Murder in the Cathedral: Part 1 Summary & Analysis

The play begins in the Archbishop’s Hall of Canterbury Cathedral; the date is December 29, 1170. The members of the Chorus—made up of common women of Canterbury—are the first to speak. They say that it’s been seven years since Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has left them, and that—despite his kindness as a spiritual leader—it would be best that he not return, though they do not explain why. The Chorus says that they have suffered since he’s left, but that they are nonetheless content if they are left alone, “to their own devices,” and unbothered by the wealthier members of society (barons, merchants, the king) who can lord their power over the Chorus in a coercive fashion.

Ultimately, the Chorus conveys a sense of powerlessness as they say that they expect some “malady” to fall upon them. They can only wait in anticipation, since destiny is controlled by God, and—as the poor folk of Canterbury—they have no power to change their lives through the world of politics and commerce. They truly are left to themselves—to their own inventiveness and, ultimately, their faith.

After the Chorus’s opening monologue, three priests enter the scene and discuss a feud which occurred between Archbishop Becket and the king some time ago, before Becket’s departure. The second priest wonders what the Archbishop does now that he’s abroad in France, with the English and the French king being caught up in a political battle of “ceaseless intrigue.” The third priest comments that he sees nothing “conclusive”—nothing effective, dignified, or merited—in “temporal” (everyday and earthly) political (versus religious) government. He adds that the only law which the keepers of temporal power uphold is that of seizing and maintaining a greedy, lustful power.

After the priests’ brief discussion, a herald enters the scene, and announces that Becket, the Archbishop, is in England. The first priest asks if the feud between Becket and the king has been resolved or not—whether Becket comes in war or in peace. The herald replies by saying that Becket’s return, even though it may seem cheerful and potentially peaceful at first, is really just the beginning of more turmoil.

The priests respond to the herald’s message. The first priest says he fears for the Archbishop and the Church, adding that he always thought Becket was out of place in the world of political power (Becket was formerly both Archbishop and Chancellor). The second priest develops this, saying that, with the spiritual leadership of Becket back in Canterbury, they can feel confident that they will be guided through whatever political problems the king, barons, and landholders may throw at them, and concludes that they therefore have cause to rejoice. The third priest, more philosophically, says that they must “let the wheel turn” for good or bad—they must let the passage of time and the unfolding of fate operate however it will, and with whatever consequences it brings for their lives, since the nature of good and evil cannot be totally comprehended.

After the priests’ discussion about Becket’s return to Canterbury, the Chorus weighs in. They say they want the Archbishop to go back to France, thinking his presence in Canterbury will spell only doom. “Living and partly living” for seven years, the Chorus describes their time living apart from the Archbishop as troubling, but at least tolerable. But Becket’s return imposes a “great fear” upon them (the possibility of his death—of losing their spiritual leader). They therefore plea that Becket go back to France. The second priest, hearing the Chorus’s reluctance about Becket’s return, condescends to them, calling them “foolish, immodest and babbling women.” He tells them to put aside whatever unmerited, personal fears they have, and give Becket a “hearty welcome.”

Becket enters the scene, and tells the second priest that the Chorus is not being foolish, but that they “speak better than they know, and beyond your [the second priest’s] understanding.” He then gives a philosophical description of the relationship between acting and suffering, saying that both are interdependent, “fixed / in an eternal action,” and constitute a fundamental pattern to existence. Becket then likens this pattern to a wheel that turns and yet is still at the same time.

The second priest apologizes for the poor welcome Becket received, as Becket walked in on the Chorus saying they didn’t want him to return. The second priest regrets that he and the other priests were unable to prepare an adequate welcome for Becket, since he arrived with such short notice, but the Archbishop says he is more than grateful for whatever accommodations the priest will provide, adding that these are small concerns compared to the greater distresses facing Canterbury.

Becket informs the priests that he evaded being killed on the way to Canterbury, because “rebellious bishops” who would have sent spies after him failed to intercept letters he’d sent—letters describing where he’d be going once he left France. In response, the first priest asks Becket if anyone might be following him, and his answer is unusual: Becket describes his enemies like a “hungry hawk” preying on him, but does not make any conclusive statement about whether he feels safe or not. Instead, he says the “end will be simple, sudden,” and “God-given,” though whether he intends this “end” to be the death of his enemies or himself is unclear.

The first tempter, a former friend of both Becket and the king, enters the scene. He says he hopes that, despite the seriousness of Becket’s current situation, Becket will nonetheless excuse him for the cheeriness and comparably trivial nature of the topic he wants to discuss. The tempter tries to get Becket to remember when he and the king were good friends, and says that friendship shouldn’t let itself be undone by the passage of time. He also thinks that Becket should drop his problems with the king, claiming that mending their relationship will have a trickle-down effect on solving the problems of the Church.

When Becket concedes that the first tempter is discussing a past worth remembering, the tempter says he’s also talking about the “new season”—about the joys of the incoming spring. But Becket replies that neither he nor anyone else knows about the future, and further, that whatever has happened in the past cannot happen again.

The first tempter gives up trying to convince Becket, saying he’ll leave the Archbishop to the pleasures of his “higher vices,” mocking Becket’s religion. Still, he leaves Becket on relatively friendly terms, saying that if Becket will think of him during prayer, he’ll think of Becket “at kissing-time below the stairs.”

The second tempter enters the scene, and reminds Becket of how they met many years ago. He says that Becket made a mistake when he resigned from the office of Chancellor, to which Henry II appointed him along with the role of Archbishop. This tempter says that the power of the Chancellor is much greater, and more real, than that of the Archbishop. While the power of the Chancellorship is in the present, he says, the holiness of the Archbishop is “hereafter.” Becket responds by calling the Chancellorship a “punier power” compared to his own as Archbishop, and says that those who have faith in political, worldly orders not controlled by God only “breed fatal disease.” The second tempter leaves, calling Becket a sinner.

The third tempter appears, and introduces himself to Becket as a “country-keeping lord” and a “rough straightforward Englishman,” and not a trifler or politician. He says that country lords like himself are the people who truly know England and its needs. He then starts his proposal to Becket by claiming that, once real friendship ends, it can never be recovered, so there’s no hope for Becket to reconcile with the king. But other “friends,” the tempter says, can be found in Becket’s situation: the country lords like himself—the English barons. He then proposes that Becket help him in a plot to overthrow King Henry II—that Becket procure the Pope’s blessing for a coalition of the country-lord middle class, formed with the aim of ending the king’s “tyrannous jurisdiction.”

Becket rejects the third tempter’s proposal, saying that he’d never betray a king. The tempter leaves, and tells Becket that he hopes the king will one day show more regard for Becket’s loyalty.

The fourth tempter enters the scene, and commends the strength of Becket’s will in rejecting the other tempters’ proposals. He says that kingly rule, and all other political power beneath the king, pales in comparison to spiritual power, and affirms the magnitude of Becket’s power as Archbishop, saying that “the course of temporal power” leads only to destruction, instability, and falsity. He further points out the futility and impermanence of kingly rule, since kings just keep dying and replacing one another, implementing new reigns that will never last. The saint and the martyr, however, rule from the grave, the tempter says—and he asks Becket to think about such glory after death.

Ultimately, the fourth tempter tells Becket to follow the path of martyrdom—to make himself “the lowest / On earth, to be high in heaven.” But Becket is repulsed. He acknowledges that the fourth tempter tempts Becket with his actual, personal desires, while the others have only been concerned with the temporal, worldly order of things—things he actively shuns.

Ashamed that this fourth tempter has revealed his innermost desires, Becket wonders if it is even possible to escape damnation on account of pride (such as his desire for glory and renown because of martyrdom). In response, the tempter repeats the same speech about the relationship between acting and suffering (using the image of the wheel) which Becket gave to the priests before.

After the fourth tempter finishes his proposal, all four tempters, in unison, proclaim that human life “is a cheat and a disappointment,” and that everything, for humankind, is either “unreal or disappointing.” They say that humans only pass from unrealities to further unrealities, “intent / On self-destruction,” and that humankind is the enemy of itself and of its own society.

After the tempters give their opinion about the nature of humankind, the priests all plead, in unison, for Becket to not enter a fight he can’t win—to not “fight the intractable tide” or “sail the irresistible wind.” They want Becket to hold off on immediately implementing his own religious agenda in Canterbury, and wait for the political conflict bred by his presence to cool down.

The Chorus addresses their Lord, Becket, and says that they are not ignorant or idealistic; they say they know what to expect and what not to, and that they are intimately familiar with political coercion and personal/physical hardships. Yet God always gave them some hope, they say, whereas now a new fear haunts them—a fear which they cannot avoid. They say that God is leaving them, and beg Becket to save them by saving himself, for if their Archbishop is destroyed, then they will be destroyed themselves.

The first part of the play ends with a monologue by Becket. He’s now certain of his fated path, and proclaims that he will never again feel temptation in so overwhelming a manner as the fourth tempter’s proposal. The fourth tempter encouraged Becket “to do the right deed for the wrong reason”—to sacrifice himself through martyrdom not for a sheer love of, and faith in, God, but rather a selfish desire for spiritual glory and power.

Becket goes on to recount how, in his youth, he sought pleasure in all the wrong, superfluously secular ways, through such means as philosophy, music, and chess. He also reveals that he never wanted to become a servant of God, and says that God’s servants risk committing greater sin and experiencing more sorrow than someone who serves a king.

Becket concludes by acknowledging that most people will view his commitment to God and martyrdom as fanatical, but he nevertheless commits himself to his divine cause, and asks an Angel of God to protect him from getting caught in the human divide between suffering and action.