G. K. Chesterton and the Impossible Revolution

For those writing in Britain later on in the 20th century, the period between 1890 and 1935, with the exception of those years when the nation was actually at war, are often viewed with a certain nostalgia. Both the peaceful and elegant Edwardian period and the Roaring Twenties with the Bright Young Things often evoke above all attractive women’s fashions and a rich cultural life. However, for those who lived through these years, it was an era of great insecurity with the threat of anarchist or Bolshevist revolution and the fear that big, powerful European nations would invade their smaller, weaker neighbours. In addition, new movements in art, music and literature gave an impression of increasing chaos, which was only strengthened by the realization that previously universally accepted ethical standards were being flouted with impunity in public and private life as well as in international relations. All G. K. Chesterton’s literary production must be seen in this context. Chesterton’s strong Christian convictions and his rejection of Socialism as merely exchanging one form of exploitation of the poor for another has meant that he has not been perceived as a revolutionary writer. However, the revolution he did advocate, along Distributist principles, was in reality far more extreme than any of the more fashionable ideologies of the time. This article examines, in context, how Chesterton’s revolutionary ideas are portrayed in his fiction and mainly in his most political short story cycle, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1922). It will analyse how the stories provide a strong criticism of British political life at the time and show why, in Chesterton’s opinion, the only revolution which would really give any power to the people was very unlikely to happen