Post: Tim Hall, Ph.D., Executive Director, Religion Matters
When I first encountered Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), it wasn’t in a philosophy seminar but through a story. In one of his many theological texts, Pope Benedict XVI retold Kierkegaard’s famous parable of the clown warning that the theater was on fire. The audience laughed, thinking it was part of the act, until the flames consumed them. That image stuck with me. It is a reminder that truth often arrives indirectly, wrapped in paradox, and that ignoring it can be costly. Years ago, I explored these ideas more deeply in an academic essay for Penumbra: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Critical and Creative Inquiry, where I examined how Kierkegaard’s stages of existence illuminate Jean Anouilh’s Becket. Revisiting that work now, I’m struck by how much these same ideas can speak to educators today.
Kierkegaard’s philosophy can feel distant from today’s classrooms, but I’ve come to believe his ideas hold real power for teaching. His concept of the “stages of existence”—aesthetic, ethical, and religious—offers a framework for helping students wrestle with the timeless question: What do we live for?
One of the best ways to make these stages tangible is through story. Enter Jean Anouilh’s play Becket, the tale of Thomas Becket (1118-1170), Archbishop of Canterbury, and his tragic conflict with King Henry II. Through Kierkegaard’s lens, Becket’s journey becomes more than history—it becomes a mirror for our own lives, and a teaching tool for our classrooms.
Stage One: The Aesthetic Life
Kierkegaard describes the aesthetic life as one of pleasure and diversion. It’s about luxury, beauty, and comfort—but it cannot provide lasting meaning. Becket begins here. He enjoys fine dishes from Florence, hunting trips with the king, and banter that earns him favor. Even his so-called moral acts often look more like convenience. He’s clever, but uncommitted.
In the classroom: Students instantly recognize this stage. You might ask:
- What motivates Becket’s choices—pleasure, duty, or conviction?
- What modern examples reflect this stage—celebrity culture, social media influencers, or even literary figures like Gatsby?
This stage opens conversations about identity, consumerism, and the search for meaning.
Stage Two: The Ethical Life
The ethical stage comes when a person turns from indulgence toward responsibility. Here, individuals live for duty to society, law, or tradition. Becket shifts to this stage when Henry II appoints him Chancellor of England. He is now enforcing laws, protecting the realm, and defending England’s interests against the Catholic Church. He becomes a serious man. He is no longer chasing only pleasure. But Kierkegaard reminds us. This stage has limits, too. If your life is bound entirely to human institutions, what happens when they fail you? Notice there is no if; it is when they fail you.
In the classroom: Becket’s ethical stage sparks great discussions. Questions to pose:
- What’s the value of living for duty?
- Can loyalty to state or law ever conflict with loyalty to a conviction?
- How do figures like Socrates, Vaclav Havel, Liu Xiaobo, or Malala Yousafzai wrestle with these tensions?
Students begin to see the civic dimension here. What does it mean to live dutifully and responsibly, and where might my duty and responsibility fall short? Since duty, too, has limits—and this leads Becket to the next stage.
Stage Three: The Religious Life
The religious stage, Kierkegaard says, is the most demanding. It requires an absolute relationship with the Divine, even when that commitment contradicts society’s expectations.
As Archbishop, Becket moves into this stage. His charity to the poor reflects what Kierkegaard calls Religious A—faithful devotion. But his final stand against Henry II, accepting death rather than compromise, moves him towards Religious B—a radical faith willing to lose everything for the Divine. Was he a “Knight of Infinite Resignation,” accepting suffering, or a “Knight of Faith,” trusting in the absurd promise of the Divine? Kierkegaard would say we can never know.
In the classroom: This stage invites powerful debate:
- Does Becket die as a political dissenter or as a man of his faith tradition?
- What does his death suggest about conviction, sacrifice, and integrity?
- How do we make sense of such radical commitment in a modern, pluralist democracy?
Here, students wrestle with the costs of belief and the tension between personal conscience and public life.
Why This Matters for Education
So why should a 19th-century Danish philosopher and a 12th-century English archbishop matter in our classrooms today? Because both raise questions our students are already asking: Who am I? What matters most? Where do my deepest commitments lie?
Teaching Kierkegaard through Becket models inquiry-based learning—students begin with compelling questions and pursue them through literature, history, and philosophy. It also cultivates religious literacy by showing how religion and politics have intersected in the past. And it builds global competence by helping students explore how individuals across time and culture have wrestled with ultimate convictions.
In other words, it’s not just about Becket or Kierkegaard. It’s about equipping students to reflect on their own lives and decisions with empathy, courage, and critical awareness.
Breaking Cover
In Becket, one of the king’s barons says he is waiting for Becket to “break cover”—to reveal who he really is. Eventually, Becket does, and the cost is his life.
Kierkegaard would say the same is true for all of us. Sooner or later, we break cover. Our choices reveal what we live for: pleasure, duty, or conviction. For students, this is the core of education. Learning is not just about understanding what others have thought or done in the past; it involves grappling with our own beliefs and values as human beings. For teachers, this serves as a reminder that the curriculum is never neutral. Every lesson acts as a moral document that influences how students perceive themselves and the world around them.
The clown’s fire warning was dismissed until the flames consumed the theater. In the same way, Kierkegaard and Becket remind us that we cannot put off life’s deepest questions forever. At some point, we break cover—and reveal who we truly are.
With this man Becket—I’ll wait. For him to show himself. For him to break cover. The day he does, we’ll know who he is.
— Jean Anouilh, Becket or the Honor of God
References
- Anouilh, J. (1960). Becket; or, The honor of God (L. Hill, Trans.). Coward-McCann. (Original work published 1959)
- British Library. (n.d.). Murder of Thomas Becket (Harley MS 5102, f. 32) [Manuscript illumination]. In Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved September 30, 2025, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Becket_Murder.JPG
- Hall, T. (2016). The honor of God with Kierkegaard: A Kierkegaardian view of the play Becket. Penumbra: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Critical and Creative Inquiry, 3(Spring 2016), 54–65.
- Jastrow. (2006). Reliquary of St. Thomas Becket. Champlevé copper, engraved, chased, enameled and gilt. Limoges, ca. 1190–1200 [Photograph]. Musée national du Moyen Âge. In Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Reliquary_Thomas_Becket_MNMA_Cl23296.jpg
- Kierkegaard, N. C. (ca. 1840). Unfinished sketch of Søren Kierkegaard [Drawing]. Royal Library, Denmark. In Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:S%C3%B8ren_Kierkegaard_(1813-1855)_-_(cropped).jpg
- Paramount Pictures. (1964). Becket [Film still]. In Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Becket_1964_still_2.jpg
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