How Long Does It Take To Read Murder In The Cathedral?

2026-02-12 04:21:48 312

2 Answers

Kate
Kate
2026-02-15 15:26:39
T.S. Eliot's 'Murder in the Cathedral' isn't the kind of play you breeze through like a modern thriller—it demands attention. The first time I picked it up, I underestimated its density and had to backtrack multiple times to grasp the poetic language and historical nuances. It’s only about 85 pages, but the verse structure and theological debates slow you down. If you’re a fast reader who skims dialogue-heavy works, you might finish in 2–3 hours, but to truly absorb Becket’s martyrdom and the chorus’s Meditations, I’d set aside 4–5 hours with breaks.

What surprised me was how the play’s pacing mirrors its themes—deliberate, almost ritualistic. The interlude with the knights breaking the fourth wall feels abrupt, but it’s meant to unsettle. I found myself rereading their speeches to catch the sarcasm and political subtext. For context, I compared it to reading 'waiting for godot'—similar length, but Beckett’s absurdism flows faster than Eliot’s liturgical rhythm. If you’re tackling this for a class or book club, annotating is key; the footnotes about 12th-century Canterbury politics saved me hours of Googling afterward.
Vanessa
Vanessa
2026-02-16 02:13:43
Depends on how you approach it! I treated 'Murder in the Cathedral' like poetry—reading aloud to savor Eliot’s rhythms. That stretched it to nearly six hours over two evenings. The chorus sections especially benefit from slow reading; their collective voice shifts from fear to resignation, and rushing would miss that evolution. A friend of mine Blasted Gregorian chants while reading to lean into the mood and finished in one intense afternoon. The play’s brevity is deceptive—every line carries weight, like when Becket says 'Unbar the doors' and confronts his fate. That moment alone left me staring at the wall for 20 minutes.
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