Hi,
For today's blog post, I will be discussing the larger purpose of William Shakespeare in his characterization of Coriolanus.
Throughout the act one of the play
Coriolanus, William Shakespeare gradually builds up the portrayal of the main
character, Coriolanus, in two different worlds, the one of war and the one of
the city and capitol.
The first example
is the one of the citizens opening the play highlighting traits of Coriolanus,
some saying “he’s a very dog to the community” and that “he pays himself being
proud” whereas others bring to our knowledge “what services he has done for his
country”. One of the main purposes of this indirect characterization is to
introduce the character of Coriolanus as seen by different individuals, members
of the lower class of Rome. However, considering that this literary text is a
political play, a secondary purpose of this characterization could be to
suggest that in a society there will always be different opinions towards the
rulers or people with big authority in the state. Another character used by Shakespeare for the
indirect characterization of Coriolanus is Aufidius, his greatest enemy,
stating that he would fight Caius Marcius Coriolanus “till one can do no more”.
By saying this, he is revealing that he considers two possible alternatives,
the victory or the failure, meaning that he sees Marcius as a powerful warrior
who could potentially defeat him, therefore bearing him respect.
More positive traits
of Coriolanus are being as well presented by his mother Volumnia, while she
talks about how all men should be warriors, courageous and brave. She describes
Marcius as being mature saying “he had proved himself a man”, while the
certitude in her voice when saying that Marcius will “beat Aufidius’ head
bellow his knee” is again highlighting his power. Coriolanus, however, is not
only characterized through the eyes of the other characters but also through
his own speech and actions. One strong example of this can be found during the
war in Corioli. It is easy to notice his toughness and his rough attitude
towards his men when he says “he that retires I’ll make him for a Volsce, and
he shall feel mine edge” as well as notice how he despises cowards. This rough
attitude is one of the reasons the citizens can’t see Coriolanus as a good
leader. There is a definite difference between Coriolanus’ perception of the
ideal man and the perception that the citizens have. All these, could be
considered Shakespeare’s attempt of balancing the opinion of the readers
towards Coriolanus since the first act is mainly composed out of
characterization that would make them see him as a negative character. Yet, this
characterization could be perceived as a suggestion or a criticism of
Shakespeare, of how the way the people with high authority see something is not
necessarily agreed to or accepted by the common people.
The contrast
between the two worlds created, the one of war in which Coriolanus is highly
appreciated and the one of the city where he is despised by the majority of the
citizens is evident in this play. Looking back in the first scene of act I, Coriolanus
is the one who calls the citizens “dissentious rogues” and says “where he
should find you lions, finds you hares” being the type of person having
difficulties differentiating between the attitude he is expected to have towards
the people from the city and the ones on the battlefield. By using Coriolanus,
Shakespeare could potentially criticize and highlight the way in which a person
of a high position in the state should have two attitudes one strong or tough
and one more soothing and more importantly be able to use the two appropriately.
Another message that could be sent would be that no matter how many good traits
a person has, if the attitude towards the others is negative, the consequences
can be severe. From the play, this could be exemplified using the easily
angered Coriolanus, who despite of his bravery, courage and determination on
the battleground, is unable to respect the members of the lower class of Rome,
attitude which later in the play causes him only difficulties and eventually
death.
