Abstract
ABSTRACT T. S. Eliot’s Murder in The Cathedral accommodates politics and religion in its ideological and creative belly. In various discourses, politics and religion share an inevitable, interwoven correlation where the essence of one is upheld by the other through a dialectical alignment. The parallel configuration of both concepts in the text has elicited debates and critical responses regarding their compatibility or otherwise. However, studies have shown that there is a dominant interpretive consensus portraying religion as Eliot’s main focus thereby upholding a lopsided narrative which diminishes the thematic potential of the text. This article argues that there is an inevitable synthesis between politics and religion which imbricates their relationship in the text. Through demonstrable dialogism, the article further argues that Eliot propagates a dialectic of mutual dependency between politics represented by King Henry II and religion represented by Archbishop Thomas Becket. Thus, politics and religion are two different branches of the same existential paradigm and should be recognized as such. Eliot’s juxtaposition of the two concepts in the text constitutes a genuine reality which provides a new interpretive kernel.
Published Version
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