Shakespeare's play Coriolanus is a political tragedy, which exposes the events that took place in Rome in the early days of the Republic. This play is set up around 490 BC, at a time when the city was divided by a conflict between the Patricians and the Plebeians because of shortage of grain. The rebellion initiated in act one is interrupted by a revolt enthused by the Volscians under the leadership of Tullus Aufidius. Caius Martius goes to war with his soldiers and manages, despite a general loss of heart, to capture the city by his own bravery.
[...] In fact, Menenius, finding out that Martius has been successful, says gives me an estate of seven years' health, in which time I will make a lip at the physician. The most sovereign prescription in Galen is but empiricutic and, to this preservative, of no better report than a horse-drench” (111-5). To him, the letter Martius wrote to him is better than any medicine. This image of health and disease is recurrent throughout the play and is all the more important as a few pages later Caius Martius will be said to be the disease of the city. [...]
[...] Besides, it is not Coriolanus that kills but his arm. This synecdoche is also fundamental because one more time he is not identified as an individual, but as a part of it. Qualified and acclaimed as a hero, people seem to notice Caius Martius Coriolanus' superhuman capacities, actions rather that moral or psychological qualities. He is defined through violence and never perceived as a real entity. But, what is patent is that he is the product of a powerful woman who did everything from his birth to make him become a warrior; therefore we shall consider the character of Volumnia and how this excerpt reveals her ambitions. [...]
[...] Caius Martius Coriolanus is more or less manipulated or, at least, created by people's opinions. Giving him the name of the war strengthens the idea that he is a man of action and not of words, which seems paradoxical if we take into account the number of letters he has written. That really proves that the spectator is not given any choice to determine his character since it is externally disclosed. At the same time, this is in keeping with the very concept of a hero, who is ‘someone' that cannot really be clearly characterized. [...]
[...] Interestingly, this excerpt ends just before Coriolanus comes on stage but everything seems to have been already planned by his mother. Even if he does not want to become a consul or monster his wounds, his mother has decided what will happen without taking his opinion nor his demurral into account. Her major mistake in her plan is not to have taken into account her son's integrity. He is not hypocritical enough to do well in politics. In conclusion, if this excerpt gives the impression to solve all the conflicts that developed in act one, it also pushes the play forward. [...]
[...] What can be foreseen is that his popularity will increase thanks to his battlefields exploits and that people will not continue despising him. This is crucial since it would mean that the rebellion of the plebeians may come to an end. The fact that Caius Martius has managed to solve these two conflicts, or at least to solve one and make the other slip into the background, conveys the impression that Caius Martius is a hero, almost a superhuman.; therefore, we shall study his new status. [...]
APA Style reference
For your bibliographyOnline reading
with our online readerContent validated
by our reading committee
