Dreyfus affair
According to some film critics, "The Devil in a Convent" parodies monastic life, suggesting a satirical view of the Catholic Church. Méliès almost certainly agreed with the anti-ecclesiastic emotions prevalent during the Dreyfus affair in 1898 and 1899; Méliès supported Alfred Dreyfus's case, while the Church opposed it. Méliès made another religious satire, "The Temptation of Saint Anthony", in the same year, as well as his strongly pro-Dreyfus film series "The Dreyfus Affair".