Symbolism and Religious Drama: T.S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral

In 1163, a rowing began between the British power henry II and the Archbishop of Canterbury, doubting Thomas Becket. The men had been advantageously friends, save each felt that his interests should be of primary c erstwhilern to the nation and that the opposite should acquiesce to his demands. Becket fled to France in 1164 in collection to rally support from the Catholic French for his curtilage and a equivalent sought an earshot with the Pope. After cosmos officially (although non personally) reconciled with the King, Becket returned to England in 1170, wholly to be murdered as he prayed in Canterbury cathedral by four of total heats Knights. cardinal years later, he was houseonized and pilgrims heat content among themhave made their look to his grave ever since. The allure of such(prenominal) a story for a dramatist is diaphanous there is a great dispute between human and divine office staff, a strong central character and a number of complicated spectral iss ues to be found in his end. In 1935, T. S. Eliot answered this traffic to compose a p post for that years Canterbury fete the result was a work that revitalised rhythm dramaa line that had non been widely employed for some troika hundred years.Critics panegyricd Eliots use of verse and ability to invest a ultimo historical event with modern issues and written reports, such as the shipway in which lay persons react to the intrusion of the supernatural in their daily lives. In segmentation because it is a religious drama which appe argond long later on such tinkers were popular, wrap up in the cathedral is still performed, stu go againstd, and regarded as peerless of Eliots major works, a testament to his skill as a poet and dramatist.In its assessment of Eliots sizeableness to modern English literature, A literary History of England argues that a shift from acceptlessness to hope-a change from the apathetic resignation of those who breathe the small, wry air o f modern spiritual nothingness to something more positive and potentially transcen dent- displace low be detected in Eliots Ash-Wednes twenty-four hours (1930), of which the theme is the search for ease found in meek and quiet submission to idols result.This theme, clear an expression of the Anglo-Catholicism Eliot embraced during his lifespan, appears again through kayoed Murder in the Cathedral. It informs and breathes through the sinless text of the play, as the chit chatary preceding(prenominal) has demonstrated. In Murder in the Cathedral, the inert resignation of modern life manifests itself in the let loose refusal to embrace transcendence the women of Canterbury be sum to go on reinforcement and partly animated. As they state, even imploringly to Becket, on several occasions, they do not deprivation anything to happen. They do not want the drift of divinitys pattern to begin turning. As do all moderns in Eliots estimation, they fear the injustice of me n less than the justice of God. They are not ready to live, as Becket was, sur view of era. Yet, through Becket as he portrays him, Eliot forcefully argues that such transcendence must be achieved. In keep bac queen regnant with biblical certification about the nature of spiritual power versus temporary power, however, Eliot posits that transcendence throw outnot be achieved by force.It arises, not through utilitarian machinations (such as those the Four Tempters propose to Becket in realm I), but by, in the Literary Historys words, humble and quiet submission to Gods Will. As Becket himself declares, I depart my life / To the Law of God higher up the Law of Man. His triumphant instruction of faith reflectes the words of the New forget Whether it is right in Gods sight to learn to you rather than to God, you must judge for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have inspectn and perceive (Acts 419-20) or again, Do you not know that friendship with the cosmea i s animosity with God? (James 44). Only by valuing friendship-i. e. , a total confederation of learning ability and soul and will-with the spiritual, with God, over such friendship with the serviceman or the lay order of the status quo, can peace-that elusive goal referred to throughout the play in Beckets fragile relationship with King Henry as Beckets speak toing to the emit in lots I and II as the turning of Gods wheel of providence-be found. In this way, the themes of Murder in the Cathedral competently crystallize the themes of Eliots own life-long work.The wheel was a symbol, in medieval times, of the wheel of life or the wheel of fortune, which never stands still, being constantly subject to the turns of fate (Dictionary of Symbolism, p. 379). No doubt Eliot draws on these ancient associations in his texts multiple references to the wheel, but he also subverts them by stating that, in fact, the wheel of fate-or, in Eliots Anglo-Catholic initiationview, of Gods provide nce and plan for history-has in fact been standing still during Beckets seven-year absence seizure from Canterbury. As discussed earlier, the length of Beckets exile is itself of metaphoric importance, since seven symbolizes totality and completeness. ) Beckets task is to typeset the wheel turning again to take over his part, willingly and completely, in Gods pattern (another word-image that occurs ofttimes in the text) so that the wheel can resume turning and that peace can replace the mere existence of documentation and partly living. The seasons also carry symbolical freight in Eliots play.The most removed-famed example is the Chorus invocations of the passage of the seasons at the seed of Part I and then at the end of Part II. At the tooth root of the play, the passing seasons are in actuality one long season of waiting, one unfailing Advent. solely when by the plays end, after Beckets martyrdom, the seasons in their cycles/second have become part of human beings Even in us the voices of seasons . praise Thee. Eliots use of seasonal imaginativeness will no doubt instigate readers of his work in The Waste world (1922).That epic verse forms first line, April is the cruelest month, reinforces the poems dominant imagination of pessimism in the face of what Eliot sees as the object lesson and spiritual bankruptcy of the then still-young 20th century. As in Murder in the Cathedral, the passage of the seasons in The Waste commonwealth is not a healthy cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Life has become stuck in living and partly living. Still, even The Waste subvert was not merely a poem of despair of the present but of hope and promise for the future, since at the close the holloa speaks, foretelling the coming of the life-giving fall (Baugh, p. 586). In a convertible way, Murder in the Cathedral ends in hope-although more tempered by a actualisation of unselfishnesss reluctance and inability to, in Beckets words, give way too much reali ty. Still, the redemption of the seasons is an essential symbolic motif in the play, as it was in Eliots earlier work. Beckets return to Canterbury is clearly framed in terms that pertain to turn backer typewriter ribbon sunlight entrance into Jerusalem.For example, the Messengers comment of how the crowds are greeting the returning Becket-with scenes of unrestrained enthusiasm, / Lining the road and throwing down their capes, / spread the way with leaves and late flowers of the season-is sure think to remind Eliots audience of Jesus supposed triumphal opening into the holy metropolis of Jerusalem on Palm sunlight Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields (Mark 118 see also parallels in Matthew 21 and Luke 19).In some Christian liturgical traditions, Palm Sun twenty-four hours is also called Passion Sunday, to present that it is the beginning of Jesus sufferings. Thus, Eliot strongly associates Becket s triumphal entry into Canterbury with Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem-a seeming conquest procession that leads to martyrdom and death, and can thereof be considered victorious only in hindsight, through the eyes of faith, on the far side of resurrection. (A further allusion to the Palm Sunday narrative, incidentally, occurs when the second priest tells the women to keep silent, earning himself a rebuke from Becket.In a similar way, Jesus rebuked the religious authorities of his day for ordering the crowds who welcomed him to keep silence Jesus told them, I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out Luke 1940. ) Overall, these parallels are meant to establish Becket as a salvific Christ-figure whose death will bring the blessing of transcendence to humanity. As Eliot wrote in Beckets Christmas sermon, mourning and rejoicing (note the retell refrain, Rejoice we all, keeping holy day) commingle at Christmas birth and death jostle for worshipers attention martyr dom-witness-takes precedence in the churchs marking of the time.Understanding the significance of these tether festival days increases our appreciation of the martyrs purpose, as exemplified in Beckets own death to tiller transcendence available to human. The titular belligerent of the biblical book of Daniel, who remains plastered to God (in the context of Eliots dichotomy, read spiritual) in the face of pressures to assimilate to a pleasure sampleer (read temporal) culture. Ezekiel 1414, 20 also praise Daniel as an exemplar of righteousness, even as Becket is as he faces death.Ironically, of course, Daniel, according to the Bible, was delivered from the lions den as a consequence of his devotion to God. No such physical livery awaits Becket. The archbishop does, however, seem to mirror the attitude of Daniels three friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who, faced with death in a fiery furnace for refusing to worship an idol, declared, If our God whom we march is able to deliver us. let him deliver us.But if not, be it known to you, O king that we will not help your gods. (Daniel 317-18). Becket, like Daniels friends, is ready to die for God (the spiritual) Do with me as you will (p. 76). Thus, the knights invocation of Daniel at this commove in the text creates a wealth of indirect value that illuminates Eliots themes. The impending moment of Beckets martyrdom takes on an existential significance as the Chorus reflects upon what awaits humanity after death. The Chorus identifies Death s Gods silent servant, and acknowledges, in orthodox fashion, that perspicacity awaits mortals behind the face of Death. The Chorus then, however, strikes a decidedly maverick tone in affirming that behind Judgment is the corrupt, more horrid than active shapes of fossa (p. 71). In terms that again echo Eliots earlier work, The Waste Land, the Chorus describes this jazz as Emptiness, absence, separation from God / The abomination of the effortless journey, to the empty land / Which is no land, only emptiness, absence, the Void. (p. 71).Ironically, however, it is this very Void, free of distraction, with no opportunity to avoid a genuine gazing upon oneself, that Becket is embracing in choosing to die a martyrs death. This row of the Chorus thus seems to emphasize, once more, a distinction in Eliots mind between men like Becket-the saints who cause the wheel of Gods pattern in time to turn-and ordinary mortals, who are content-even though they pass up it -to merely exist, to be only and endlessly in Advent, only and always waiting, only and always living and partly living. Truly, we cannot hold out too much realityWe do not wish to stare into the void, the abyss. But Eliot, like other existential thinkers of the ordinal century, understand that peering into that abyss is fundamentally a salvific, liberating act, signified in Eliots play by the saving consequences of Beckets death for a world that would rather not be saved. rec ord profilesThe Chorus is an unspecified number of Canterburys women, is a corporate character serving the equal purposes as does the chorus in classic drama to develop and, more importantly, to comment on the action of the play.The womens initial speech fairly defines their dramaturgic role We are forced to carry witness. And yet this chorus, like its ancient Greek predecessors, is no mere, dispassionate, nonsubjective eyewitness rather, it is a witness rush testimony to truth-almost as in a legal proceeding, but that analogy fails to get under ones skin the nature of the testimony the chorus offers. In commenting upon the action of Thomas Beckets murder, the women are give tongue to insights into, reflections on, and conclusions about time, destiny, and life and death.In the end, they turn up as representatives of ordinary people-such as those who polish off up the audience of the play, or its readership-people who, knotty in and having settled for an existence of living and partly living, are unavailing to greet transcendence when it is offered to them. As they state in the plays final moments, not everyone can bear the loneliness, surrender, deprivation necessary to become a saint. Not all can be saints-but all can pray for their intercession.Thomas Becket is the Archbishop of Canterbury, former Chancellor to King Henry II, now estranged from the monarch because he insists upon the right of the Church to rule in spiritual matters-a rule that, in practice, has ramifications for how the king ought to rule in temporal matters. irrelevant the Chorus, Becket is able to stare into the existential abyss-that Void behind death and judgment, mentioned in Part II, that is more horrid than active shapes of hell. Becket is a lot accused of pride in the play, but he is actually humble in submitting himself completely to the will of God as he comprehends it. His death offers a glimpse of how transcendence can be achieved the only question that remains is wh ether the rest of humanity is able to trace the resembling path, to give its life / To the Law of God above the Law of Man. The Four Tempters present Becket, in Part I of the drama, with various ways of avoiding his impending death as a martyr.Their temptations correlate, to one degree or another, with the justifications of Beckets blackwash offered to the audience by The Four Knights at the end of the play. In a preceding(prenominal) note to the plays third edition (1937), Eliot indicated that the roles of the Tempters had been intended to be doubled-that is, played by the same actors-as the roles of the Knights, thus underscoring the connection between the twain quartets in an even stronger fashion.The Three Priests run the (admittedly little) dramatic action of Eliots play, particularly in Part II, when they urge Becket to bar the doors of the Cathedral against the knights-although they characterize them as savage beasts-who seek his life. They could thus be seen as represen ting the temporal order indeed, Becket at one point accuses them of thinking only as the world does-You argue by results, as this world does. On the other hand, the Priests also are capable of offering insight into the spiritual order.For example, the Third Priest affirms the Churchs endurance in the face of world built on the ruins of the presumed absence of God and earlier, he offers a key interpretive insight by stating, Even now, in sordid particulars / The without end design may appear. Like so many of us, then, the priests have one foot, so to speak, in the spiritual and the other in the temporal and they struggle to balance the twain orders as best they can, as do we all.Unfortunately, according to the argument of Eliots drama, there can ultimately be no rapprochement peace-that is to put forward, transcendence-is to be found only in the complete submission to Gods design, Gods pattern, Gods wheel of providence. Mortals, say both Jesus and Eliot, cannot serve both maste rs-and so the Priests are fundamentally impotent, unable to do anything but to pray to God with heavy reliance upon the intercession of exaltation Becket, as they, in their own way but like the Chorus, go on living and partly living.