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Work #1169 · Mid

Murder in the Cathedral

Thomas Stearns Eliot
1935 · English
Verse drama · Anglo-American modernism / Anglo-Catholic religious drama

Eliot's 1935 verse drama — the 1170 martyrdom of Thomas Becket; church-state confrontation as religious-political tragedy

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Murder in the Cathedral (Mid)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Finite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Personal
Observer · Moral Authority Tradition
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Murder in the Cathedral

The December 1170 historical setting; the 1935 dramatic-production moment.

Space

Murder in the Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral as historical setting and as 1935 performance space.

Matter

Murder in the Cathedral

The embodied Becket whose martyrdom the play stages.

Observer

Murder in the Cathedral

The Chorus of Women of Canterbury as collective participant-observer.

Energy

Murder in the Cathedral

The religious-political-tragic energies of the church-state confrontation.

Information

Murder in the Cathedral

The dramatic-religious content of the verse drama.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Murder in the Cathedral

Murder in the Cathedral has been universally canonical as religious-modernist drama; its Anglo-Catholic religious-political framework has been variously assessed across secular and religious critical traditions.