Discuss Murder in the Cathedral as a poetic drama

Murder/n the Cathedra/is not a realist play but a meditation on the importance of doing the right thing, even if it means dying for it. Although set in the 12th century (1170) and concerning a real historical event, the murder of Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury, it was commissioned ¡n 1930s as a commentary on the murderous excesses of the Nazi regime. The play is written in a verse form meant to emphasize the timeless and universal qualities of good and evil, not to recreate a particular historical period.

The play hopes to show that people face the same threats of despotism and the same temptations to protect themselves rather than speak truth to power or stand up for what is right whether it be 1170 or the 1930s. For Eliot, Becket is a model or exemplar of courageous behavior that Eliot hopes others will emulate in the face of Hitler’s abuse of power. With its chanting choruses and theme of temptations (bringing us back to Christ in the desert and the timelessness of sin), the play’s theme of the timelessness of good and evil is reinforced by Eliot’s use of old fashioned forms of verse.

As an example of Eliot’s use of poetry, consider when he has Becket facing a fourth temptation: doing the right thing for the wrong reason, in this case, standing up to the king in order to become a martyr. He uses a rhyming couplet:

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