“Thomas Becket (1118 – 29 December 1170) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 to his death. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. He engaged in conflict with Henry II of England over the rights and privileges of the Church and was assassinated by followers of the king in Canterbury Cathedral.” ~Wikipedia

Book: Time and Chance by Sharon Kay Penman.
Movie: Becket, starring Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole.

Reading the book and watching the movie made me want to re-read T.S. Eliot’s play, Murder in the Cathedral, but I haven’t gotten around to doing so.

In the movie Richard Burton’s Becket plays the hero to Peter O’Toole’s rather weak and whiny Henry II. Becket is the wiser, more compassionate, morally conflicted, but eventually winning through his weaknesses into sainthood.

In Penman’s book, Becket is more sanctimonious and unpredictable, nearly fanatical; Penman, through one of her characters, calls Becket a “chameleon” who takes on the coloring of his surroundings. Becket is not a hero in Time and Chance, but rather a man made nearly mad by power and responsibility.

I rather think that neither playwright Jean Anouilh, who wrote the play that was the source for the movie’s screenplay, nor Sharon Kay Penman, who based her portrayal on historical incidents of Becket’s inconsistencies and seeming contradictions, got Becket quite right. Anouilh makes hm out to be modern existential hero. Says Becket in the movie: “Honor is a private matter within; it’s an idea and every man has his own version of it.”

Penman makes him into a power-hungry religious fanatic who drives the worldly and pragmatic Henry near the brink of insanity. Penman’s Becket is practically suicidal, knowing that his words and actions will bring the wrath of the king to bear upon him and perhaps get him killed. But this Becket is more interested in besting Henry in their petty feud than in the health of the Church or even his own health and long life.

I prefer to think that Becket was converted at some point from worldliness and politics to the love of Christ and His Church. Maybe he just did what he thought was right and suffered the consequences.

I’d like to read Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth, which according to Wikipedia again ends with Becket’s death at the hands of Henry’s henchmen. I’ve heard good things about the 900 page tome, but it’s 900 pages and an Oprah pick. I’ll probably try it anyway. The Penman book is long, too, but worth it.