Becket or the Honor of God is a Tony Award-winning play written in French by Jean Anouilh. It is a depiction of the conflict between Thomas Becket and King Henry II of England leading to Becket's murder in 1170, but contains many historical inaccuracies which the author acknowledged.
The play was first produced in 1961. An English language version (translated by Lucienne Hill) was published in 1960 and made into a successful film, starring Peter O'Toole as King Henry II and Richard Burton as Thomas Becket. A 33-rpm LP record of "Dialogue Highlights from the Paramount Motion Picture Becket" was also released in 1964.
Anouilh's interpretation of the historical story, though often ironic, is more straightforward than T. S. Eliot's play on the same subject, Murder in the Cathedral, which was intended as primarily a religious treatment. However, there are one or two similarities in the interpretation.
In the Introduction to the play, Anouilh explained that he based it on a chapter of an old book he had bought because its green binding looked good on his shelves. He and his wife read the 30 pages about Thomas Becket, and she urged him to write a play about Thomas, so he did -- knocking out the first part in only 15 days. It was not until he showed the finished play to a friend that he found out the old book he had based it on was totally wrong about the facts. Having built his play on Becket's being a Saxon (when he was actually a Norman whose family was from near Rouen and called "Bequet" in French), Anouilh could not recast the play to accord with historical facts, so he decided to let it stand.
Aspects of the content that can safely be considered true are the conflicts between England and France, church and state, and the outline biography of Becket.
Becket Closed 11 December 2004 is a Play by Jean Anouilh in a new translation Frederic and Stephen Raphael.
Henry made Becket Archbishop of Canterbury and finally, with a purpose to his life, Becket followed his new vocation with such zeal that their two worlds could only collide, with devastating consequences.
Becket John Caird's revival of Jean Anouilh's playBecket at The Haymarket Theatre Royal has posted closing notices for 11 December 2004 The cast of 15 features Dougray Scott as 'Becket' and Jasper Britton as 'Henry II'.
Becket is appointed an archdeacon of Canterbury, but he is not a priest and has never celebrated a mass.
Henry and Becket share a love of hunting and chess but—contrary to the depiction in the play—Becket draws the line at womanizing, having taken a vow of chastity in his youth.
Becket gives away his luxurious possessions, wearing a monk’s habit, and beneath it, to remind himself of the weakness of the flesh, a rough hair shirt.
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