Essay, Research Paper: Becket's Honor

Honor. What is honor? Honor is the feeling or expression of admiration, respect, or esteem.
This idea played a major role in Becket. To whom did Thomas Becket's honor belong?...to King
Henry II?...to God? Well, this changed, not only in direction, but also in intensity, throughout the
play. In the play, we see what caused Becket's intense feeling of honor to change from being in the
King's favor to that of God's.
It was very noticeable early on in the play that Becket and the King were the best of friends and
Becket served only the King. Becket's honor to the King can be seen by the quote, "My Lord and
King has given me his Seal with the Three Lions to guard. My mother is England now" (Anouilh
13). Becket said this while he and the King were discussing, with the Archbishop and Folliot, the
matter of the Church's obligations to the State. Their good friendship could be seen by one of their
discussions where the King asked, "Thomas, what would I do without you?...why do you play at
being my valet?" (Anouilh 4) and in response Becket said, "I am your servant, my prince, that's
all...I like helping you" (Anouilh 4). So, it was obvious that Becket honored the king and also, in a
way, loved him.
Becket's honor toward the King faded and eventually turned to God as the play progressed.
This started when Becket, the King, and Gwendolen were in the same room and the King ordered
Gwendolen to play a certain lament for him that Becket did not wish to be played. Then the King
decided to test Becket's honor by asking him for Gwendolen. On the outside, Becket wanted to show
his full honor towards the King, so he gave her to him. Inside him, though, he was upset about that
decision. When the King told him that Gwendolen has killed herself, Becket felt very troubled.
Shortly after, Becket, showing that he is unsure about where his honor is now, asked himself, "But
where is Becket's honor?" (Anouilh 37). Another important part is how Becket reacted to his being
appointed Archbishop. He foreshadowed how his honor would change sides if appointed
Archbishop. This was seen when Becket said, "If I become Archbishop, I can no longer be your
friend" (Anouilh 61) and "I could not serve both God and you" (Anouilh 61). Later in prayer, he
showed how his honor toward God was growing when he said, "...I never enjoyed myself so much in
my whole life...the joy I feel in shedding all my riches must be a part of your divine intervention"
(Anouilh 64). So, Becket is now understanding where his honor should be, but his pursuit of this will
bring him against the King.
We see how the conflict between Becket and the King developed externally and worsened
towards the end of the play. Becket, instead of going in person, sent a monk to deliver a message and
the Seal of England to the King. Henry was sad, yet outraged. Later, Becket added to the King's fury
by excommunicating three of his friends for their acts against the Church. He was trying to show
where his honor is by defending the Church. Henry approached Folliot and showed how he felt about
Becket when he said, "I hate Becket now...there is nothing more in common between that man and
me than this creature tearing at my guts" (Anouilh 72). So, the King and Folliot came up with an
idea to falsely accuse Becket of wrongdoing. Becket appeared in court but warned everybody that
they would be going against God if they tried him in that state court. While the conflict between the
two worsens, Becket's honor toward God grows deeper and deeper. In the end, Becket had built up
his honor enough to face his death in England.
So, it can be seen that Becket turned his whole life around by becoming Archbishop. He used
to enjoy many delicacies of the Normans but chose to honor God to the fullest extent that he could. It
is very easy to see in the end of the play to whom Becket's honor belonged. All his honor was in
favor of God. Becket chose to die before he could betray God, which he foretold when he was
speaking to the Bishop of York about the excommunications and said, "But you passed the burden
on to me and now I have to carry it. I have rolled up my sleeves and taken it on my back and
nothing will ever make me set it down again" (Anouilh 79).