Histórias de opressão e censura n’O santo inquérito, de Dias Gomes

Abstract

O santo inquérito, a play written by the Brazilian playwright Dias Gomes, tells the saga of Branca Dias and her family, who were persecuted by the Inquisition, in Paraíba in the Eighteenth Century, being accused of Judaic worship. The text was written during a period of intense political persecution and censorship. Several remarks and allusions permeate the literary work, concerning two historical periods: 1750 and 1966. Using mainly allegory, O Santo Inquérito brings together past and present. From  the past, the terror and oppression conducted by the Court of the Holy Office in its persecution of heretics; and, latterly, the domination and atrocities carried out by the military dictatorship.