(Third Knight) See The Four Knights

The Four Knights Sent by King Henry to kill Thomas, the Four Knights parallel the Four Tempters of Part One. While the Tempters offer intellectual and spiritual trickery, the Knights threaten Thomas with physical violence, ultimately following through on their threat when they kill him near the end of the play. When they arrive at the cathedral and demand that Thomas acquiesce to the King's demands, he refuses. They murder him and then "present their case'' to the audience in the form of a mock inquest in which they assert their blamelessness in the entire affair. Although their names are mentioned during their speeches to the audience, the Knights are not as different from each other as are the Three Priests.

The Four Tempters During Part One, Thomas is visited by four Tempters who promise him a number of rewards in return for recanting his former judgments against the King and his minions. The First Tempter tells him that "Friendship is more than biting Time can sever" and asks Thomas to befriend the King (as he did once before) so that there will be"Fluting in the meadow" and "Singing at nightfall." The Second Tempter suggests that Thomas should reclaim the Chancellorship (from which he resigned after his feud with King Henry); doing so would, the Tempter assures him, let Thomas "set down the great" and "protect the poor." The Third Tempter, dubbing himself "A country-keeping Lord who minds his own business,'' attempts to seduce Thomas into representing the barons at court in order to "fight a good stroke / At once, for England and for Rome, / Ending the tyrannous jurisdiction'' of Henry's reign.

All three Tempters are easily deflated by Thomas, who is unaffected by their empty promises: "Shall I," he asks, "who ruled like an eagle over doves, / Now take the shape of a wolf among wolves?" The Fourth Tempter, however, is more difficult for Thomas to dismiss, since he tempts him with his "own desires" of becoming a saint and martyred leader of his people. Eventually, the Fourth Tempter teaches Thomas about the degree to which his own pride stands between him and the will of God.

The Messenger The Messenger arrives in Part One to announce to the Priests that Thomas is returning to Canterbury. He peppers his news with his own thoughts on Thomas, remarking that "He is at one with the Pope'' and that his new "peace'' with the King is, at best, a "patched-up affair."

The Three Priests As a unit, the three Priests provide a context for Thomas's religious speculations and offer the audience different opinions of him before he enters the play. Throughout Murder in the Cathedral, the Priests express their desire to help Thomas guide his people and remain safely in Canterbury. Although they may seem interchangeable by virtue of their names ("First Priest," "Second Priest," and "Third Priest"), they are distinguished at times by Eliot according to the way in which they approach the danger of Thomas's return. The First Priest, for example, is uneasy and remarks, "I fear for the Archbishop, I fear for the Church," before concluding that Thomas's troubles began when he wished for "subjection to God alone.''

The Second Priest, less world-weary than the First, voices the hope that Thomas will dispel"dismay and doubt," for"He will tell us what we are to do, he will give us our orders, instruct us." The Third Priest expresses neither the doubts of the First nor the optimism of the Second; his only certainty is that fate will unwind as it must: "For good or ill, let the wheel turn," he remarks, "For who knows the end of good or evil?" These differences, however, fade in Part Two, when the Priests act as a group in order to convince Thomas to flee the cathedral.

Reginald Fitz Urse (First Knight) See The Four Knights