- Paperback: 96 pages
- Publisher: Mariner Books (Feb 19 1964)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0156632772
- ISBN-13: 978-0156632775
- Product Dimensions: 20.2 x 14 x 0.7 cm
- Shipping Weight: 45 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #236,378 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
A dramatization in verse of the murder of Thomas Becket at Canterbury. The theatre as well as the church is enriched by this poetic play of grave beauty and momentous decision (New York Times). Within its limits the play is a masterpiece.... Mr. Eliot has written no better poem than this and none which seems simpler (Mark Van Doren, The Nation).
About the Author
Thomas Stearns Eliot, OM (September 26, 1888 – January 4, 1965), was a poet, dramatist, and literary critic. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948. Among his most famous writings are the poems The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, The Waste Land, The Hollow Men, Ash Wednesday and Four Quartets; the plays Murder in the Cathedral and The Cocktail Party; and the essay "Tradition and the Individual Talent". Eliot was born in the United States, moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 (at age 25), and became a British subject in 1927 at the age of 39. Of his nationality and its role in his work, Eliot said: "[My poetry] wouldn’t be what it is if I’d been born in England, and it wouldn’t be what it is if I’d stayed in America. It’s a combination of things. But in its sources, in its emotional springs, it comes from America."
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Murder in the Cathedral,
By Tom Cannon (Wexford,PA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Murder in the Cathedral (Paperback)
The play is about Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury and is not worth reading if you like a literal story, where what you read is what you get and reading between the lines is unnecessary. That is what I liked about this play. It allows you to interpret the dialogue so that you develop your own understanding behind the plot.Thomas Becket lived in the 12th century and rose to power because of his friend King Henry. Becket at first had been a Chancellor in Henry⤙s court and had then been given the title of Archbishop. Henry wanted him to have both the titles whereas Becket refused because he felt he could not perform both jobs to the same expectations. This was because Henry had radical views about the separation of the church and the state and Becket did not agree with these views because he did not believe he could serve two very opposite masters. The result was an argument between the two. Literally, Henry and Becket are in a skirmish during the play, but the actual conflict is between Becket and his conscience. The play goes deep into Christianity and the Catholic faith, which I found to be enjoyable. Just as Christ had tempters, so does Becket. They offer him power and material wealth, when all they want in return is for Becket to alter and transform his principles. I liked how you saw main characters in this play, such as the Chorus, progress from fearing the unknown to joyfully accepting God. While the play has Christian connotations within, it stresses primarily on universal human values such as humility and devotion. The entire play is written in verse and Eliot managed to capture such complex themes and dialogue in such concise yet poetic words.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Should do research first,
By Kristine Peters (San Diego,CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Murder in the Cathedral (Paperback)
This book was a little difficult to understand especially if you don't comprehend the way Shakespeare wrote his plays. You should really research the story of Thomas Becket before reading this also. The story starts off as a celebration of the returning of the Archibishop after being gone for seven years. As you read on it gets a little more interesting. If you like action or suspense there is plenty of it in the second half of this play. When two of the King's knights have a confrontation with the Archbishop Thomas Becket, the following day the knights return with orders to kill the Archbishop due to the disagreements he had with the king such as the disagreement of the coronation of the king's son, overall this was an okay book, though I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
5.0 out of 5 stars
English in spite of all,
By
This review is from: Murder in the Cathedral (Paperback)
This 1935 play is a gem in English drama.First, the tone, the style, the poetry are purely shakespearian. It gives the play a power it would otherwise never have. The biblical inspiration is not at all clear or direct. There are four tempters and temptations whereas Jesus only had three temptations and one tempter. The play does not only recall the martyrdom of Thomas Becket. It shows he probably sinned, committed the sin of pride or vanity, though with the best intention : to establish the church as the supreme ruler. Yet this event is also the first fight between the English crown and the church, a fight that will culminate under Henry VIII with the creation of the Church of England. The play is also a clear argumentation in favor of that extreme act for several reasons. One, sympathy for the underdog is not justice. Two, the killers were absolutely disinterested and were to be banished after the act. Three, this murder was necessary to strengthen the King's power, hence the country. Four, Thomas was a « monster of egotism » verging into mania and he committed « suicide while of unsound mind ». But the play is a lot wider than that. It defends the simple people who suffer all the time. It defends those who possess some fraction of truth, for which it is worth dying if necessary. It advocates the most total and radical freedom of thought, freedom of speech and freedom to defend one's ideas to the bitter and bloody end that society will necessarily impose. Finally it shows that England has three levels of power : the King, the barons and the church, and one level of constant fear and suffering, the people, the labourers. Here the church is curbed to the King's power. Later on the King's power will be curbed to the barons' power with John Landless, and that will be the beginning of parliamentary power, of democracy. Thomas Becket refuses to go that way, hence slowing down history by strengthening the King only and leading England into centuries of strife among barons and between two families to control the throne as the only source and center of power. Parliamentarism will only succeed fully in the seventeenth century. Thomas Becket's choice could have been different, from a political point of view that he refuses from the very start. Was it a sacrifice for nothing ? We can ask the question because the people will go on suffering for ever and ever, no matter what, in this vision of history. Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
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