The Conflict and Aspect of Reality and Ideals in Murder in the Cathedral

Abstract

In Murder in the Cathedral, Eliot depicts the conflicts between the laws of heaven and those of the earth. The church has addressed problems with religious laws or taken them to the workings of the Holy Spirit while the world has responded to them with the constitution or other secular laws. In the church, primarily the priests are responsible for the task; in the world the Supreme Judge is in its charge. The Archbishop Thomas stood at the intersection of the secular world and the religious ideals. At that time, Henry II tried to take hold of the church for the efficiency and easiness of his ruling. In other words, he set up a scheme to subsume the law of the church under those of the world, namely, the Constitutions of Clarendon. However, Thomas refused to acquiesce and spent 7 years in France in exile before returning to Canterbury for martyrdom. While conversing with the tempters, he realizes that his life and will are connected to the hell through his own ambition and pleasure, and he redefines the meaning of martyrdom. Finally, freed from fear or horror, he is martyred by the knights. In the end, Thomas’s blood stops Henry II’s tyranny, leads to the king’s reconciliation with the Pope, and brings true peace to both Canterbury/Earth and Heaven as Jusus’ blood did.