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    Santosh Chougule
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    Thomas à Becket was appointed chancellor by King Henry II in 1154, but later became archbishop of Canterbury in 1161, which strained his relationship with the king. Becket fled to France in 1164 due to conflicts with Henry and sought support from the pope. Upon returning to England in 1170, Becket was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by four of Henry's knights. Three years later, he was canonized as a saint. In 1935, T.S. Eliot wrote the verse play Murder in the Cathedral, which was performed at the Canterbury Festival. The play examines Becket's martyrdom and the conflict between divine and human power through spiritual themes and the struggles of its main character.

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    T.S.Eliot

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    Murder in the Cathedral

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    Thomas à Becket was appointed chancellor by King Henry II in 1154, but later became archbishop of Canterbury in 1161, which strained his relationship with the king. Becket fled to France in 1164 due to conflicts with Henry and sought support from the pope. Upon returning to England in 1170, Becket was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by four of Henry's knights. Three years later, he was canonized as a saint. In 1935, T.S. Eliot wrote the verse play Murder in the Cathedral, which was performed at the Canterbury Festival. The play examines Becket's martyrdom and the conflict between divine and human power through spiritual themes and the struggles of its main character.

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    350 views14 pages

    Murder in The Cathedral

    Uploaded by

    Santosh Chougule
    Thomas à Becket was appointed chancellor by King Henry II in 1154, but later became archbishop of Canterbury in 1161, which strained his relationship with the king. Becket fled to France in 1164 due to conflicts with Henry and sought support from the pope. Upon returning to England in 1170, Becket was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by four of Henry's knights. Three years later, he was canonized as a saint. In 1935, T.S. Eliot wrote the verse play Murder in the Cathedral, which was performed at the Canterbury Festival. The play examines Becket's martyrdom and the conflict between divine and human power through spiritual themes and the struggles of its main character.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 14

    1935

    Thomas Stearns Eliot


    Image: Lal C. A. March 2006

    Thomas Becket (1118-70)


    Henry II appointed him his chancellor in 1154.

    In 1161was made the archbishop of Canterbury, the most important ecclesiastical officer in England. Much to Henrys surprise and annoyance, Thomas resigned the chancellorship in 1162. The rift grew and in 1164 Becket fled to France to rally support from the Catholic French and also sought an audience with the Pope.

    After being officially (although not personally) reconciled with the King, Becket returned to England in 1170.

    On 29 December murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by four of Henry's Knights.

    Three years later, he was canonized. Henry observed penance to placate the people.

    The allure of such a story for a dramatist is obvious


    The great conflict between human and divine power, [archetypical conflict between good and evil] a strong central character and a number of complicated spiritual issues involved in the martyrdom excellent themes for a verse play.

    In 1935, T. S. Eliot wrote Murder in the Cathedral for that year's Canterbury Festival.

    This work revitalized the verse drama that had hardly been used with significant acclaim since Shakespeare.

    Treatment of the story

    Based on the eye-witness accounts of monks, especially Edward Grim, who himself was injured during the attack.

    Eliot has left out sensational details. MC not a chronicle-play of Shakespearean kind that tells an intricate story full of incidents, but a sparer drama, more in the manner of Aeschylus, about a great cause in which incident and idiosyncrasy lose their importance. (Coghill)

    Position in Eliots Oeuvre


    From The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1917) and The Waste Land (1922) which pose a problem in the purpose of life with vague suggestions of a solution, through The Hollow Men (1925) Ash Wednesday (1980) and Samson Agonistes (1926/7), where these issues reappear in different forms, the solution assumes a solid form in The Rock (1934) and MC, in the shape of Christianity.

    These plays trace Eliots journey from a sad, liberal agnosticism, towards the positive grief-in-joy and joyin-grief attitude of Christianity. A whole I planned Prufrock is a man whose lack of confidence prevents him from revealing to a woman the depth of his love for her. He is troubled by a hundred indecisions/And For a hundred visions and revisions," since he knows that he will change his mind a hundred times before doing anything so brave. He asks, "Do I dare Disturb the universe," since he is "not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be." Becket is a man who does "dare Disturb the universe"

    The Plot

    Greek Elements
    1.

    Chrous (Shows marked development)


    2. 3.

    Tragic Hero Hubris (?)

    Unities (Times, place and action)

    4.

    Conflict (Inner, but projected thru the tempters)


    5.

    Poetic Structure

    Morality Play Elements

    1.

    About situation and more story

    2.

    Characters not rounded, but personifications of abstract ideas tempters

    Themes

    Flesh vs. Spirit

    Obedience. [Closely allied with the theme of flesh vs. spirit is that of obedience, an issue of the play that is seen in Thomas's unflagging devotion to God.]

    Contemporary Relevance
    In the context of the growing Fascism in Europe what could be the contemporary relevance of the play?

    Image: Lal C. A. March 2006

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