Various Editions and Versions of T. S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral Dhaka University Institutional Repository Various Editions and Versions of T. S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral A dissertation by Quazi Md. Munzur-i-Mowla Department of English University of Dhaka Dhaka Dhaka University Institutional Repository a dissertation in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of University of Dhaka submitted June 2015 Dhaka University Institutional Repository Preface and Acknowledgements T. S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral is a disturbing play. First, one hears or reads beautiful poetry in it, but poetry, however beautiful, does not make a verse play all by itself. To make things worse, there are long prose passages in it, not once, but twice. Secondly, there isn't much of a drama in it. Thomas returns home from self-exile, knowing well that he is in danger; he is killed in no time; his followers mourn his death, his killers defend themselves. There is nothing more in the play. Lastly, it was commissioned for performance at a religious festival. It had to have a religious appeal, and it had it, in abundance. And yet it is an admirable work of art, admired by both the religiously-minded and those who are not so, and popular on the stage too. The enigma of Murder in the Cathedral remains, I think, yet to be resolved. Thomas was killed (1170). Joan of Arc was burnt to death (1431). Mahatma Gandhi was murdered (1948). They were all deeply religious. They wanted to do good to mankind. And yet each had to die, at the hand of others. Are such men and women destined to die like this? 'O God that madest this beautiful earth, when will it be ready to accept thy saints? How long, O Lord, how long?' (Shaw, George Bernard, Saint Joan). This is the question at the heart of Murder in the Cathedral too, though not spelt out at length. The ground where 'a saint has dwelt', or died as a martyr, is 'holy ground, and the sanctity shall not depart from it' ever. If I am not mistaken, The Bangladesh Observer had termed the killing of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman a 'historic necessity'. [Maybe the newspaper had no choice but to say so in view of the change in power, then usurped by the killers.] How very close this argument is to the argument of the Knights! The Knights speak highly of Thomas, and yet claim that they were left with no choice but to kill him. History, we know, repeats itself; but does thought repeat itself too? Are murderers the same all over and at all times? Dhaka University Institutional Repository Murder in the Cathedral, if seen in the perspective of the fate of good men and women and the thought of those who find it necessary to kill them, turns into a deeply moving human document, going far beyond any religious belief or thought. This may be one reason why it is so unforgettable. 2 Murder in the Cathedral may also be seen as a protest, against (a) violence, and (b) injustice. The killing of Thomas on the stage lasts for quite a while, covering the length of the Chorus 'Clear the air! clean the sky! wash the wind! take stone from stone and wash them'. Why was it necessary to show it at all and that too for such a long time? The news that Thomas has been killed would have been good enough for the play to proceed further. Showing an act of violence in a work of art is a protest against that act and must be treated as such. If the world were free from violence, the need for writing a play like Murder in the Cathedral would not have arisen. When the Knights bring a number of charges against Thomas, Thomas wishes to submit his 'cause to the judgement of Rome'. But he is denied the opportunity. The Knights take law into their hands, saying that they would return `for the King's justice' and return 'with swords'. Justice that is dispensed with swords is no justice at all. Neither violence, nor injustice, can be allowed to be perpetuated. Murder in the Cathedral is a reminder of the danger civilization in some parts of the world is faced with. 3 I do not remember when I read Murder in the Cathedral first, but I do remember that I have gone back to it a number of times. I may not be the only one to have done so. Each time I went back, I was rewarded by something new. It was only very natural that I would go back to it again, this time for a closer look from a different point of view. This point of view is provided by the number of editions the play had gone through in three years, each year presenting a play different from the earlier one. Why wasn't Eliot happy with the play until the fourth edition? One must have a close look at the editions themselves and see how they differ from one another if an answer is to be found to the question. There doesn't seem to be any other way out. Dhaka University Institutional Repository A large part of this dissertation would fall, I suppose, in the category of textual criticism. How does it really matter if a comma in one edition is replaced by, say, a semi-colon in another, or if a line in one edition is dropped in another? Such differences are of no consequence at all unless they bring about basic changes in the work. Such changes occur, I think, in each edition of Murder in the Cathedral after the first. While having a closer look at the editions, I have come to unforeseen conclusions from time to time. I have tried to look at the changes in each edition dispassionately and to argue my case logically. Whether I have succeeded or not is not for me to judge. The dissertation is divided into three parts. In 'Part 1: Introduction', general information is given about the play; circumstances which led to the writing of the play recalled; and the need for having a closer look at the editions of the play explained. In 'Part II: Editions Compared', the editions of the play are compared line by line, and a few observations made on the basis of such comparison. In 'Part III: Versions Noted', an account is given of the versions of the play; and some of Eliot's views on film examined. 4 I am very grateful to: Prof. Ahsanul Huq, of Green University, Dhaka and Prof. Nurul Islam, of Eastern University, Dhaka for kindly commenting on my seminar papers; Prof. Syed Manzoorul Islam, of University of Dhaka, for kindly chairing both the seminars; Prof. Tahmina Ahmed, Chair, Department of English, University of Dhaka, for being present in my first seminar and for help otherwise; Prof. Pradip Kumar Roy, of the Department of Philosophy, University of Dhaka, and Director, Centre for Advanced Research in Humanities for kindly organizing the seminars; Dr Abedin Quader, of New York, for helping me with rare books; Quazi Mushtaq Hossain and Mr Shamshul Alam, of London, for help in getting material from the British Library; Mihirkanti Choudhury too for help in getting material from the British Library; Dr Fazlul Alam and Ms Tanzeba Raihan Shoma for help with a rare journal; Rowshan Tammna, my daughter, for never failing to get me books from abroad; M. Mustafizur Rahman (Parvez), of Washington, for help in procuring books; Zafar Ahmad Rashed for getting me a newly published book from abroad; Sanjoy Majumdar for downloading an audio recording of the play; and the last, but certainly not the least, Prof. Kajal Bandyopadhyay, my unfailing guide, for closely examining my drafts and providing me with sound advice. Dhaka University Institutional Repository Prof. Abu Taher Mojumder, of Bangladesh University of Business and Technology, a friend for a long time, encouraged me to write this dissertation and helped me in a number of ways. He is, unfortunately, no more. My wife has kept me free from a thousand and one worldly worries, not because, I hope, she had to. Quazi Md. Munzur-i-Mowla 01 June, 2015 Dhaka University Institutional Repository Table of Contents Part I: Introduction 9 Part II: Editions Compared 75 Part III: Versions Noted 207 Bibliography 235 Dhaka University Institutional Repository Part I Introduction Dhaka University Institutional Repository 1. The Objective of the Study 1.1 T. S. Eliot's first full-length play Murder in the Cathedral, published in 1935, went through five editions, two in 1935 and one each in 1936, 1937 and 1938. Of the two 1935 editions, one was brought out by the 'Friends of Canterbury Cathedral' in Canterbury on 15 June, 1935 when the play was first performed, and the other by Faber and Faber in London at about the same time. Faber and Faber also published all subsequent editions of the play. Murder in the Cathedral is, like all other plays of Eliot, a verse play. 1.2 Each edition of the play is different from the other. 1.3 As far as the present study is concerned, an 'edition' of Murder in the Cathedral means and includes any published text of the play different from all others. 1.4 Faber and Faber had, for example, brought out, in 1965, what it called an 'Educational Edition' of Murder in the Cathedral, 'With an Introduction / and Notes by Nevill Coghill' (Eliot 1985).