‘A man returns to his homeland foreseeing that he will be killed, and he is killed.’ This is how T.S. Eliot summarises the ‘somewhat limited action’ of this play, which he wrote for the Canterbury Festival in June 1935.
Murder in the Church is the first complete play that Eliot wrote for the stage. Today, Eliot’s work has been exhaustively analysed; numerous references have been made to Murder in the Church, ranging from Aeschylus to Sherlock Holmes. As was clear from the outset of this note, my aim was not to confuse the reader with such details, which I believe would weigh them down. The work is simple; if articulated correctly and heard correctly, in keeping with its rhythm, it needs no props; it stands on its own.
From the foreword by Giorgos Seferis (Athens, July 1963)
- Pages: 119
- ISBN: 978-960-7721-03-7
- Publication: 1963
- Dimensions: 20,5 x 15
- Categories: Literature, Books, Θέατρο
T.S. Eliot
He was born in St Louis, Missouri, in the USA, in 1888, into a Puritan aristocratic family of distinguished scientists, and was brought up according to the principles of his grandfather, who was a theologian. He studied at Smith Academy in Massachusetts and was awarded a gold medal in Latin by Milton Academy. He studied four languages: Greek, Latin, French and German, as well as medieval history, comparative literature and the history of modern philosophy. He also attended philosophy lectures at Harvard given by B. Russell in 1914, as well as courses in Sanskrit and modern Indian philosophy. A scholar of French literature, he devoted himself to poetry. In 1915, Eliot settled in London, teaching in schools, and was later appointed to Lloyd’s Bank in London, where he worked for eight years.
His poetry is divided into five periods. The first period (1909–1919) includes the poems: ‘The Love Song of Alfred Prufrock’, ‘Portrait of a Lady’, ‘Preludes’, and others. The second period (1920–1925) includes the poems: ‘Gerontion’, ‘Hippopotamus’, ‘The Waste Land’, etc. The third period includes “The Empty Men”, whilst the fourth period (1927–1934) comprises the poems: “The Journey of the Magi”, “A Song for Simeon”, “Animula”, “Rock”, etc. The fifth period (1935–1942) includes the “Four Quartets”. His plays are “Murder in the Cathedral”, “Sweeny Agonistes”, “Cocktail Party” and others. As a journalist and critic, he produced notable works. From 1922, when he was editor of the magazine ‘Kritirion’, his aim was to create a platform for new trends in literature and criticism. His essays and studies include: "Tradition and Individual Talent", 1919, "The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism", 1933, "Notes on the Definition of Culture", 1948, "Poetry and Drama", 1951, and others. In 1948, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. He died on 4 January 1965.
