murder in the cathedral
DESCRIPTION
T.S.EliotTRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Murder in the Cathedral](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081800/5457afc7b1af9f524b8b4901/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
1935
Thomas Stearns Eliot
Image: Lal C. A. March 2006
![Page 2: Murder in the Cathedral](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081800/5457afc7b1af9f524b8b4901/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Thomas à 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 Henry’s 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.
![Page 3: Murder in the Cathedral](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081800/5457afc7b1af9f524b8b4901/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
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.
![Page 4: Murder in the Cathedral](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081800/5457afc7b1af9f524b8b4901/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
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.
![Page 5: Murder in the Cathedral](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081800/5457afc7b1af9f524b8b4901/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
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.
![Page 6: Murder in the Cathedral](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081800/5457afc7b1af9f524b8b4901/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
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)
![Page 7: Murder in the Cathedral](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081800/5457afc7b1af9f524b8b4901/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
Position in Eliot’s 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.
![Page 8: Murder in the Cathedral](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081800/5457afc7b1af9f524b8b4901/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
These plays trace Eliot’s journey from a sad, liberal agnosticism, towards the positive grief-in-joy and joy-in-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"
![Page 9: Murder in the Cathedral](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081800/5457afc7b1af9f524b8b4901/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
The PlotThe Plot
![Page 10: Murder in the Cathedral](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081800/5457afc7b1af9f524b8b4901/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Greek Elements1. Chrous (Shows marked development)
2. Tragic Hero – Hubris (?)
3. Unities (Times, place and action)
4. Conflict (Inner, but projected thru the tempters)
5. Poetic Structure
![Page 11: Murder in the Cathedral](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081800/5457afc7b1af9f524b8b4901/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Morality Play Elements
1. About situation and more story
2. Characters not rounded, but personifications of abstract ideas –
tempters
![Page 12: Murder in the Cathedral](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081800/5457afc7b1af9f524b8b4901/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
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.]
![Page 13: Murder in the Cathedral](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081800/5457afc7b1af9f524b8b4901/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
Contemporary Relevance
In the context of the growing Fascism in Europe what could be the contemporary relevance of the
play?
![Page 14: Murder in the Cathedral](https://reader036.vdocuments.site/reader036/viewer/2022081800/5457afc7b1af9f524b8b4901/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
Image: Lal C. A. March 2006