Murder in the Cathedral
- by T.S. Eliot
At a Glance
Murder in
the Cathedral, poetic drama in two parts, with a prose sermon interlude, the
most successful play by American English poet T.S. Eliot. The play was
performed at Canterbury Cathedral in 1935 and published the same year. Set in
December 1170, it is a modern miracle play on the martyrdom of St. Thomas
Becket, archbishop of Canterbury.
The play’s
most striking feature is the use of a chorus in the Classical Greek manner. The
poor women of Canterbury who make up the chorus nervously await Thomas’s return
from his seven-year exile, fretting over his volatile relationship with King
Henry II. Thomas arrives and must resist four temptations: worldly pleasures,
lasting power as chancellor, recognition as a leader of the barons against the
king, and eternal glory as a martyr.
After
Thomas delivers his Christmas morning sermon, four knights in the service of
the king accost him and order him to leave the kingdom. When he refuses, they
return to slay him in the cathedral.
.
Summery
Murder in the Cathedral is a
fictionalized verse drama of the martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket written by TS
Eliot and first performed in 1935. Written and performed at a time when fascism
was on the rise in continental Europe, the play considers the agency of the
individual in resisting temporal authoritarianism.
In life,
Thomas Becket was a close personal friend and chancellor of Henry II, though he
had decided to devote his life to the (Catholic) Church from a relatively young
age. During this time Becket enjoyed the earthly pleasure of wealth and
influence in the state and even led contingents of knights too fight alongside
the king. It was ultimately Henry who suggested that the vacant Archbishopric
of Canterbury Cathedral (the highest Church office in England) go to Becket,
even though he initially refused. Becket was conscious that were he to become
Archbishop the two would likely no-longer be friends, and Henry may even come
to hate Becket because the king had been infringing on the rights of the
Church, which Becket would not allow. Eventually, despite his protestations
Becket was elected to the seat, and as predicted his relationship with the king
became strained. After his appointment Becket lived piously, his influence and
friends at court ceased to be of importance to him, and he and the king often
clashed over the relative powers of the Church and the State. After several
other conflicts between the two, the final straw occurred in 1170 wherein
Becket excommunicated the Archbishop of York and two other bishops for
presiding over the coronation of Henry II’s son, which was the traditional
right of Canterbury. Angered by this latest assertion of power Henry condemned Becket.
Regardless of the king’s intent, it appeared to those in attendance to be an
order for Becket’s death.
Becket had
been seeking refuge in France and the counsel of the Pope, but decided to
return to England even though it appears from historical accounts that he was
both aware of the danger and had predicted his own imminent death. After his
return to England, four knights rode to Canterbury Cathedral, hid their weapons
outside and demanded that Becket leave with them by order of the king. When he
refused, the knights gathered their weapons and returned to the cathedral. They
killed Thomas Becket and cut off his head on December 29, 1170. A monk, Edward
Grim was in attendance and sustained an injury to his arm attempting to defend
Becket. His account of the murder heavily informs Eliot’s version. Becket was
canonized just three years after his death and is revered as saint in both the
Catholic and Anglican faiths.
The play is
in two parts, separated by a short interlude. Following in the traditions of Greek
drama, the play begins with the entrance of the chorus, which serves as a
narrator of sorts and also passes judgments on the action of the play. Half the
chorus is comprised of women, gone to the cathedral for shelter from the
growing danger and oppression of the state. The other half of the chorus is
made up of priests, who also foreshadow the coming struggle. Although Becket is
a good leader, they wish him to remain in France and in safety. However, Becket
returns to the Cathedral and bids the women stay and bear witness to the coming
events.
Four
tempters arrive, each offering Becket a way to save his own life, or glorify
his memory at the expense of his true beliefs. The first tempter reminds Becket
of the friends that he once had at court, and suggests that if Becket were to
be less severe and relax his principles, he might escape his fate; Becket
refuses. The second tempter reminds Becket of the power he wielded as
chancellor to the king, and that he could wield such power again and no one
would oppose him. He says that holiness is only useful for the dead and power
is necessary for the living; Becket refuses him as well. The third tempter
recommends Becket overthrow the crown, giving the church supremacy over
England, and again Becket refuses. The fourth tempter is the most difficult for
Becket to resist, because he suggests that Becket continue on his path, and
seek the reverence and glory of martyrdom. Becket realizes that allowing
himself to be killed for personal glory would be a sin against his faith, and
sends the man away. The scene alludes to the three temptations Christ, and also
foreshadows the four knights who arrive to kill Becket on the King’s behalf.
In the interlude
Becket gives a sermon on Christmas day, ruminating on the inherent conflict of
a day devoted both to celebration and lamentation, a conflict that is also
applied to martyrs. Becket is aware of his imminent death. The second half of
the play is concerned with the murder of Thomas Becket by the four knights who
arrive to charge him. They defend their actions, stating that they will not
benefit from carrying out the orders of the King, and will instead by exiled.
The King himself will mourn the loss, because (as they tell it) he had raised
Becket to the Archbishopric in the hopes of united the powers of church and
state, and it was Becket who sought supremacy and a martyr’s death for himself.
They conclude that his death must be viewed as a suicide and leave, while the
chorus mourn.
Analysis
Murder in
the Cathedral is divided into two parts, with an interlude separating them. The
play begins with the thoughts of the Chorus, a group of common women of
Canterbury. They say that Archbishop Thomas Becket has been away from his
Canterbury congregation (of which they’re members) for seven years. Becket has
been away because of religious and political conflicts he came to have with
King Henry II. While they miss his presence, the Chorus does not wish for
Becket to come back, as they fear his return would stir up old conflicts which
might get him killed. Three priests who served the Archbishop in the past then
enter the scene, as well as a herald who informs them and the Chorus that
Becket is in England, back from France. The Chorus is dismayed, worried that
Becket’s return will lead to his death, and therefore their own religious
turmoil (they’ll lose their spiritual leader). The priests, on the other hand,
readily welcome Becket back to Canterbury.
Becket
enters the scene, and is shortly accosted by four “tempters”—four people who,
one-by-one, try to persuade or tempt Becket into adopting certain views on how
he should balance his religious power as Archbishop with its associated
political power—political power which could either supplement his religious
authority or replace it altogether. Becket discounts all the tempters’
proposals, thinking that none of their visions for his future are sourced in
the higher, spiritual dimension of fate or God’s plan. He decides that
martyrdom—sacrificing his life in devotion to God—is his fate, and refuses to
be tempted by other, more earthly pursuits of political power or worldly,
secular desires.
In the
interlude, Becket gives a sermon to the congregation of Canterbury Cathedral.
He asks his audience to think about sainthood from a divine perspective and
reconsider the conventional, human understanding of saintliness as pure,
peaceful and gained without torturous hardship, adding that Jesus’s disciples
became saints only after experiencing great suffering. He ends the sermon by
saying that it may be the last time he stands before the congregation,
foreshadowing his martyrdom.
In the
second part of the play, four knights serving Henry II arrive at Canterbury
Cathedral and accost Becket, calling him a traitor to the crown. Before Becket
left, the king appointed him to be the Chancellor of England as well as
Archbishop. After initially accepting both positions, however, Becket
immediately dropped the chancellorship. Further, the knights say Becket then
began to abandon all the king’s policies which he had formerly supported.
Claiming they’ve been sent by the king, the knights ask Becket if he’ll agree
to appear before Henry II and speak for his actions. Becket responds by saying
that, if the king has ordered such an appearance, then the public ought to be
allowed to know Henry II’s charges against him and personally witness his
defense against them. The knights disregard this response and move to attack
Becket, but the priests and some attendants enter the scene before they get a
chance to. The knights leave, promising to return for Becket.
Knowing
that the knights will be returning to murder the Archbishop, the priests try to
persuade him to go into hiding, but Becket refuses, fully committed to his
martyrdom. When the knights come back to the cathedral, the priests bar its
front doors, preventing them from entering. Becket, however, demands that the
priests open the doors, thereby offering his life up to the swords of the
knights and to his own martyrdom, saying it’s against the Church’s policy to
exclude anyone from entering one of its cathedrals. The priests unbar the
doors, and the knights enter and kill Becket.
Devastated
by Becket’s death, the Chorus cries out in painful desperation that the sky and
air be cleansed of the death newly sprung upon Canterbury. The priests,
however, conclude that Becket’s death was a manifestation of fate, and that the
Church is stronger for it. The four knights then turn towards the audience and
offer arguments in defense of their decision to murder Becket. They describe
why they think he was a traitor to the king and also largely responsible for
his own death. The play ends with the Chorus asking God to forgive them and
have mercy on them for not seeing—at first—Becket’s martyrdom as having
incredible spiritual significance beyond their own personal concerns. Following
the priests, the Chorus evolves to see Becket’s death as something caused by a
divine source which they cannot understand but which nonetheless merits their
faith and devotion.
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