Religious Ideology and Motivation of Action: A Study of Nature of Action in T. S. Eliot’s “Murder in the Cathedral”

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to re-establish the status of Archbishop Becket as a standard tragic hero of a religious play written by T. S. Eliot. Various critics have denounced the characterization of Archbishop Becket as a proper tragic hero, claiming that the entire process of the plot is devoid of ‘dramatic action', which is considered the backbone of any drama. In this paper the author has tried to illuminate on a renewed definition of ‘dramatic action' and consequently prove that the performance and actions of Archbishop Becket are, in fact, a process of mental action which nevertheless arrive the character to the definitive destination of all other dramatic heroes, i.e. a tragic death.