LITERARY HISTORY, INTERPRETATION, & ANALYSIS Essay

LITERARY HISTORY, INTERPRETATION, & ANALYSIS - Essay Example Earlier to this, Henry and Beckett enjoyed a special relationship and Henry raised Beckett to the position of Chancellor and then to the Archbishop of Canterbury. By doing so the King wanted the control of Kingdom on ecclesiastical matters but Beckett undergoes a radical change in his character and attitude after accepting the honorable position. Beckett opposes King’s thirst for power as he tries to raise the crown above the Pope, gives up all the pleasures and starts living a very pious life .Thus, inviting King’s wrath. Thomas Beckett remains away from England for seven years and during his absence, the rule of the King was full of oppression and exploitation. Women folks cheer for his arrival at the time of Christmas but apprehend some disaster. Thomas Beckett is righteous and much loved priest. England awaits and welcomes his arrival. The three priests of the cathedral fear that the homecoming for Beckett won’t be easy as the King and Beckett won’t be able to renew their ties and the fuller reconciliation between them cannot be reached as both of them are head strong characters. The struggle appears more apparent as the plot develops. The homecoming might cost Beckett his life as it is very clear that the old ties cannot be renewed. The Play, Measure for Measure by Shakespeare is a distinctive play .It is been categorized as Black Comedy by some literary analysts. It is a comedy but not to entertain. In the garb of 2. comedy, some real societal problems have been raised therefore it does not fall in normal moulds of Shakespearean work. It is its own genre where the writer has dealt with the issues of power abuse and exploitation of women in the society. There is no protagonist in the play Measure for Measure as such, but all the main characters undergo struggle as the plot moves ahead. As this play deals with the abuse of power and authority, we find that the power is abused in the relationship as well and women are harassed and exploited in any relationship, be it a brother-sister relationship or a partner relationship. Isabella, Claudio’s sister is chaste and virtuous but she finds herself in a dilemma when her brother is arrested for impregnating his lover Juliet. She goes to Angelo and begs to show some mercy, who on the other hand suggests her to sleep with him. She is shocked and leaves. Isabella, on her way comes across Duke, who is disguised as Friar. He has done so to clean up the city from wrong doers. He tells Isabella that Angelo, himself is a big sinner. He has left his lover Mariana because her dowry got lost in a ship wreck. The characters in the play struggle as the plot develops and the true identity of Duke is revealed in the end. The first literary element is the PLOT; The Plot is a sequence of events in any literary work. Murder in the Cathedral very convincingly develops the social struggle faced by Thomas Beckett. The chorus in the play pays a major role in heightening the trag ic effect. In the beginning it informs the audience regarding the upheaval that might happen when the two titans clash. The readers are made aware in the very beginning that the play is about the death and calamity. The Plot is revealed in the words of chorus that they are the common people who, â€Å"try to keep our households in order,†