first choral ode begins with a heavy hint. Women are drawn towards Canterbury Cathedral, but they do not know why. At the beginning, there was confusion. They question, "Are you attracted to danger? Is knowledge of safety that which draws our feet in the Cathedral?" While the cathedral, however, they come to realization. "There is no danger to us, and there is no security at the cathedral. omen's act, which our eyes are forced to testify, has forced our feet towards the cathedral." They recognize that this is not their personal risk that draws them closer to the cathedral, but rather a hint of a frightening act which will be forced to testify. This will be an act so terrible, that security can not be found in the sacred halls of the cathedral.
After a period of a hint, first choral ode to the mood shifts dramatically away from the dark and mysterious foreboding about the act of concrete description of the past. The rest of the choral ode to serve as a way to bring the audience up to speed on the last seven years the history of Canterbury. While they carry the events of the past, women of Canterbury expressed constantly lurking fear for the safety of its archbishop. perfect example of this common theme found in the first choral ode in the next stanza, stating Chorus:
"Seven years and the summer is over,
Seven years after the Archbishop has left us,
One who is always so kind to his people.
But it would not be good if we come back. "
These lines are typical for the first choral ode, for not only the audience, explaining that the Archbishop Thomas Beckett went on for seven years, but fear for their own benefit and for the benefit of Canterbury, if he is to return. As a choral ode closer, the women of Canterbury give a sense of the inevitable wait. They say:
"Come, happy December, which will observe, that will keep you?
Is the Son of man be born again in contempt of litter?
For us, the poor, two actions,
But just wait and witness the "
They are welcome in the month of December, but then asked how it could possibly be a joyous time. Who will be able to celebrate Christmas and Advent season with the terrible events that are about to happen? Could Jesus be reborn in such contempt? Women in Canterbury know that there is little they can do at this point. They must wait, and then witness the act that they fear.
With the start of the second choral ode, the general mood shifts from confusion to fear and waiting. Women in Canterbury were informed that Beckett returns to Canterbury. This announcement arouses great anxiety among them. They fear that their way of life will be disrupted and threatened. They claim that Thomas still has not arrived at the following address:
"Come back. fast. Quiet. Let us die in silence.
You come with applause, come with joy, but
You come, bringing death in Canterbury:
doom on the house, ruin upon themselves, the collapse of the world ."
women say that although it will be a joy on the outside, a deep interior will be dominated by fear, because they believe that his arrival will come hand in hand with his own death. The idea is to fear the general theme of the second choral ode, because it repeats the whole line. Later in the choral ode, the women say, "We are afraid for fear that we can not know, we can not face, no one understands." This illustrates the depth and complexity of the fear that they face, because I do not know that neither he nor the struggle to fully comprehend. All people know that Thomas comes with death at his home in Canterbury, so I ask him to "leave us, leave us, leave us a brown Dover, and sailed for France ."
second choral ode to the fear becomes a reality in the third. Women in Canterbury know what the decision was made by Beckett. They tell him: "We were lucky, my Lord, we were not too happy. We are not ignorant women, we know what we expect and not expect." By these words, the women of Canterbury means that they understand the consequences that Thomas has chosen to stay in Canterbury. They know it will collapse if he left. Then the woman begins to despair. They cry, "God has given us still for some reason, some hope, but now a new terror, we were dirty, that nobody can prevent" and "God is leaving us, God is leaving us, more pain, more pain than the birth or death. "Women in Canterbury, which is always a belief in the idea of God protecting their Archbishop, believe that Thomas has turned to the Lord for protection by deciding to stay in Canterbury, for even God could not protect him from the wrath which is yet to come.
fourth choral ode that opens the second act of the head in a completely different direction than the intense despair third choral ode. Instead, the choral ode is more accepted, the congregation knows that death is coming Beckett. Nature is used throughout this choral ode to foreshadow his death. At one point, a woman of Canterbury said, "hungry crows sitting in a field, attentive, and the wood owl probe given the note of death." hungry crows that talk about symbolize the four Knights, coming in at Canterbury shortly after a choral ode is delivered. owl symbolizes the result of his visit to Canterbury: death, death to fear that they will be brought to Thomas. Although they accepted the situation, the women of Canterbury feel helpless, all they can do between that time and Thomas was waiting for death. As there is nothing we can do, say: "We wait, and time is short, but the wait was long ."
as the fifth choral ode begins, the helplessness of the fourth choral ode to carry more, but this time it is combined with an expression of guilt. Women are stuck in the Canterbury area. They mourn:
"Now it's too late for action, too soon to regret.
Anything is possible, but shamed faint
Of those calls to last humiliation.
I agreed, Lord Archbishop agreed ."
a woman realizes that the wheel turns and the everlasting effect leads to Beckett's downfall in motion. They are in despair, because it was too late for them to try and help their archbishop, but it is too early for them to seek forgiveness for allowing Beckett to be killed. murder of their Archbishop thing is that they are taking personal responsibility for, and they see it as a disgrace to them all. Their final cry of "I agree, the Lord Archbishop" really isolates and illustrates the tremendous guilt that they have brought upon themselves. Women in Canterbury believe that standing aside and allowing the Knights to threaten Thomas, they have consented to his murder. All they have left is the helplessness, guilt, and as always, waiting.
Six choral ode is met with a shift from helplessness to the intense distress. Archbishop Thomas Beckett has just been killed, a woman of Canterbury feel like they are together with Canterbury, were stained with the blood of their Archbishop. screams ref:
"Clear the air! Clear Skies! Wash the wind! Take
Stone from stone, take the skin of the hands,
Take the muscle from the bone, and wash them.
Wash the stone, wash the bones, brain washing,
Wash your soul, wash them wash them !"
As shown, the wife of Canterbury became obsessed with trying to wash herself clean of Beckett's blood. These words confirm that the women of Canterbury to see not only four knights as Thomas Beckett,was killer ,but it is as well . They feel heavy regrets, declaring:
"We do not want anything to happen
We understood the private catastrophe
personal loss, general poverty,
Living and partly living "
These lines show that, although they believe they are part of the murder, had been inadvertently included. They do not mean to be bad will come to their archbishop, but through their lack of action, their life and part of living, they allowed Beckett to face a tragedy, a tragedy that they are fully aware of their own. Women in Canterbury abandoned their Lord, and they do not know how to deal with their despair
the final choral ode begins not with despair but with grateful praise almighty God. full choral ode reads like a long prayer of praise, thanksgiving, and contrition for the merciful God. In places, the women of Canterbury even go so far as to compare their deceased Archbishop of Jesus Christ. At the beginning, they say, "We praise thee, O God, for your glory displayed in all creatures, " Women in Canterbury then go on to show their gratitude to God for faithfully praying: "We thank you for your mercy, blood, blood for your redemption . The blood of your martyrs and saints. "With these words, the women of Canterbury, thanks to God for their souls redeeming blood of Thomas, their archbishop. Through this line, comparing Eliot's murder of Thomas Beckett in the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, saying they both died to save the souls of those around them. Finally, the women of Canterbury to seek repentance, prayer: "Forgive us, O Lord, we recognize ourselves as a kind of common man, since men and women who shut the door and sit by the fire." On one level, seek forgiveness for standing by and doing nothing to prevent it from Beckett's death, because they are just common men. If you read further, however, they return to Christ as the image of Beckett. common men to ask for forgiveness, for, like Peter, they "sit by the fire" and denied his Lord. Just as Peter and allowed Christ to die, and women of Canterbury Thomas Beckett allowed to die.
seven choral ode in T.S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral tell the story of an ordinary person view events that occurred during that fateful December 1170 in Canterbury. Through hints and interesting use of language, TS Eliot trades Chorus will be one of, if not the most fascinating character is within the game. Their unique perspective on the murder of Thomas Beckett really makes Murder in the Cathedral one of the biggest plays 20th century.
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