Murder in the Cathedral

“They have but one law, to seize the power and keep it,

And the steadfast can manipulate the greed and lust of others,

The feeble is devoured by his own.”

The priests take the stage and criticize the role of temporal, earthly power, contrasting it with the power of religion. Whereas spiritual power is built on the glory of God, the priests view those who hold earthly power as little more than thugs and bullies, for such people fight, manipulate, lie, and steal. The priests posit that although the secular authorities such as the king may be powerful, their power is derived from brutality and immorality rather than from divine glory.

“If you ask my opinion, I think that this peace

Is nothing like an end, or like a beginning.”

The herald is given the opportunity to reflect on the nature of his announcement. He may seem to be only a messenger, but the play provides him with the space to offer up his thoughts on the meaning of Becket’s return. As such, the herald is not merely a narrative device. The play imbues the herald’s announcement with meaning by giving him a chance to pontificate, hinting at the multitude of contrasting opinions that define any society. This small example of an unexpected opinion demonstrates that England is not a cultural monolith and undermines the earthly power of the king.

“We

Are afraid in a fear which we cannot know, which we cannot face, which none understands.”

The chorus speaks as a collective. They speak as one, using “we” (19) as a pronoun for their collective description of pain and spiritual suffering. The perilous nature of their position is to face a fear that they cannot comprehend or challenge. They rely on Becket to translate these spiritual fears into something comprehensible, but he has been absent from their lives for so long, and now that he has returned, his life is threatened. Becket is important to them because he helps them to clarify their fear, and they see his spiritual guidance as irreplaceable.

“Peace. And let them be, in their exaltation.”

With this line, Thomas Becket finally enters the stage, and his first words call for peace as he direct his entreaty to the priests who are criticizing the chorus. The priests may be his religious brothers, but unlike them, Becket understands the importance of the common women of the chorus. Becket seeks peace between these seemingly disparate groups, he is temporarily able to achieve this peace through the strength of his leadership.

“We do not know very much of the future

Except that from generation to generation

The same things happen again and again.”

Murder in the Cathedral is a 20th-century play about events that occurred in the 12th century. Throughout the play, Becket and other characters refer to the cyclical nature of their disagreements, which are fought again and again in each generation, often with similar results. Becket’s death may be spiritually significant, but any closure that results from it will soon be undone. The play therefore posits that the future is unknowable, except for the bleak certainty that violence and disagreement will echo across the next 800 years in the same, familiar patterns.

“Power is present. Holiness hereafter.”

The second tempter tries to appeal to Becket’s desire for power. As the Chancellor, the tempter suggests, Becket will have immediate access to very real political power. Any spiritual power that results from his martyrdom, however, will occur in the “hereafter” (27). The second tempter fundamentally misunderstands the conflict between religious and earthly powers, failing to realize that the immediate gratification of earthly, secular power is pitiable when compared to the enduring power of spirituality. The second tempter completely misunderstands the significance of Becket’s beliefs, and his temptations gain no traction.

“It is we country lords who know the country

And we who know what the country needs.”

The third tempter speaks to Becket from the perspective of the landed gentry, claiming that this class speaks for the real England. This myopic view of the world conflates Englishness with property. With this misconception, the tempter demonstrates that the common folk (such as the women in the chorus) are disenfranchised by the prevailing power dynamics. This tempter also misunderstands Becket, for he believes that as a powerful man, Becket will naturally be aligned with the landowning lords. Becket’s swift refusal demonstrates the degree to which the first three tempters thoroughly misjudge him.

“Who are you? I expected

Three visitors, not four.”

In Becket’s mind, his imminent martyrdom aligns with similar instances from Christian history. In his lecture, he explicitly compares himself to Jesus Christ. This parallel is established in Part 1 when Becket faces a series of three temptations, mirroring the temptations of the devil that Jesus faced in the desert. In Becket’s case, however, a fourth tempter appears, breaking the expected pattern and forcing Becket to reconsider the extent to which his own existence is preordained. At this difficult moment, he is made to doubt himself. The unexpected appearance of the fourth tempter offers up a challenge to Becket’s vanity and arrogance, showing him that he is not quite as in control of his fate as he believes himself to be.

“All things become less real, man passes

From unreality to unreality.”

In these lines, the four tempters come together to appeal to Becket as a collective. They challenge not only his destiny and his resoluteness, but also his sense of reality. Becket is preparing to sacrifice himself for a series of unrealities, they claim. They seek to undermine Becket’s sacrifice by making him believe that his action has no real meaning, as the unreality of everyday existence makes his own sacrifice immaterial. The rising clamor among the tempters, the priests, and the chorus seems unreal, but the conflict and the challenge could not be any more real. Their words may contain an element of truth, but the context in which they are spoken renders them less important.

“O Thomas Archbishop, save us, save us, save yourself

that we may be saved;

Destroy yourself and we are destroyed.”

The chorus feels a deep attachment to Thomas Becket—one that is linked to their own optimism. In Becket, they have a reason to be hopeful for the state of their souls, even if he is in exile. However, the chorus fears that if someone as pure and as godly as Becket can be killed, then terrible things may happen to them as well. Already alienated by their gender and their social status, the women of the chorus fear to face the bleakness of a world without Becket: a world in which even the good can be brutally killed.

“For who in the World will both mourn and rejoice at once and for the same reason?”

Becket’s sermon takes place in the Interlude between Parts 1 and 2 of the play, and his state of mind at this time likewise exists at the intersection between two ideas. He is coming to accept God’s plan for his martyrdom and focuses on putting any remaining vanity behind him. In this section of the play, Becket draws more attention to the duality of his current state, reflecting on the grief and the joy of the Christian celebration of saints. He can mourn and rejoice at the same time, straddling two emotions as he straddles his current evolving character.

“A Christian martyrdom is no accident. Saints are not made by accident.”

Becket’s sermon sanctifies the role of God in the process of martyrdom. Defying the fourth tempter’s suggestion, Becket suggests that martyrdom can be a wholly selfless act. He believes that there is no accident in the deaths of martyrs, which are designed by God as part of his plan. Becket has reflected on the nature of fate and has accepted what will happen to him. He repeats this point twice, almost as much for himself as for his congregation, and he ultimately goes to his fate willingly, knowing his demise to be part of God’s plan.

“A martyrdom is never the design of man.”

Becket returns again to the point that martyrdom is fated by God. Before, he framed this argument from the perspective of God. Now, he frames it from the perspective of man. King Henry II and the knights may believe themselves to be the active arbiters of Becket’s fate, but Becket knows that their designs mean nothing compared to the will of God. In this passage, Becket is not just asserting the power of religion; he is also critiquing the earthly powers of knights and kings.

“Because it is possible that in a short time you may have yet another martyr, and that one perhaps not the last.”

Becket comes to terms with his martyrdom through the acceptance that he will not be the last martyr, asserting that the acts of martyrs echo across human history. Because Becket is now a part of this pattern, he can accept that he is not special. This realization allows him to renounce any vain belief in the uniqueness of his martyrdom. Instead, he is part of the eternal struggle between the earthly and the religious.

“The ploughman shall go out in March and turn the same earth

He has turned before.”

The chorus echoes Becket’s comments about the cyclical nature of time but uses a more naturalistic, rural analogy. Whereas Becket spoke of a wheel, the chorus speaks about ploughing the fields. The same pattern of sewing and reaping is evoked, which continues so long as life continues. The martyrdom of Thomas Becket is therefore likened to the actions of the ploughman in the field, for both turn the same earth which has been turned before and which will be turned again.

“On my table you will find

The papers in order, and the documents signed.”

The knights come to Becket with their accusations of treason and betrayal, but Becket undermines their accusations by welcoming them into the church and directing them to his signed paperwork, indicating that he has conformed to the bureaucratic expectations of the state. The knights ignore the paperwork because they do not care about these details; murder is the only matter on their minds. With this strategic gesture, Becket reveals that there is no hope that he will be tried in a fair and just manner, for his execution is as preordained by the knights as it is by God.

“I would wish him three crowns rather than one.”

Among the complaints that the knights direct at Becket is their criticism of his refusal to accept the coronation of the king’s son. Becket rebukes them, claiming that he would happily give the king as many crowns as he likes. This is because Becket fundamentally believes that the crown’s power is limited. The crown is a symbol of a king’s earthly powers, while the powers of spirituality and religion are far greater. No matter how many crowns the king may have, his power will never exceed that of God. The knights are focused only on the crown, whereas Becket’s understands what the crown truly symbolizes.

“Petty politicians in your endless adventure!”

Becket calls on the knights to go to Rome and challenge the Pope if they are angry at his religion. He reminds him that he has little power in this respect, as he is just a pawn of God. In contrast to his service to God, the politicians (such as the king) and their earthly authority are caught up in petty squabbles and “adventures” that ultimately lead nowhere. Becket rejects earthly powers as ineffectual when compared to their religious counterparts.

“What is woven on the loom of fate

What is woven in the councils of princes

Is woven also in our veins.”

Becket may be the victim of the play’s eponymous murder, but the chorus feels his pain intensely. Like Becket, the women of the chorus come to understand that they are beholden to the same unknowable forces, and their fates are “woven” on the same loom. They also recognize that the princes and kings who claim greater authority are also subject to the dictates of fate. The women suffer from Becket’s murder, but in doing so, they realize that they have more in common with the king than the king would have them believe.

“If I am worthy, there is no danger.”

While talking to the priests, Becket reveals his newfound views of martyrdom. His understanding of danger and pain has been completely transformed, and he no longer cares about what happens to his physical form because he recognizes the spiritual importance of his sacrifice. He reasons that if he is worthy enough to become a martyr, then he will be immortalized. Within this statement, its converse is also true: if he is not worthy, then he has been wrong about himself and his God. Either way, his murder will bring a cathartic resolution to this question.

“The land is foul, the water is foul, our beasts and ourselves defiled with blood.”

When the knights kill Becket, the chorus launches into an anguished lament for everything that has been lost. Despite Becket’s attempts to offer comfort, and even though the chorus agrees with his notions about fate and the will of God, the violent profanity of the murder on holy ground cannot be ignored. The murder of Thomas Becket stands as an affront to God, staining the natural world. The chorus claims that the knights and the king have defiled nature with blood, even if this is ultimately part of God’s plan.

“You are Englishmen, and therefore you believe in fair play.”

The first knight appeals to the audience’s English sensibilities. Though he and his fellow knights have just brutally murdered a holy man on holy ground, the knight attempts to defend his actions in the name of fair play. He claims that while his actions might be viewed as unjust, the audience is unfairly judging him. The weakness of his argument reflects the weakness of the earthly political world, which pales before the powerful spiritual world of religion.

“Who killed the Archbishop?”

In this scene, the knights break the fourth wall by addressing the audience directly. Any extra empathy and insight they might have earned from the audience, however, is undermined by their attempt to blame the audience for their role in killing Thomas Becket. As witnesses, the fourth knight says, the audience is as complicit as the man who issued the order or the men who swung the blade. This attempt at deflection speaks to the immense guilt that the knights feel, for they are so desperate to blame anyone else that they are willing to break the conventions of the stage in order to do so.