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Poetry, prose, and play, woven together by Eliot. What a tremendous rendering of one of the most famous medieval martyrdoms, no less fashioned as a bit of a medieval morality play (particularly with the personified "tempters" with whom Thomas Becket converses prior to his death. The language is beautiful, with Eliot wielding alliteration more elegantly than his knights wield their swords bent on murder. The drunken knights get their own drinking song, with a couplet refrain: "Come down show more Daniel to the lions' den,/Come down Daniel for the mark of the beast." Allusions abound.

I read this as a followup to Alison Weir's biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine, which in large part ,was more about Henry II. What a creative, engaging, and intelligent look back at history. show less

I'm surprised and a bit dismayed that this isn't one of Eliot's best known works. It's a beautiful and wrenching exploration of the struggle between the will to power and conscience, both in society and in the individual. Whether it be 1170, 1935, or 2026, the conflicts remain unchanged. "Some malady is coming upon us," indeed.

Interesting if uneven—Murder in the Cathedral is mostly mediocre, but has occasional flashes of Eliot's brilliance. It's probably better read as poetry than performed as drama—I can picture it being rather stultifying and pontificating when acted out. My favourite parts were the chorus of the Women of Canterbury, whose words were focused on the cyclical sameness of the lives of the non-elites in the medieval period, and the knights breaking the fourth wall towards the end.

The greatest work of verse by the great American/English poet T.S. Eliot was not in a poem (though some readers of The Waste Land might disagree). It is surely Murder in the Cathedral. In a short play, Eliot shows his mastery of the British form of Church and State. In so doing, he sends a message that those who do not practice justice shall some day receive vengeance.

The story of the 12th-century Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas a Becket is well-known. He spoke out against a tyrannical King. show more The King of the English would not relent, so he killed Thomas in his cathedral. Thomas’ blood, however, spoke volumes about King Henry. His story later called to mind when another King Henry beheaded another Thomas (More) over the expedient English separation from Rome. This type of story is a reminder through the ages that ultimately, integrity trumps power. No one knows much of Henry II, but Thomas Becket’s story still speaks to English school-children.

Eliot was born in St. Louis but settled in England. He worshipped English culture with his whole heart. As an adult, he converted to Anglo-Catholicism and thereafter practiced his devotion until his death. While teaching at Harvard for a year, he came into contact with the idea that theater was the new venue of poetry. Out of these currents, he put together this play, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The story is short; the tale is epic; the writing is clear; and the topic is masterful. Works like this simply make life more worthwhile. show less