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Honor. What is honor? Honor is the feeling or expression of admiration, respect, or esteem.
This idea played a major role in Becket. To whom did Thomas Becket's honor belong?...to King
Henry II?...to God? Well, this changed, not only in direction, but also in intensity, throughout the
play. In the play, we see what caused Becket's intense feeling of honor to change from being in the
King's favor to that of God's.
It was very noticeable early on in the play that Becket and the King were the best of friends and
Becket served only the King. Becket's honor to the King can be seen by the quote, "My Lord and
King has given me his Seal with the Three Lions to guard. My mother is England now" (Anouilh
13). Becket said this while he and the King were discussing, with the Archbishop and Folliot, the
matter of the Church's obligations to the State. Their good friendship could be seen by one of their
discussions where the King asked, "Thomas, what would I do without you?...why do you play at
being my valet?" (Anouilh 4) and in response Becket said, "I am your servant, my prince, that's
all...I like helping you" (Anouilh 4). So, it was obvious that Becket honored the king and also, in a
way, loved him.
Becket's honor toward the King faded and eventually turned to God as the play progressed.
This started when Becket, the King, and Gwendolen were in the same room and the King ordered
Gwendolen to play a certain lament for him that Becket did not wish to be played. Then the King
decided to test Becket's honor by asking him for Gwendolen. On the outside, Becket wanted to show
his full honor towards the King, so he gave her to him. Inside him, though, he was upset about that
decision. When the King told him that Gwendolen has killed herself, Becket felt very troubled.
Shortly after, Becket, showing that he is unsure about...