Becket

Becket or The Honor of God is a 1959 play by the French dramatist Jean Anouilh. It portrays a fictionalized version of the conflict that took place between King Henry II of England and the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, in the 12th century. The English translation of the play premiered on Broadway in 1960 to great acclaim and was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film in 1964.

The central conflict of Becket, which ended in the archbishop’s assassination in his own cathedral by four of the king’s noblemen, is considered a notable episode in the history of church-state relations. Although he had been Henry’s best friend and advisor, Becket increasingly distanced himself from the king’s policies after his election as archbishop and fought for the rights of the clergy against the crown’s attempts to interfere in ecclesiastical affairs. Anouilh acknowledged that the play is historically inaccurate in some respects: Becket was Norman, not Saxon as depicted. Nevertheless, the themes of friendship versus duty and conflicting loyalties in a divided society are historically valid, connecting Becket with classic stage dramas of the past, like Shakespeare’s.

The play also includes existentialist themes more typical of the 1950s and 1960s. Becket is keenly aware of the absurdity of his situation, in which he is torn between loyalty to the church and the king, and to the Saxon and Norman factions in England. He is also aware of his compulsion to be true to his own value system, which places a high premium on honor. At the beginning of the play, Becket is devoted to the honor of the King, but after he discovers his religious calling, he realizes that the honor of God is of greater importance and he is willing to sacrifice his life to defend it.

This guide refers to the edition of Becket published translated by Lucienne Hill and published by Riverhead Books.

Plot Summary

In Act I, King Henry II visits the tomb of Thomas Becket, who has been assassinated. The King takes off his robe and is naked. While kneeling at the grave and awaiting a flogging punishment from church authorities for participating in the events that led to Becket’s murder, the King remembers better times when he and Becket were friends.

The narrative moves backward in time, and the audience sees Becket, a Saxon nobleman, accompany the King, a Norman, to the Privy Council. There, they discuss a tax levied by the King that the bishops refuse to pay. Hoping to resolve this issue, the King appoints Becket, a church deacon, to be his chancellor, and Becket skillfully out-argues the current archbishop of Canterbury, the bishop of Oxford, and the bishop of London in regard to the tax in question. Despite his earlier loyalty to the clergy, Becket says, “My mother is England now” (13).

The audience learns more about the unorthodox friendship between Becket and the King as the two come across a Saxon family while on a hunt together. Becket, a Saxon himself, fears that the King will rape the daughter of the family, so in order to spare her he tells the King that he wants her for himself. To show the transactional nature of their relationship, Henry says he wants to spend the night with Becket’s woman, Gwendolen, and Becket feels he has little choice but to comply. But rather than go through with a sexual act with the King, Gwendolen kills herself.

In Act II, Becket and the King are on the battlefield where the English forces have just defeated the French. Becket is reminded of himself at a younger age by a Saxon monk who is caught trying to assassinate the King. Becket’s increasingly cautious attitude toward the King is put to the test when the King appoints him to serve as the new archbishop of Canterbury to replace the one who has just died. Becket, who cannot fathom serving both Henry and God simultaneously, wants anything but to accept the position. However, he feels he has no choice.

Becket takes to his new godly role with the ascetic zeal of a monk, giving his possessions away to charity and inviting the poor to dinner at his residence.

In Act III, Becket makes his loyalty to God over the crown clear by insisting that three friends of the King who killed a monk be tried at the church’s court. This enrages Henry who now views Becket as his enemy. Becket escapes England and is protected provisionally by King Louis of France. Becket also travels to see the pope, torn over whether he can still serve as archbishop of Canterbury in good faith. He prays to God and decides that God has placed him in the position of archbishop for a reason, and therefore he cannot abandon his post.

In the final act, King Louis no longer wants the burden of protecting Becket, as it strains his relationship with Henry. Nevertheless, he does not wish to simply throw Becket to the wolves, so he attempts to organize a peace summit between the two men. The meeting results in the King guaranteeing that Becket can return to England safely. The King does not, however, mention what may or may not happen to Becket after he returns. Moreover, the King comes to the realization that Becket’s insubordinate behavior threatens his sovereignty. That Becket must not remain as archbishop is clear to Henry; however, it is not clear that the King truly wants him dead. Nevertheless, he bemoans to a group of his barons, of Becket, “Will no one rid me of him?” (111)

Whether or not the King means this literally, that is exactly how his barons take it. The barons attack and murder Becket along with his Saxon monk companion while the two are preparing to celebrate Mass in Canterbury Cathedral. This brings the audience up to date, and the first scene of the play is now revisited. the King has allowed himself to be flogged by the monks, to whom he promises to find and capture those responsible for Becket’s murder—even though, ironically, it is the King himself who is most responsible. The King walks out of the church with his head held high as the play ends.