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Becket
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==Background== Anouilh's interpretation of the historical story, though often ironic, is more straightforward than [[T. S. Eliot]]'s 1935 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 [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] (when he was actually a [[Normans|Norman]] whose family was from near [[Caen]] and was called ''Becquet'', ''Bequet'' or ''Becket'' in Old Norman), Anouilh could not recast the play to accord with historical facts, so he decided to let it stand. Aspects of the content that can safely be considered true are the conflicts between England and France, church and state, and the outline biography of Becket.
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