T. S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral

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Murder in the Cathedral

(1935) is a historical verse drama

by T. S. Eliot about the martyrdom of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, in December 1170. It has become the best-known and most often produced of Eliot’s dramatic works. The play was first performed at the Chapter House of Canterbury Cathedral on the evening of 19 June 1935 as part of that year’s Canterbury Festival. Eliot’s text of the play had been available in an abbreviated Acting Edition since 10 May, and its officially published full version had just been issued on 13 June by Faber and Faber, of which Eliot was a director. He would subsequently revise that text in successive editions: this article describes the version given in the fourth edition (1938), as reprinted in the

Collected Plays

(1962). Eliot’s play…

1917 words

Citation: Baker, William. "Murder in the Cathedral". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 February 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=3412, accessed 21 November 2024.]

3412 Murder in the Cathedral 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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