Murder in the Cathedral

T.S. Eliot's 1935 play Murder in the Cathedral, performed in Canterbury Cathedral, transcends its historical setting to address enduring tensions between spiritual and temporal authority within Christian ecclesiology. While often interpreted as a meditation on Saint Thomas Becket’s martyrdom, the work critically engages with political and ecclesiastical power dynamics, reflecting anxieties of its time. The play dramatizes the conflict that has persisted since Constantine, challenging conventional narratives by emphasizing its political and theological dimensions over purely spiritual ones.

Horne, B. (2020). Murder in the Cathedral. International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church, 20(3-4), 275–287. https://doi.org/10.1080/1474225x.2020.1863694