Becket

Becket is a complex character who undergoes significant changes during the play. When audiences first meet him, he is a spirit or apparition who visits the King as he kneels at Becket’s tomb. This represents Becket as he was at the end of his life—the saintly Becket audiences know from history. When the action moves back in time, Becket is as he was before he became archbishop: a worldly, clever, and shrewd young man who enjoys joking and carousing with the King, in addition to helping him govern. In the Privy Council scene, he is willing to apply ruthless political strategy to get what he and the King want. Early on, Becket is frequently described as smiling, as if always putting on a good front to gain political advantage.

However, even at this point Becket shows a more serious, responsible side; as the King remarks, “As for his frivolity, don’t let him fool you!” (8) Becket’s moral conscience is shown in his saving the peasant girl from being raped and the young monk from torture and execution. Yet this moral righteousness coexists with an amoral side, as shown in his sacrificing Gwendolen to the King. Thus, Becket’s character in Acts I and II is a mixture of good and evil.