[fantasyfan]

The final section dramatises the martyrdom of Thomas and probes the deeper levels of the meaning of that act.

In the splendid opening, the chorus are reacting to the message of the sermon of the Archbishop. The poetry clearly reveals a deepening awareness of the necessity of the sacrifice in the Lord that Thomas must make.

"The peace of this world is always uncertain, unless men keep the peace of God.
And war among men defiles this world, but death in the Lord renews it,
And the world must be cleaned in the winter, or we shall have only
A sour spring, a parched summer, an empty harvest."

The section with the three priests heightens the drama through references to Christ's sacrifice which will now be emulated by Thomas. We again note the deeper insights of the third Priest.

"Every day is the day we should fear from or hope from. One moment
Weighs like another. Only in retrospection, selection,
We say, that was the day. the critical moment
That is always now, and here. Even now, in sordid particulars
The eternal design may appear."

The murder focuses on the refusal of Thomas to recant, thereby remaining true to his spiritual values and loyalty to the Church and ultimately to God. Again Eliot gives wonderful powerful speeches filled with beauty and deep layers of psychological and spiritual significance to the Chorus.

The four knights turn to the audience and--in prose--give their justifications for the murder. Nothing they say links to the world of the Spirit. Instead they refer to the political situation. Thomas has made things uncomfortable. He has to be removed. Political expediency can justify anything--including murder.

"Unhappily, there are times when violence is the only way in which social justice can be secured."

Eliot clearly states that in the modern world the attitude that the secular state must always be more significant than the Church is still a dominant position. The audience must face the unpleasant truth that they are partners in the murder.

"We have been instrumental in bringing about the state of affairs that you approve. We have served your interests; we merit your applause; and if there is any guilt whatever in the matter, you must share it with us."

The Fourth Knight really accuses Thomas of rocking the boat rather than avoiding the problem. He insisted on standing up for Spiritual principles which the Secular State found annoying and brought his death on himself by advocating them to the point of death. And it was his own fault.

" . . . he could still have easily escaped; he could have kept himself from us long enough to allow our righteous anger to cool. That was just what he did not wish to happen; he insisted, while we were still inflamed with wrath, that the doors should be opened. Need I say more? I think, with those facts before you, you will unhesitatingly render a verdict of Suicide while of Unsound Mind. It is the only charitable verdict you can give, upon one who was, after all, a great man."

Much the same could be said of Christ.

But the Knights do not have the final word. Eliot returns to poetry and the play ends with the priests and the great final Chorus.

This is a magnificent, deeply spiritual drama probably the greatest of its genre since Milton's Samson Agonistes.