SOURCE: "Becket and Honor: A Trim Reckoning," in Modern Drama, Vol. 8, No. 3, December, 1965, pp. 277-83.

In the following essay, Gatlin traces the evolving meaning of the concept of honor in Becket.

What is honor? A word. What is in that word honor? What is that honor? Air. A trim reckoning! … Honor is a mere scutcheon.

Falstaff in Henry IV, Part I

Honor travels in a strait so narrow,
 Where one but goes abreast.
                         ULYSSES in Troilus and Cressida

Jean Anouilh uses the phrase "The Honor of God" as the sub-title of his play Becket. In the English translation of the play by Lucienne Hill, the word "honor" appears more than twenty times, spoken by a variety of characters in a variety of situations. It is as if Anouilh were determined to explore the meaning of the word by a sort of comprehensive dramatic demonstration of what is...