Murder in the Cathedral Murder in the Cathedral Murder in the Cathedral is a verse drama by T.S. Eliot, first performed in 1935, that portrays the assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. Eliot drew heavily on the writing of Edward Grim, a clerk who was an eyewitness to the event. The play, dealing with an individual's opposition to authority, was written at the time of rising fascism in Central Europe. Some material that the producer asked Eliot to remove or replace during the writing was transformed into the poem "Burnt Norton". The action occurs between 2 and 29 December 1170,
The Family Reunion that apart from the chorus of baffled uncles and aunts, "one looks elsewhere in vain for any articulate philosophy." "The Times" commented on the lack of drama in the play, but concluded, "But the play as a whole, though it lacks something of stage force, is still one which Mr Eliot may be proud to have written." The director of the play, E. Martin Browne summed up the critical response: In 1951, in the first Theodore Spencer Memorial Lecture at Harvard University, Eliot criticised his own plays, specifically "Murder in the Cathedral", "The Family Reunion", and "The Cocktail Party". Eliot