Some Observations on T.S. Eliot’s “Murder in the Cathedral”
Some Observations on T.S. Eliot’s “Murder in the Cathedral”

Summary/Abstract: Louis MacNeice translated Aeschylus’ Agamemnon in such a way that some were reminded of T.S. Eliot’s playMurder in the Cathedral. Both plays were staged in the mid-1930s in England, and the authors correspondedwith each other. At first sight, this is the story of a minor figure imitating greater stylishness. A closer analysis,however, reveals that Eliot drew largely on Aeschylus’ Agamemnon. This is new, yet on second thoughts, notsurprising: being obsessed by heritage and tradition, Eliot was surely a fervent reader of classical tragedies,perhaps even a fine connoisseur. Nevertheless, there is another story, lurking in the background so to say, thistime about a great poet indebted to a subtle and sensitive mind.

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