Becket

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1959

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Act Summaries & Analyses

Act I

Act II

Act III

Act IV

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Act IIChapter Summaries & Analyses

Act II Summary

At the war camp in France, the four barons discuss what sort of a man Becket is. One baron says not to think too much about it, while another suggests they wait until Becket shows his true colors. Becket enters and inquires about the camp marshal, Beaumont; the barons inform him that he fell from his horse in battle and was savagely killed by the French. Becket shrugs this off and says that the English must become “cutthroats” if they are to win the war.

Becket goes into the King’s tent and finds him in bed with a French woman. The two men discuss the management of the war, and Becket urges the King to crack down hard on the clergy in England to prevent them from becoming more powerful than the crown.

The King prepares to march victoriously into the city and meet the bishop. Just then, a soldier brings in a young monk who was arrested for carrying a knife under his robe. Becket questions the monk, a Saxon, and determines that he was trying to assassinate the King. Becket recognizes something of his younger self in the monk. Becket arranges to have the monk sent back to England and closely guarded.

As the King and Becket ride triumphantly into the city, Becket advises the King to behave well in front of the bishop and restrain his love of pleasure, thus putting on a good political front and setting a precedent for their future policies.

Later, the King waits impatiently in the cathedral for the bishop and Becket to arrive. When Becket comes, he announces that the ceremony will be delayed because of a possible French uprising. He will bring fresh troops into the city to deal with the threat.

A messenger brings some letters for the King. The King looks at the letters and announces a momentous piece of news: The archbishop of Canterbury has died. The King now tells Becket of the extraordinary plan he just conceived: He will nominate Becket as the new archbishop of Canterbury, to have a loyal man in the post who will not interfere with royal power. Becket is shocked by this idea, since he is not known for holiness and is not even a priest yet. The King replies that Becket can be ordained in short order and that the King will take any flak that results from the scheme. Becket protests that he “could not serve both God and you” (61), but the King insists that Becket is “the only man I trust” (61) and orders him to take the position.

The final scene of Act II is set in Becket’s room. Two servants are packing Becket’s clothes in a chest, surprised that he decided to give away his fancy attire to the poor. They are further bewildered when Becket tells them that he is inviting the poor people to have dinner at his house that night, and that everyone will eat out of simple wooden bowls instead of the usual golden ones.

Alone, Becket prays to Jesus. He feels happy and lighthearted at getting rid of his possessions but feels that it “seems far too easy” (64). He hopes God is not somehow tempting him and that people will not think he is insincere. Becket changes into a simple monk’s robe and sandals, drops to his knees, and continues praying.

Act II Analysis

Act II opens with one of the most existential scenes in the play. As the four barons sit around a campfire, the First Baron wonders aloud about what sort of a person Becket is: “This Becket then, who is he?” (38). The Second Baron interprets this as a mundane question about Becket’s job: “The Chancellor of England […]. I don’t see what else there is to inquire into in that score” (38). Philosophical questions are beyond him; for him everything boils down to function and practicality. He chides the First Baron for thinking too much: “A Baron who asks himself questions is a sick Baron” (39). This conversation continues a running theme in the play: contrasting an intelligent, reflective life—as illustrated by Becket—with an unthinking, mundane, and brutish life—as illustrated by the King and his courtiers.

At this point, Becket is still immersed in the amoral, cynical mentality of the court, though he has a more sophisticated mind. As he enters, audiences get a taste of his war philosophy. He argues that since “the world is certainly tending towards butchery” (42), one must become just as ruthless as the enemy. Yet he also recognizes that it is better to leave the conquered alive, so that the victor has an intact society to govern. Becket shows his prudent sense of action when he advises the King on how to behave toward the conquered: “A good occupational force must not crush, it must corrupt” (54). Similarly, when there is rumor of an insurrection, Becket forbids the barons from attacking prematurely: “But sheathe your swords. No provocation, please” (55). Thus, Becket provides a model of careful, measured, and prudent action.

The episode between Becket and the young monk is significant. The monk sees himself as fighting to liberate his people, the Saxons, from Norman domination. Becket, himself a Saxon, sees himself in the freedom-fighting monk; or he sees what he might have been, had he not become a tool of the system. Becket orders the monk to be treated “without brutality” and returned to England. The young monk will become a companion to Becket during the rest of the play, and their relationship will parallel that of Becket and the King.

The contrasting ways in which the King and Becket react to the death of the archbishop of Canterbury are illustrative. Becket, a protégé of the archbishop, is saddened by the death; the King merely sees it as a political opportunity and rejoices in it. When the King tells Becket that he wants him to fill the post, Becket is shocked and sees himself as unworthy of the job. But as with Gwendolen earlier in the act, Becket feels he has no choice but to accept, given his loyalty to the King. Throughout the rest of the play, audiences will watch as Becket grows—morally, spiritually, and existentially—into his new role, which will transform him. The end of Act II marks the point of no return for Becket.