How does the chorus in Murder in the Cathedral mediate the action to the audience?

The Chorus is a fascinating character in this play, as it performs a role that is similar to that of the Chorus in Greek tragedies in terms of being a character in the play, offering a commentary on the action, and mediating the action and its implications to the audience. What is particularly interesting about the Chorus in this play is the way that Eliot uses it to signpost the message of the play and what he hopes the audience will leave realising: that there are higher powers than earthly politics that can ultimately be trusted in, no matter what dark powers seem to triumph on earth. This is indicated through the development and shift in the feelings of the Chorus. At the beginning of the play they are immensely fearful of the threat that the king represents to Thomas and what might happen. At the end, after witnessing the example of Thomas and his faithfulness to God, they are reconciled to his death and able to see that higher powers are ultimately at play in his assassination:

Thy glory is declared even in that which denies Thee; the darkness declares the glory of light.

Even in the "darkness" of the death of Thomas, the Chorus, and hopefully the audience as well, are able to the "the glory of light," or God's higher providence at work in the messy world of politics. The Chorus in addition is therefore used to highlight the message of this play.

What is the importance of the chorus in Murder in the Cathedral?

This T.S. Eliot story involves a lot of representations and symbols.  The chrous, I believe, is more representative than symbolic of collective thoughts held by the parishoners and prevailing public opinion at the time. In a sense, the chrous represents things that are stereotypical and not specific to one person.  This is reminiscent of a device that Shakespeare and Greek drama used in his plays to announce time passages and events of great importance- playwrights of earlier times would often utilize the chorus to make sure the play was understood and to reemphasize an important point.  Similarly, Eliot uses the chrous to relate to help the audience understand.

What is the role of the chorus in Murder in the Cathedral?

The chorus in Murder in the Cathedral is composed of ordinary women of Canterbury who are neither saints like Thomas Becket nor sinners like the Knights. They are, like the audience, onlookers who witness the drama and comment on it without intervening. 

At first, the chorus delivers a sense of foreshadowing. As they approach the cathedral, they note that danger awaits, but not for them. They state, "There is not danger for us, and there is no safety in the cathedral." The chorus serves to warn the audience that danger is coming, and then, they provide an encapsulation of the past. They explain to the audience that the archbishop, Thomas Becket, has been away for seven years and is now returning to Canterbury. After Thomas returns, the women of the chorus fear for his safety and beg him to leave Canterbury. When it becomes apparent that he is to die, they become resigned to his fate. After he is killed, they suffer intense guilt and state that "We did not wish anything to happen." In the end, they offer praise to God. Their cycle of foreboding, fear, regret, and faith mirrors the feelings that an everyday person would have in reaction to Thomas's death, and, by reflecting the emotions of the audience, the chorus invites the audience to become one with them. 

What is the role of the chorus in Murder in the Cathedral?

The chorus in Murder in the Cathedral functions like a chorus in a Greek drama, commenting on the play's unfolding action. The women who comprise the chorus voice the thoughts of the average person. They provide a contrast to the moral struggles of Becket, who is concerned with issues of right and wrong. The members of the chorus simply want to get along in daily life and survive as they always have. 

Eliot uses the chorus, which harkens back to Ancient Greece, to emphasize the timeless aspects of his theme. Sacrificing oneself to oppose tyranny is not simply an issue for an archbishop in the 12th century, but for all people in all times and all places. In dangerous times, people everywhere have an urge to be complacent and ignore injustice, to simply go on with their lives rather than risk action. However, Eliot shows that when the common people witness the example of a person able to transcend the ordinary, they can be influenced by that witness. At the end of the play, the chorus says of Becket:

"We thank thee for Thy mercies of blood, for Thy redemption by blood . . ."

"The blood of Thy martyrs and saints shall enrich the earth, shall create holy places."

What is the role of the chorus in Murder in the Cathedral?

In his play Murder in the Cathedral, T. S. Eliot includes a chorus, which is an element that he adapted from ancient Greek drama. In his play, which takes place in Canterbury, England, the chorus is made up of ordinary women of Canterbury. The primary conflict in the play is a religious and political struggle between the king and the archbishop. At first the chorus, speaking as a single entity, sees its interests as distinct from those high-level concerns and resists getting drawn into what it views as a political dispute. As the play progresses, the collective opinion shifts, and the chorus comes to understand that there are underlying spiritual issues that do matter in its daily life. It mourns for Becket after he is killed.

The choric function in Eliot’s play is to witness, report, and interpret. Neither the chorus as an entity not its individual members are characters in the sense of being involved in the plot. Instead, the chorus sees and hears what the other characters do, including actions that occur offstage or before the play’s events. The group as a whole then conveys those events to the audience and, if their meaning is not clear, interprets their significance. Among the key elements that the chorus explains is Becket’s prior absence and the danger that awaits him upon his return.

What is the role of the women's chorus in "Murder in the Cathedral"?

You would do well to view the Chorus in this excellent play as a continuation of the kind of Chorus that is found in ancient Greek plays. The Chorus functions as something of an intermediary or a go-between between the action of the play an the audience. In this play, the Chorus consists of a group of women from Canterbury and form part of the play and its actions whilst also standing separate from it and commenting on the action to the audience.

If we look at this dual role, we can therefore see that the Chorus tries to intervene and beg Thomas to return abroad to escape the terrible act that they feel they are "compelled to witness." They fear that they will observe and stand by as the church is destroyed through the assassination of Thomas. However, as the play moves to its tragic end, they have moved beyond this state of fear and now are able to point towards a higher power at work that transcends the grisly and messy world of politics and can praise God for his sovereign power and mastery:

We thank thee for Thy mercies of blood, for Thy redemption by blood.. for the blood of Thy martyrs and saints shall enrich the earth, shall create holy places.

The Chorus thus forms an incredibly important function as it points towards one of the central themes of the play, which is a belief in God's sovereignty even at times when it appears darkness has triumphed. The shift in the thinking of the Chorus is also important to note, as they move from a state of fear and dread to one of childlike confidence in God's plans and purposes.