The play of Becket is a story of titles. An account of one character’s struggle in a society in which status is valued far more than character. This story depicting the fight for stature is subtitled “The Honour of God.”

Becket, our protagonist is a man of lies. He has accomplished his current stature by means of deception and fraud. Despite the minor sins that Becket committed on his way to becoming Chancellor of England, he is in fact a man of true moral integrity hiding behind the ignorance of the King.

Becket’s moral veracity can be seen faintly through the fog of the King’s greed in acts I and II. Many of the decisions and advice that he offers the King is loosely based on his ethical position. “Wood is scarce, my Lord. I don’t suppose he has any left… They are entitled to two measures of dead wood. One branch more and they’re hanged” (Becket, act I, scene 5.) In this situation, the King is rudely commanding a plebian man to start a fire, ignorant to his own laws. The sympathetic Becket, acting on his own morals explains to the King the man’s predicament. As Becket was once a Saxton, he can relate to this man’s position.

Not only does Becket base his judgments on his moral code, but also his spiritual beliefs. Actions such as this do not appear until Becket has been elected Primate of England. At the end of the third act, Becket is found on his knees praying in a convent cell. In his prayer Becket explains to God (as well as himself) the difficulties that he has learning the language of God. “Oh how difficult it is to get an answer from You, Lord. I was slow in praying to You, but I cannot believe that others, worthier than myself, who have spent years asking You questions, have been better than I am at deciphering Your real intentions.” Becket then goes on to describe how God has made every move, placing his where he currently is. “It has pleased You to make me Archbishop and to set me, like a solitary pawn, face to face with the King upon the chessboard. I shall go back to my place, humbly, and let the world accuse me of pride so that I may do what I believe is my life’s work.”

Becket does not realize truly the “Honour of God,” that he has been given, until he became the Primate of England. Until this point, his duties have been reported to the King. But now as the captain of his own ship, Becket’s actions are reported directly to God. For Becket, God is truly the head captain of his ship, while Becket remains simply the first mate.

As we can see from the passage at the end of the third act, Becket sees him self as a vessel of God. “For the rest, Your will (God’s) will be done.”