Characterization of Coriolanus

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.