coriolanus critics condensed Flashcards
Class
Jagendorf Hatred
“The hatred between the ruling class and common people”
Martius
Granville Martius
“Martius is by no means a sympathetic character
Tragedy
Oliver Tragic
“The greatest tragic moment… is his decision to join the volscians”
Politics
Sinclair Tribunes
“The tribunes want political authority”
Blood
Norton Wounds
“Obsessed with Coriolanus’ blood and wounds”
Politics
Sinclair Destruction
“The tribunes esnsure Coriolanus’ destruction”
War and Violence
Jagendorf Rome
“war for Rome is a kind of relief”
War and Violence
Faedo Meat
“Anger becomes his meat as well as his Mother’s”
Martius
Bloom Child
“Coriolanus is an overgrown child… at best, a disaster waiting to happen”
War, Politics
Jagendorf War
“the war between the plebians and the patricians”
Class
Oliver Detest
Coriolanus “detests the people”
Fiennes Intrepretation
- Coriolanus is clean-shaven and cold-hearted sporting a constant frown
- Ambigous modern/contemporary setting in eastern europe, juxtaposition between old English and modern eastern-European setting
- Much more violent and bloody protest at the beginning, only Coriolanus, no Menenius
- Grows a beard after his banishment from Rome, a competely break with his previous self
- use of broadcasts and TV news in place of messengers
- drawn attention to facism & emphaisise difference between soldiers work/ home life
1965 Wekevert & Tenscher, Coriolan Intrepretation
For them the central concern was man vs mankind. They placed the battle scenes at the centre of the story.
Martius
Kenneth Muir Self
“Coriolanus never has a moment of self-examination or self-reflection.”
Class
John Heilpern Class
“The play is as much about class warfare as the blood of war itself.”
War and Violence
Maurice Hunt Dominate
“The play’s main emphasis is upon… the unending struggle of human beings to dominate one another.”
Class
Kenneth Muir (1972) on democracy
“The story of Coriolanus was nearly always told to illustrate the evils of the democratic form of government.”
Context
Shannon Miller Context James
James as suppressor of rebellion - the play offers King James as image of a traitor. James saw his MP’s, who he often called tribunes, political voice as inappropriately in competition with the authority traditionally invested in Roman patriarchs. Such parallels (seen through alterations to Plutarch source) show the play to be actively reflecting and even negotiating the political situation of England during 1607-8.
Class
Brian Vickers on aristocracy
“The aristocracy were just as monstrous as the people.”
1951-1953 Brecht’s Interpretation
Brecht emphasizes class struggle rather than what he calls the bourgeois theatre’s depiction of Coriolanus as a hero and of the plebeians as merely comic figures.
It is his contention that too much emphasis has been put on the hero - conventional way of seeing the hero led to an over-romanticising, an exaggerated stress with audience identification with hero - led to dangerous affinities with cult worship, led to direction of fascism.
Brecht adds to the integrity and the dignity of the tribunes. - he omits their chicanery in 2.3, omits their ‘If I cry Fine…’, and tribunes are far more authoritative and querulous
Pride
Haydn Gwynne on pride
“He’s a bully. You can condemn him for his pride and arrogance and lack of empathy.”
Audience
Kenneth Muir (1972) on sympathies
Modern audiences find it more difficult to sympathise with him than with those who commit murder or adultery.
Coriolanus does the things he does out of a sense of absolute moral righteousness he derives from the privilege of birth.
Martius
Ralph Fiennes on sympathy
“You can’t make him easy to sympathise with - it weakens him as a character”
Martius
Kevin Dowling on Coriolanus’ role
“The tragedy of Coriolanus is peculiarly his own.”
Martius
Ralph Fiennes on vulnerability of Corio
“He’s a boy inside and he weeps at his mother’s feet, and we see his extreme vulnerability.”
War and Violence
D A Trawerski Mechanical
“Mechanical warrior; a man turned into an instrument of war”
Martius
Bertolt Brecht Enemy
“Coriolanus’ switch from being the most Roman of Romans to their greatest enemy is due precisely to the fact that he stays the same.”
“I am constant” - Martius
Auf & Corio
Ralph Berry Sex
“A prolonged homosexual duet.
Dominance is what both seek.
Sex is seen as an alternative to war”
Auf & Corio
Rex Gibson Homoerotic
“Homoerotic imagery, blending the sexual with the military.”
Auf & Corio
2011 Ralph Fienne’s Film
Close personal contact in fight scenes, sexual tension, intimacy in the shower shaving his head. Becomes forefront of film through shot at the beginning of sharpening sword.
Volumnia
Haydn Gwynne on Volumnia
“Coriolanus is very much a character that Volumnia has created.
Lives vicariously.
She’s manipulative.”
Martius
Paul Taylor Machine
“Turned into a killing machine by his ambitious, domineering mother.”
2011 RF film Volumnia
Volumnia’s masculinity is visually most striking in her clothing. She wears suits of muted colors (mainly gray and black). Her clothing is similar to that of the other men in the film. It also reinforces Volumnia’s martial characteristic, as her clothing is more specifically the style of the military clothing the men wear. At the moment when Coriolanus is returning victorious from battle, wearing a military badge/metal.
Volumnia
Harold Bloom on Volumnia
“Dominating and devouring mother.”
Volumnia
Robert Humphrey on Volumnia’s patriotism
She ultimately sides with Rome over Coriolanus. Her insatiable need to please the patriarchal society in which she lives ultimately lead to destructive consequences for Corionlanus’s life. It is the consequences of Volumnia’s patriarchal ideals and lack of nurturing maternity that plays one of the greatest factors in her son’s death.
It is in this paternal, masculine patriotism of Volumnia’s character that she becomes a fierce mother for Rome and a tragic mother for Coriolanus.
She is the giver of life to all of Rome and a staunch supporter, a patron, of Rome.
Between Rome and Coriolanus, even the general public understand that Volumnia does more for Rome than she does for Coriolanus.
The primary difference between mother and son is unwavering loyalty.
Martius, Polictics
Christina LuckyJ on Corio’s downfall
“Politics, not his mother, kills Coriolanus.”
