FREE ESSAY ON MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL

MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL

Murder in the Cathedral 
I believe the conflict and change within the main character, Thomas Beckett, was very
drastic. Thomas went from running away from his problems, to facing them and ultimate
killing
himself because of it. At the beginning of the play Thomas was running away from people
that
wanted to kill him or hurt him, because of his belief that the king didn't have power
over the
church. Throughout the play, Thomas questioned himself on why he was doing what he was
doing, and in the end he decided that if death was coming he couldn't cheat it. I admire
Thomas
on how made his final decision based on what he truly believed. Thomas's final decision,
was
what he believed in. I think that if he was content with his decision and if he felt that
it was the
best choice, than I am happy for him and don't disagree that he should have waited for
the
knights to calm down.
I think that the personification of the Tempters helped a great deal in the play. I feel
that
the tempters helped the reader understand why Thomas did what he did and they also helped
the
reader understand and put Thomas thoughts in order of importance to him. I liked it how
they
described how Thomas could have so much and be happy if he would just go along with the
king,
instead of against him. I feel that without the tempters, the play wouldn't have shown
the reader
the reason behind Thomas's decisions.
I feel that the significance of the Christmas Sermon was to tell the people that he
would
probably be leaving them and it would be his last sermon. Thomas talked about how a
martyr is
a special thing and that only special people that will remembered forever receive that
great honor. 
To me, it seemed as though he thought maybe he would be a martyr or that he might not
because
of his reasons behind the decisions he made, either way he wanted the people to remember
him.
I think that the reason why the playwright chose not to have the king appear, is because
there was no real need for him. The kings thoughts and decisions were well spoken by
other
people that relayed messages for the king. Whatever the king wanted said or done, he
could and
would have others do it for him. I don't think that it would be believable for the king
to visit
Thomas, either. I think that a king wouldn't be dumb enough to go out among people that
loved
Thomas and confront him. 
I think that the chorus was very important, because they predicted the future. Like at
the
beginning, when they said someone will die and that the people did fine without Thomas.
Also,
toward the end of the play, they also foresee Thomas's death in the cathedral. Without
the
chorus, I think things would definitely have come as a shock to the reader and there
would have
been more to question. Overall, the chorus did help set some scenes up, but I think the
play may
have been more interesting without them.
I think the reason for the knights explanation was very simple, to protect themselves
and
to help the reader understand that it was not necessarily a good thing they did even if
it was their
job. I also feel that they did it to explain that it was, in some ways, good for the
people also. His
death would bring everything divided together, because there would not be anyone against
the
kings plan. The knights also explained to the people that Thomas had a chance for a good
life
and harmony, but he through it away. They tell the people that Thomas is the one that
messed
with the harmony and changed things for the worse.
Overall, I liked the play, but as I said earlier, it was to predictable and they almost
told
you what was going to happen before it did. I liked it how Thomas stuck to his beliefs
and based
his decisions on what he thought was right, no matter what happened. Finally, I also
liked it,
because it showed me why church and state should be separated. It put it into perspective
and
proved that it isn't a good idea. I think this story should be used as an example in
history classes
when discussing the separation of church and state and how they became different.