History Literature / LordOfTheWorld

''Lord of the World'' is a 1906 dystopian Catholic novel by Monsignor Creator/RobertHughBenson, a British Catholic priest and convert from Anglicanism. Something like a Catholic ''Literature/LeftBehind'', it follows two stories. The first is of Father Percy Franklin, a [[{{AuthorAvatar}} British Catholic priest]] working in a world that has [[{{OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions}} by-and-large forsaken the Catholic faith]] in favor of [[{{DirtyCommunists}} Marxist one-party states]]. The second follows Oliver and Mabel Brand, a non-religious British couple. Oliver is [[UsefulNotes/{{BritishPoliticalSystem}} MP for Croydon]], and generally a reliable supporter of said Marxist state. At the start of the novel, the European powers are inches from the possibility of war with the [[{{YellowPeril}} Eastern]] [[{{TheEmpire}} Empire]]. A peace delegation from the United States, featuring as a last-minute addition the young Senator Julian Felsenburgh, may be their only hope. But as Felsenburgh begins his meteoric rise in power, the Church senses danger...

''Lord of the World'' is a 1906 dystopian Catholic novel by Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson, a British Catholic priest and convert from Anglicanism. Something like a Catholic ''Literature/LeftBehind'', it follows two stories. The first is of Father Percy Franklin, a [[{{AuthorAvatar}} British Catholic priest]] working in a world that has [[{{OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions}} by-and-large forsaken the Catholic faith]] in favor of [[{{DirtyCommunists}} Marxist one-party states]]. The second follows Oliver and Mabel Brand, a non-religious British couple. Oliver is [[UsefulNotes/{{BritishPoliticalSystem}} MP for Croydon]], and generally a reliable supporter of said Marxist state. At the start of the novel, the European powers are inches from the possibility of war with the [[{{YellowPeril}} Eastern]] [[{{TheEmpire}} Empire]]. A peace delegation from the United States, featuring as a last-minute addition the young Senator Julian Felsenburgh, may be their only hope. But as Felsenburgh begins his meteoric rise in power, the Church senses danger...

* ArtisticLicensePolitics: Felsenburgh is introduced as a U.S. Senator, yet becomes both the leader of the European state ''and'' the emperor of Asia. This is due to mind control, but at that point, he is considered the undisputed leader of the world even though he never became the president of the United States. In America, he is still just a senator. Most likely, Benson assumed [[WeAllLiveInAmerica that the American system worked just like the British system, in which the Prime Minister is first among equals]].

* AccompliceByInaction: Benson understood what many subsequent dystopia authors did not, that the real sign of a dystopian, tyrannical regime is not the atrocities they directly order, but instead the massacres committed by the crowd, which the authorities order law enforcement to stand down for. So naturally, in the book, when anti-Catholic mobs start lynching people for going to Mass or otherwise showing signs of Catholicism, Felsenburgh does not at first order it. He does, however, make sure that none of the perpetrators are arrested, and it's very likely that he encouraged this off the record, like what the Nazis did in the leadup to Kristallnacht.
* AmbiguouslyHuman: Felsenburgh is very obviously the Antichrist, has the ability to brainwash people into worshiping him, and has no publicly known past, yet it is never made clear whether he is literally Satan in human guise, or a mortal human committed to doing his bidding.

* ArtisticLicensePolitics: Felsenburgh is introduced as a U.S. Senator, yet becomes both the leader of the European state ''and'' the emperor of Asia. This is due to mind control, but at that point he is considered the undisputed leader of the world even though he never became the president of the United States. In America, he is still just a senator. Most likely, Benson assumed [[WeAllLiveInAmerica that the American system worked just like the British system, in which the Prime Minister is first among equals]].

* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler: Mabel, after being pushed past her breaking point by the Humanist regime's toleration, then encouragement, of religious persecution against the remaining Catholics. Unable to embrace the faith due to the deep rooted conditioning of the Humanist dogmas, and unable to continue supporting the regime after it sets out to arrest and execute the remaining Catholics, Mabel [[{{DrivenToSuicide}} resigns herself to suicide in a euthanasia home.]]]]

* {{Hypocrite}}: Humanists as a whole (with scarce exceptions like [[spoiler:Mabel]]) show themselves to be this when [[spoiler:they instigate world-wide mob violence against Catholics (including [[WouldHurtAChild children]]), celebrate the bombing of Rome (home to hundreds of thousands of civilians), and wave away how this spits in their boasts of how Humanism will destroy violence forever.]]

* VillainsActHeroesReact: The Church and its members want nothing more than to be left alone, and would not harangue the Marxists in any way other than warn them of [[NoMereWindmill the very real consequences]] of [[{{Hell}} dying outside a state of grace]]. Felsenburgh and his followers, by contrast, [[FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence devote their every waking moment to persecuting Christians and stamping out their religion]], while conspicuously lacking any real arguments for their position that aren’t [[AppealToNovelty transparently fallacious]]. The Christians only go into hiding to protect themselves, and don’t even try to evangelize anymore since they know it would be pointless and just endanger their communities. This theme is further showcased by the heroes literally having reactionary politics and the villains literally having ([[StrawHypocrite a façade of]]) progressive politics, suggesting this trope to be both TruthInTelevision and a law of nature.

* {{Zeerust}}: As befits a book written in 1906. Despite the 100-year gap, it still feels very much like the Edwardian era, with typewriters, telegraphs, and the like. Justified insofar as Benson was only interested in the social aspects of the future, not the technological.

'''Lord of the World''' is a 1906 dystopian Catholic novel by Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson, a British Catholic priest and convert from Anglicanism. Something like a Catholic ''Literature/LeftBehind'', it follows two stories. The first is of Father Percy Franklin, a [[{{AuthorAvatar}} British Catholic priest]] working in a world that has [[{{OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions}} by-and-large forsaken the Catholic faith]] in favor of [[{{DirtyCommunists}} Marxist one-party states]]. The second follows Oliver and Mabel Brand, a non-religious British couple. Oliver is [[UsefulNotes/{{BritishPoliticalSystem}} MP for Croydon]], and generally a reliable supporter of said Marxist state. At the start of the novel, the European powers are inches from the possibility of war with the [[{{YellowPeril}} Eastern]] [[{{TheEmpire}} Empire]]. A peace delegation from the United States, featuring as a last-minute addition the young Senator Julian Felsenburgh, may be their only hope. But as Felsenburgh begins his meteoric rise in power, the Church senses danger...

* TurbulentPriest: Father Franklin is one. [[spoiler:Taken UpToEleven in part 3, when he is elected Pope and single-handedly rebuilds the College of Cardinals, then leads it from hiding in Nazareth.]]

* StrawCharacter: The liberal, secular characters are portrayed very unrealistically, more like [[BrokenSystemDogmatist the stooges of a pagan theocracy]] than as anything else. Despite claiming to be a democracy, they appoint a GodEmperor and willingly persecute anyone who doesn’t fall into line. Their social program is more like a list of what Edwardian religious conservatives feared rather than anything coherent—the medical establishment is replaced completely by involuntary euthanasia and even more ludicrously, all the universities were permanently shut down despite the regime claiming to be a friend of science, freethought, and the rights of man. Even at the start of the book before Felsenburgh comes to power, the Church’s opposition is represented by Oliver Brand, one of the most pompous, hypocritical, [[IgnorantOfTheirOwnIgnorance Dunning-Kruger-exhibiting]] and petty-minded characters in fiction, and it’s made abundantly clear that he is a perfectly normal statesman in his world no worse than any of the others. Making it even worse, the Christians don’t even have any arguments against their beliefs except “they gainsay our religion, therefore they are wrong.”

* StrawCharacter: The liberal, secular characters are portrayed very unrealistically, more like [[BrokenSystemDogmatist the stooges of a pagan theocracy]] than as anything else. Despite claiming to be a democracy, they appoint a GodEmperor and willingly persecute anyone who doesn’t fall into line. Their social program is more like a list of what Edwardian religious conservatives feared rather than anything coherent—the medical establishment is replaced completely by involuntary euthanasia and even more ludicrously, all the universities were permanently shut down despite the regime claiming to be a friend of science, freethought, and the rights of man. Even at the start of the book before Felsenburgh comes to power, the Church’s opposition is reflected by Oliver Brand, one of the most pompous, hypocritical, [[IgnorantOfTheirOwnIgnorance Dunning-Kruger-exhibiting]] and petty-minded characters in fiction, and it’s made abundantly clear that he is a perfectly normal statesman in his world no worse than any of the others. Making it even worse, the Christians don’t even have any arguments against their beliefs except “they gainsay our religion, therefore they are wrong.”

* StrawCharacter: The liberal, secular characters are portrayed very unrealistically, more like [[BrokenSystemDogmatist the stooges of a pagan theocracy]] than as anything else. Despite claiming to be a democracy, they appoint a GodEmperor and willingly persecute anyone who doesn’t fall into line. Their social program is more like a list of what Edwardian religious conservatives feared rather than anything coherent—the medical establishment is replaced completely by involuntary euthanasia and even more ludicrously, all the universities were permanently shut down despite the regime claiming to be a friend of science, freethought, and the rights of man. Even at the start of the book before Felsenburgh comes to power, the Church’s opposition is reflected by Oliver Brand, one of the most pompous, hypocritical, [[IgnirahtOfTheirOwnIgnorance Dunning-Kruger-exhibiting]] and petty-minded characters in fiction, and it’s made abundantly clear that he is a perfectly normal statesman in his world no worse than any of the others. Making it even worse, the Christians don’t even have any arguments against their beliefs except “they gainsay our religion, therefore they are wrong.”

** Just as Jesus was betrayed by one of His twelve disciples, [[spoiler:Pope Silverster III is betrayed by one of his last twelve Cardinals.]]

* IllegalReligion: ''Any belief in God'' is outlawed under penalty of death under the Test Act, but Catholicism is the primary victim, as the Eastern religions have accepted Felsenburgh as like a god.

** Oliver takes this role fairly frequently, explaining everything from Catholic afterlife doctrine to the political situation to a curious Mabel. Note [[UnreliableNarrator he's a rather unreliable one]], as his understanding of Catholicism is colored by his distaste for the religion and lack of knowledge.

* CartesianKarma: Felsenburgh has a CompellingVoice which he uses to make people worship him after [[EasyEvangelism hearing one speech]]. This makes it very unlikely that his followers would have gone so far as to spontaneously recreate the Roman persecutions had they been acting of their own will, but of course, they still receive divine punishment in the end. However, Franklin also nearly succumbed to Felsenburgh’s brainwashing and only avoided it by praying to God and Mary to save him, so the implication is that God would protect anyone who called on Him, meaning that the humanists, who don’t believe in God, failed to do the one thing that would protect them, making them at least partially responsible.

* TheAntichrist: Felsenburgh, though possibly an UnbuiltTrope as far as popular culture depictions. Rather than taking over the world by force, he effortlessly rides the tides of secularism to absolute power, even condemning the anti-Catholic riots for a time, until the Test Act. Notably, he is never actually referred to as "the antichrist," or even as ''an'' antichrist, in the narration or by any of the characters, though the book was [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally going to be called "Anti-Christ"]].

* AntagonistTitle: The "lord of the world" spoken of in the title, and one of Felsenburgh's speeches, is Felsenburgh himself, and, by extension, Satan. Those familiar with Paul's epistles will know that Felsenburgh isn't talking about God here.
* TheAntichrist: Felsenburgh, though possibly an UnbuiltTrope as far as popular culture depictions. Rather than taking over the world by force, he effortlessly rides the tides of secularism to absolute power, even condemning the anti-Catholic riots for a time, until the Test Act. Notably, he is never actually referred to as "the antichrist," or even as ''an'' antichrist, in the narration or by any of the characters, though the book was [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally going to be called “Anti-Christ”]].

* VillainProtagonist: Oliver Brand is one of the viewpoint characters and enforces Felsenburg's persecution of the Catholics. His personality is also rather unpleasant, being snobbish, condescending, hypocritical, and mildly sexist.

Still under construction. Beware of unmarked spoilers.

* CriminalDoppelganger: Several characters notice the uncanny resemblance between Franklin and Felsenburgh. Cardinal Steinmann concludes that the two are perfect antitheses.

** [[spoiler:The Catholic Church came into existence on Pentacost, and the last of its leadership dies on Pentacost.]]

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Mabel.]]
* UsefulNotes/EsperantoTheUniversalLanguage: It is said that the Marxist states have replaced their historical languages with Esperanto, but [[InformedAttribute everyone speaks English anyway]]. The heroes, [[{{Foil}} by contrast]], use Latin as an auxiliary language, which developed organically instead of being invented by one man from scratch.

* JustBeforeTheEnd: Things are pretty bad for Catholicism, and it only gets worse from there. [[spoiler:The last words of the novel describe ''the end of time itself.'']]

** After [[spoiler:Rome is firebombed, the Catholic Church takes shelter in Nazareth, where Jesus grew up, and it is in Nazareth that He [[TheRightfulKing returns and]] [[DivineIntervention and ushers in]] [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the Last Judgment]].]]

* VillainProtagonist: Oliver Brand is one of the viewpoint characters and enforces Felsenburg's persecution of the Catholics. His personality is also rather unpleasant, being snobbish, condescending, and hypocritical.

* CentralTheme: The intrinsic human need for worship and a belief in something greater and good. Mabel, Oliver, and other Humanists discuss or dwell on a deep longing for God--but can't let go of their {{Pride}} in mankind or disdain for faith, so only end up directing this longing into "an idealized man" and "man becoming God" rather than true divinity. Percy likewise notes that the Humanists, [[BlasphemousBoasts though infuriating with their Catholic blasphemy]], are seeking a god "without God" and picking possibly the worst place to do so--[[HumansAreBastards themselves]].