What Happened To Thomas Becket's Death?
Thomas Becket and King Henry ll were very good friends. They were more than just a servant and a king. King Henry ll thought very highly of Thomas and wanted him to be a large influence in the church. King Henry ll decided to make Thomas the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was ordained as a Priest and then advanced to Archbishop days later. The men always brought up problems to each other and worked it out between themselves. Eventually, they started to disagree. Instead of giving in and agreeing, they were arguing with each other. Henry became very angry with Thomas and took him to trial. Thomas ended up having to flee the country for six years. In the story, this was very confusing to me when they said Thomas was gone for seven years. When I was reading it, I thought Thomas had died. Thomas returned to his city and went back
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to his people. The community was very happy to have him back and was very sad for the years he was gone. They were filled with disappointment and sadness. Eventually, Thomas was murdered in the Cathedral under the King’s orders. The knights came to him and explained to him that he was a traitor and did not do what the King wanted of him. Thomas did not agree with them and tried to justify his case. The knights were given specific orders and wanted to obey the King. They murdered Thomas and explained to the people of the community why they did it. The King took things way too far in the disagreement. He already sent Thomas away for years and made him leave his home and people he loves. I believe that Henry took advantage of his power during this. If the King really cared about Thomas, then he would have tried to help him and talk to him instead of taking his life.
Response 2:
Word Count: 309 The chorus in the story had a very impactful role. In the beginning, they were very sad about Thomas Becket leaving. Since he was sent away, they were filled with disappointment. This showed through their songs. When Thomas returned, the priest told the women that they were disrespectful. He talked down to them and showed very little respect. This is very important in the story, because women were looked down on. Since the chorus was an all women's choir, they were not treated very equally. Men were on higher power than women. Throughout the whole story, the chorus sings of how they feel. Their songs change frequently and are often about Thomas. The role that the chorus plays in the story is showing the reader emotions. Usually, women are more emotional than men so it is important to note that they are an all women's choir. Emotion is vital in this story. Since the men do not really express their feelings, the women do it for them. After something important happened in the play, the chorus would sing about it. Their words speak to the reader and give them an idea of what it would be like to experience this tragedy.
They are also speaking for the whole community and the thoughts of the people. This is the social role that the chorus is representing. The women show the story from an outsider's perspective. They are not directly affected, but they still feel very strongly about it. Thomas was a big influence to a lot of people and they enjoyed his presence very much. When the chorus sings, they are very honest. They say exactly what they feel without worry of judgement. The chorus plays a very important role in the story because of this. T.S. Elliot does an amazing job of expressing emotion from an outside source.
Response 3:
Word Count: 306 The tempters in the story play a very important role. Their job is to offer Thomas a reward in this life in return for his taking back his judgments against the King. The first tempter offers Thomas worldly power and success. Thomas does not accept this offering because he does not want to take anything back. The second tempter offers him temporal power through negation of spiritual authority. Thomas also declines this offering. The third tempter offers him support of a faction wishing to overthrow the throne. Thomas denies him as well. The fourth tempter was a little bit different. He offered Thomas martyrdom and eternal glory. Thomas denies this offering as well.
Thomas denied all of the tempters because he does not believe into falling into temptation. He worked hard to get where he is at and did not want go against God. God does not want us to fall into worldly desires. He wants us to focus on him instead of man. When we focus on worldly desires, we are sinning against God. Thomas was smart and did not fall into this temptation. He knew that he would die when he was worthy. Thomas felt like he was prepared to die since he had a good relationship with God. Standing up for what he believes was a very good decision. When it comes down to declaring faith, God wants us to chose wisely.
Even though the tempters offerings had very good things to offer, Thomas did not think it was worth it. He did not want to go against his Father and did not want to take back what he thought of the King. Thomas decided to not fall into temptation and risk being killed. He wanted to stay faithful to God and keep loving him even though he was offered very tempting options.
Response 4:
Word Count: 331 The knights in the story are the most important. They were sent from the King to kill Thomas. They first started out by asking Thomas a lot of questions and accusing him of being a terrible person. They told him they would have to kill him since he was being disloyal to the King and God. Thomas disagreed with them and tried to stand up for himself. Since the mission was from the King, the knights could not disobey them. The knights were drunk because it was their way of handling the murder. Since they were not motivated to kill Thomas, they needed alcohol to take their mind off of it. The alcohol was used to keep their minds blurred so what they were doing did not seem as bad as it really was. The knights did not necessarily want to murder Thomas, but that was the King’s order. They did not want to go against the king and disrespect his command. The job the King gave them was not honorable and the knights used the alcohol to try and forget.
T.S. Elliot waits to reveal the knights names until the end of the play so it is more dramatic. Before, the knights were noble men and good servants. Now, they are murders of the Archbishop, Thomas Becket. They are now more important to the story and their names have more meaning. Adding the names at the end makes the story make the storyline more personal and add emotion that was not there before.
Elliot has the knights justify their reason for murder so they do not look like bad people. If they were to murder Thomas and walk away, then they would have looked very bad. The knights wanted the people to know that they did not want to do this, but it was the mission they were put on by the King. They also wanted the community to know their side of the story and the King’s perspective.
Response 5:
Word Count: 347 Martyrdom is a large issue in this play.
Elliot writes about how Thomas Becket was killed and his religious beliefs had a lot to do with that. Religion is not the only reason Thomas was killed though. Thomas and King Henry ll were very good friends for a long time. They went to each other with problems in the church and always confided in one another. Eventually, Thomas and Henry started to fight and argue. Henry sent Thomas away for a while as a punishment. When he came back, Henry wanted him dead. Thomas was a big influence on the church and the community loved him. Henry let an argument get in the way of a very good friendship. Henry let his social life effect what is best for the church. Thomas was not only killed because of his religious beliefs, but also because of his social interactions. A lot of times social interactions can cause issues. The Priests were treating the Chorus very poorly just because they are women. This is the same thing that happened with Thomas and Henry. Henry used his power to control Thomas. He was using his position as King to do whatever he wanted with Thomas’s life no matter what it would be to his
people. Even though Thomas was a good influence on the people of the church, Henry wanted him gone. Social class is a very big deal to some people in the world. For King Henry to take THomas,s life over an argument is very ungodly. He is supposed to be a good influence on the church, but instead he is showing that murder is okay. He is showing his people that taking someone's life over religion and social class is acceptable as a child of God. If he actually wanted what God wants, he would not have done this. He would have confronted his problems instead of avoiding them and taking them to extremes. He would have prayed and tried to work out his disagreement without taking a precious life that God put on this earth.
to his people. The community was very happy to have him back and was very sad for the years he was gone. They were filled with disappointment and sadness. Eventually, Thomas was murdered in the Cathedral under the King’s orders. The knights came to him and explained to him that he was a traitor and did not do what the King wanted of him. Thomas did not agree with them and tried to justify his case. The knights were given specific orders and wanted to obey the King. They murdered Thomas and explained to the people of the community why they did it. The King took things way too far in the disagreement. He already sent Thomas away for years and made him leave his home and people he loves. I believe that Henry took advantage of his power during this. If the King really cared about Thomas, then he would have tried to help him and talk to him instead of taking his life.
Response 2:
Word Count: 309 The chorus in the story had a very impactful role. In the beginning, they were very sad about Thomas Becket leaving. Since he was sent away, they were filled with disappointment. This showed through their songs. When Thomas returned, the priest told the women that they were disrespectful. He talked down to them and showed very little respect. This is very important in the story, because women were looked down on. Since the chorus was an all women's choir, they were not treated very equally. Men were on higher power than women. Throughout the whole story, the chorus sings of how they feel. Their songs change frequently and are often about Thomas. The role that the chorus plays in the story is showing the reader emotions. Usually, women are more emotional than men so it is important to note that they are an all women's choir. Emotion is vital in this story. Since the men do not really express their feelings, the women do it for them. After something important happened in the play, the chorus would sing about it. Their words speak to the reader and give them an idea of what it would be like to experience this tragedy.
They are also speaking for the whole community and the thoughts of the people. This is the social role that the chorus is representing. The women show the story from an outsider's perspective. They are not directly affected, but they still feel very strongly about it. Thomas was a big influence to a lot of people and they enjoyed his presence very much. When the chorus sings, they are very honest. They say exactly what they feel without worry of judgement. The chorus plays a very important role in the story because of this. T.S. Elliot does an amazing job of expressing emotion from an outside source.
Response 3:
Word Count: 306 The tempters in the story play a very important role. Their job is to offer Thomas a reward in this life in return for his taking back his judgments against the King. The first tempter offers Thomas worldly power and success. Thomas does not accept this offering because he does not want to take anything back. The second tempter offers him temporal power through negation of spiritual authority. Thomas also declines this offering. The third tempter offers him support of a faction wishing to overthrow the throne. Thomas denies him as well. The fourth tempter was a little bit different. He offered Thomas martyrdom and eternal glory. Thomas denies this offering as well.
Thomas denied all of the tempters because he does not believe into falling into temptation. He worked hard to get where he is at and did not want go against God. God does not want us to fall into worldly desires. He wants us to focus on him instead of man. When we focus on worldly desires, we are sinning against God. Thomas was smart and did not fall into this temptation. He knew that he would die when he was worthy. Thomas felt like he was prepared to die since he had a good relationship with God. Standing up for what he believes was a very good decision. When it comes down to declaring faith, God wants us to chose wisely.
Even though the tempters offerings had very good things to offer, Thomas did not think it was worth it. He did not want to go against his Father and did not want to take back what he thought of the King. Thomas decided to not fall into temptation and risk being killed. He wanted to stay faithful to God and keep loving him even though he was offered very tempting options.
Response 4:
Word Count: 331 The knights in the story are the most important. They were sent from the King to kill Thomas. They first started out by asking Thomas a lot of questions and accusing him of being a terrible person. They told him they would have to kill him since he was being disloyal to the King and God. Thomas disagreed with them and tried to stand up for himself. Since the mission was from the King, the knights could not disobey them. The knights were drunk because it was their way of handling the murder. Since they were not motivated to kill Thomas, they needed alcohol to take their mind off of it. The alcohol was used to keep their minds blurred so what they were doing did not seem as bad as it really was. The knights did not necessarily want to murder Thomas, but that was the King’s order. They did not want to go against the king and disrespect his command. The job the King gave them was not honorable and the knights used the alcohol to try and forget.
T.S. Elliot waits to reveal the knights names until the end of the play so it is more dramatic. Before, the knights were noble men and good servants. Now, they are murders of the Archbishop, Thomas Becket. They are now more important to the story and their names have more meaning. Adding the names at the end makes the story make the storyline more personal and add emotion that was not there before.
Elliot has the knights justify their reason for murder so they do not look like bad people. If they were to murder Thomas and walk away, then they would have looked very bad. The knights wanted the people to know that they did not want to do this, but it was the mission they were put on by the King. They also wanted the community to know their side of the story and the King’s perspective.
Response 5:
Word Count: 347 Martyrdom is a large issue in this play.
Elliot writes about how Thomas Becket was killed and his religious beliefs had a lot to do with that. Religion is not the only reason Thomas was killed though. Thomas and King Henry ll were very good friends for a long time. They went to each other with problems in the church and always confided in one another. Eventually, Thomas and Henry started to fight and argue. Henry sent Thomas away for a while as a punishment. When he came back, Henry wanted him dead. Thomas was a big influence on the church and the community loved him. Henry let an argument get in the way of a very good friendship. Henry let his social life effect what is best for the church. Thomas was not only killed because of his religious beliefs, but also because of his social interactions. A lot of times social interactions can cause issues. The Priests were treating the Chorus very poorly just because they are women. This is the same thing that happened with Thomas and Henry. Henry used his power to control Thomas. He was using his position as King to do whatever he wanted with Thomas’s life no matter what it would be to his
people. Even though Thomas was a good influence on the people of the church, Henry wanted him gone. Social class is a very big deal to some people in the world. For King Henry to take THomas,s life over an argument is very ungodly. He is supposed to be a good influence on the church, but instead he is showing that murder is okay. He is showing his people that taking someone's life over religion and social class is acceptable as a child of God. If he actually wanted what God wants, he would not have done this. He would have confronted his problems instead of avoiding them and taking them to extremes. He would have prayed and tried to work out his disagreement without taking a precious life that God put on this earth.