Intent and Action in T.S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral (original) (raw)
Related papers
T. S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral: A Reconsideration
T. S. Eliot composed Murder in the Cathedral, for the Canterbury celebration and recounts the story of the murder of clergyman, Thomas Beckett (1118-70) by Henry II's associates. It is mostly an expanded expressive thought of the correct home of worldly and profound power, of the commitments of religious adherents to the summons of the State, and of the likelihood that devotion can be egotistical unto sin. It is this sort of interaction and the encounter amongst Church and State which educated society at its most advantageous. It was men like Beckett and the Knights, offering to die in releasing their individual obligations, who made the colossal Western establishments. Insofar as there were men similar to Beckett for the State to figure with, to remain as good illustrations and human reprimands to the force of the State, there existed a genuine balance to the most noticeably bad abundances of that power. In fact, such was the heaviness of Christian aversion against this murder Henry needed to scourge himself openly to make amends for it. This article endeavours to look at T. S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral particularly as far as the traditional picture of the turning wheel and still point. Keywords: Modern Verse Play, T.S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral, the Turning Wheel, the Still Point.
The Employment of History in Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral
Res Militiries
One of the most trustworthy historical sources is our written history, which has been documenting the many social, religious, and political events that have occurred throughout the ages. This analysis took a look at two different aspects of Eliot's work: his choice of subject matter and the use of historical context in Murder in the Cathedral. The first side demonstrated T.S. Eliot's evolution from poet to playwright, most notably with the completion of his lengthy religious-themed drama. In 1929, Georg Bell, the Bishop of Chickester and the person responsible for establishing the Christian Drama Society, commissioned this performance. This research focused on Thomas a Becket, the Cathedral's most prominent representative during his seven years in exile in France. This research demonstrated how the spiritual downfall of modern man is attributable to a confluence of factors, including the Second World War, excessive industrialism, Darwinism, and Marxism.
History
In July 1220, the boy king Henry III attended the Translation of St Thomas Becket at Canterbury, whereby the saint's body was transferred from its original tomb in the crypt of Canterbury cathedral to a splendid new shrine in the main body of the church. This article explores the continuing appeal of Becket's cult at Canterbury for elite ecclesiastical and lay circles in thirteenth-and early fourteenth-century England. It argues that the Englishmen, or holders of ecclesiastical office in England, who were canonised as saints in the thirteenth century were associated with St Thomas and his cult. Drawing on the records of the English royal household and wardrobe, alongside letters and charters, this article then examines the reception of Becket's cult at the royal court. Although Henry III was more famous for his adult devotion to St Edward the Confessor, Henry and his wife, Eleanor of Provence, still paid their respects to Becket's shrine at Canterbury. Royal interest in St Thomas of Canterbury, or St Thomas the Martyr, continued, but with added vigour, under Edward I, his wives and his children. Despite St Thomas's appeal for opponents of the English crown, Becket's cult remained firmly connected to the English ruling dynasty. T he cult of Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, was one of the most popular saints' cults in western Europe in the Middle Ages. The stories of Becket's murder at the hands of four knights in Canterbury cathedral on 29 December 1170 and of the posthumous miracles associated with him circulated widely at home and abroad. Their transmission was assisted by the many works of hagiography written by witnesses to the martyrdom and by men associated with Becket, as well as the reports carried away by visitors to Becket's tomb. 1 Such was the damage to King Henry II's prestige as the man who uttered the words that led to Becket's death, especially after Becket was canonised I am grateful to Paul Webster for his helpful comments on a draft of this article.
T.S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral: Divine vs. Human?
Religions
This article discusses the relationship between the divine and the human, as it appears in T.S. Eliot’s play Murder in the Cathedral, written for and performed at the Cathedral of Canterbury in 1935. On the one hand, and most obviously, this play about the martyrdom of Archbishop Thomas Becket in the Cathedral on 29 December 1170 owes much to a medieval Catholic as well as Anglo-Catholic tradition. On the other hand, the unbridgeable distance between the divine and the human, pronounced by Thomas Becket in all his utterances in the play, resembles the contemporary theology of the Reformed theologian Karl Barth, whose theology Eliot had been aware of since 1934. Recent scholarship has discussed the influence of Barth’s theology on Eliot’s poetry, especially the Four Quartets (1936–1940). Contemporary sources, on the other hand, show Eliot’s ambivalence towards what he understood to be Barth’s theology. However, the article does not aim at a biographical understanding; it concerns Eli...
Epiphany: Vol. 6, No. 2, 2013
The aim of the present study is to re-establish the status of Archbishop Becket as a standard tragic hero of a religious play written by T. S. Eliot. Various critics have denounced the characterization of Archbishop Becket as a proper tragic hero, claiming that the entire process of the plot is devoid of "dramatic action", which is considered the backbone of any drama. In this paper the author has tried to illuminate on a renewed definition of "dramatic action" and consequently prove that the performance and actions of Archbishop Becket are, in fact, a process of mental action which nevertheless arrive the character to the definitive destination of all other dramatic heroes, i.e. a tragic death.
Cuadernos Medievales, 2023
There is no doubt that one of the subjects that sparked the most interest in medieval English historiography is the one that corresponds to the troubled relationship between Thomas Becket and Henry II. Personal, political and religious ties that produced a vast literature by the hands of fervent defenders and antagonists of the two historical figures. Henry and Thomas were driven to build and deconstruct an association in the general context of confrontation between the Church and the State. The monarch's intention was none other than to restore the royal authority and peace of the reign of his grandfather, Henry I. Thomas Becket's objective was to serve that ideal as chancellor. The Becket controversy originated from the consecration of Thomas as the new archbishop of Canterbury. A sudden shift of loyalties that has caused and will presumably continue to cause much ink to flow. The aim of this article will be to tie the key features that marked this controversy to the legacy of the previous reign of King Stephen. An inheritance bearing demands that to a greater or lesser extent conditioned the actions of both characters.