"Murder In The Cathedral” By T.S.Eliot

         

                             "Murder In The Cathedral”

       

                          Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 1888 – 4 January 1965) was a British, American-born essayist, publisher, playwright, literary and social critic, and "one of the twentieth century's major poets". He immigrated to England in 1914 at age 25, settling, working and marrying there. He was eventually naturalized as a British subject in 1927 at age 39, renouncing his American citizenship.

      Murder In The Cathedral is a historical play. It was written for the religious festival at Canterbury . Its title refers to the murder of the Archbishop Thomas Becket of Canterbury in the Cathedral of the city. Becket , born in London in 1118, of Norman parentage , came from a family of wealthy merchants. he was trained in knightly exercise , studied theology in Paris , and worked for a time in a lawyer’s office. he was a close friend of King Henry of England who trusted him fully. he raised him to the rank of Chancellor, the highest office in the state. in 1162, when Theobald, the Archbishop of Canterbury died, Becket became the new Archbishop of Canterbury and there was little to suggest that the cordial relationship between Henry and Thomas would alter. in actual fact , from that date ,Becket tried to establish an entirely new relationship with the king. the worldly Chancellor became an ascetic monk and prophetic spiritual leader. the more Becket acted out of character , the more irritated the king became. A series of minor dispute swiftly developed into a major quarrel. at last, in 1164, Henry determined to make the new Archbishop obey his wishes.

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        There is coherence in the structure  of the ‘Murder In The Cathedral’….. the play begins with the exposition that provides us with information such as the name of important character, their relationship the location and action etc….

        

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            Eliot has divided the play ‘Murder In The Cathedral’ into two parts very skillfully . first part takes place in the Archbishop Thomas Becket’s  hall on 2^nd December 1170. Becket imitates in this part Christ in his creed, word and deed. then Becket passes through a rigorous spiritual exercise and molds up his creed.

         While in second part Becket execute whatever he has preached. in this way these are exercise , expression and the execution of spiritual career of  Becket from these parts. Eliot has introduced an interlude which is highly significant. it well knitted the both the parts of the play. so it is one says,

“ Part-1 depicts the motif of suffering through Becket’s decision not to act. Part-2 presents the motif of action through Becket’s suffering the act of others”

        In the total design of the play. Eliot has give second importance to the chorus after Becket. the play opens with a speech by the chorus. who gives us a good deal of information about the time , place and potentially of the scene. According to Helen Gardener,

“Real drama of the play is to be found in the chorus where also lies its great poetry; perhaps the greatest thing in a great play”

           The play ends with the final and most importance speech of the chorus. it is the most philosophical speech of all. it begins with praise of god and ends with praise of mercy of  Christ. they final a blessing in the Martyrdom of Becket. the chorus is the key part of the drama.

         The central theme of the play is martyrdom and Eliot uses the term martyrdom in its original sense. according to ancient sense the word ‘martyr’ means witness.

           Throughout the drama all the action reveals around the activities of Thomas and relationship of his sainthood and martyrdom . that is why it is appropriate to sate ;

“murder in the cathedral is not just a dramatization of the death of Becket. it is a deep searching study of the significance of martyrdom the central theme of the play”

-         D.E.Jones

        Finally, Thomas Becket accept the death in which he achieve the glory of martyrdom.

          To conclude , we can say that T.S.Eliot is the famous for the use of chorus in the play in the history of English literature. however, Eliot has provided to the play a poetic under pattern based on classical myth and legend . however, Eliot had always dealt with the problem of spiritual salvation in his works.

          So that it is appropriate to quote,

“ Common to all the play ; most obviously in ‘Murder In The Cathedral’ is preoccupation with the nature of sainthood”

-         D.E.S.Maxwell