Becket

Becket or The Honour of God (French: Becket ou l'honneur de Dieu) is a play written in French by Jean Anouilh. It is a depiction of the conflict between Thomas Becket and King Henry II of England leading to Becket's assassination in 1170. It contains many historical inaccuracies, which the author acknowledged.

Background

Anouilh's interpretation of the historical story, though often ironic, is more straightforward than T. S. Eliot's play on the same subject, Murder in the Cathedral, which was intended primarily as a religious treatment. However, there are one or two similarities in the interpretation.

In the introduction to the play, Anouilh explained that he based it on a chapter of an old book he had bought because its green binding looked good on his shelves. He and his wife read the 30 pages about Thomas Becket, and she urged him to write a play about Thomas. He did so, finishing the first part in only 15 days. It was not until he showed the finished play to a friend that he found out the old book he had based it on was historically incorrect in certain important aspects. Having built his play on Becket being Saxon (when he was actually a Norman whose family was from near Caen and called Becquet, Bequet, Becket in Old Norman), Anouilh could not recast the play to accord with historical facts, so he decided to let it stand.

Becket (1923 film)

Becket is a 1923 British drama film directed by George Ridgwell and starring Frank R. Benson, A.V. Bramble and Bertram Burleigh. It is based on the play by Alfred Tennyson. It depicts the fatal encounter between Henry II and the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas a Becket.

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Becket, Massachusetts

Becket is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,779 at the 2010 census.

History

Becket was first settled in 1740 and was officially incorporated in 1765.

The original "Beckett" for which the town of Becket was named is an estate or "tithing" that once belonged to the Admiral Lord Barrington (the namesake of "Great Barrington, Massachusetts"). It is located in Shrivenham, formerly in Berkshire, England, about five miles east of the important railroad town of Swindon.

Sir Francis Bernard, the Royal Governor of Massachusetts in 1765, was a close friend of Lord Barrington and was himself a native of Berkshire, England. It is said that he often went on holiday in the beautiful surroundings of Beckett, and that these pleasant memories influenced him in 1765 to give the name Becket to Township Number Four when he approved its incorporation.

In 1811, 16 men from Becket traveled to the Western Reserve and founded the village of Windham, Ohio.