgiveness.