Evidence for Ambivalence of Motives in Murder in the Cathedral

Authors

John P. Cutts, Oakland University

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, the first paragraph of the essay follows:

Ambiguity in T. S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral has often been noted, and recently has been the focus of Edna G. Sharoni's recent study, "'Peace' and 'Unbar the Door': T. S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral and Some Stoic Forebears."¹ I wish to suggest further that the ambiguity of the drama is also curiously underlined by Eliot's selection and use of certain historical and liturgical materials. Indeed, close examination of these materials even tends to suggest that the playwright has either consciously or unconsciously depicted the martyr Becket as a character of ambiguous motives.

Recommended Citation

Cutts, John P. (1974) "Evidence for Ambivalence of Motives in Murder in the Cathedral," Comparative Drama: Vol. 8: Iss. 2, Article 5.
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/compdr/vol8/iss2/5