coriolanus critics condensed

Question 1

Class

Jagendorf Hatred

Answer 1

“The hatred between the ruling class and common people”

Question 2

Martius

Granville Martius

Answer 2

“Martius is by no means a sympathetic character

Question 3

Tragedy

Oliver Tragic

Answer 3

“The greatest tragic moment… is his decision to join the volscians”

Question 4

Politics

Sinclair Tribunes

Answer 4

“The tribunes want political authority”

Question 5

Blood

Norton Wounds

Answer 5

“Obsessed with Coriolanus’ blood and wounds”

Question 6

Politics

Sinclair Destruction

Answer 6

“The tribunes esnsure Coriolanus’ destruction”

Question 7

War and Violence

Jagendorf Rome

Answer 7

“war for Rome is a kind of relief”

Question 8

War and Violence

Faedo Meat

Answer 8

“Anger becomes his meat as well as his Mother’s”

Question 9

Martius

Bloom Child

Answer 9

“Coriolanus is an overgrown child… at best, a disaster waiting to happen”

Question 10

War, Politics

Jagendorf War

Answer 10

“the war between the plebians and the patricians”

Question 11

Class

Oliver Detest

Answer 11

Coriolanus “detests the people”

Question 12

Fiennes Intrepretation

Answer 12

• 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

Question 13

1965 Wekevert & Tenscher, Coriolan Intrepretation

Answer 13

For them the central concern was man vs mankind. They placed the battle scenes at the centre of the story.

Question 14

Martius

Kenneth Muir Self

Answer 14

“Coriolanus never has a moment of self-examination or self-reflection.”

Question 15

Class

John Heilpern Class

Answer 15

“The play is as much about class warfare as the blood of war itself.”

Question 16

War and Violence

Maurice Hunt Dominate

Answer 16

“The play’s main emphasis is upon… the unending struggle of human beings to dominate one another.”

Question 17

Class

Kenneth Muir (1972) on democracy

Answer 17

“The story of Coriolanus was nearly always told to illustrate the evils of the democratic form of government.”

Question 18

Context

Shannon Miller Context James

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

Class

Brian Vickers on aristocracy

Answer 19

“The aristocracy were just as monstrous as the people.”

Question 20

1951-1953 Brecht’s Interpretation

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Pride

Haydn Gwynne on pride

Answer 21

“He’s a bully. You can condemn him for his pride and arrogance and lack of empathy.”

Question 22

Audience

Kenneth Muir (1972) on sympathies

Answer 22

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.

Question 23

Martius

Ralph Fiennes on sympathy

Answer 23

“You can’t make him easy to sympathise with - it weakens him as a character”

Question 24

Martius

Kevin Dowling on Coriolanus’ role

Answer 24

“The tragedy of Coriolanus is peculiarly his own.”

Question 25

Martius

Ralph Fiennes on vulnerability of Corio

Answer 25

“He’s a boy inside and he weeps at his mother’s feet, and we see his extreme vulnerability.”

Question 26

War and Violence

D A Trawerski Mechanical

Answer 26

“Mechanical warrior; a man turned into an instrument of war”

Question 27

Martius

Bertolt Brecht Enemy

Answer 27

“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

Question 28

Auf & Corio

Ralph Berry Sex

Answer 28

“A prolonged homosexual duet.
Dominance is what both seek.
Sex is seen as an alternative to war”

Question 29

Auf & Corio

Rex Gibson Homoerotic

Answer 29

“Homoerotic imagery, blending the sexual with the military.”

Question 30

Auf & Corio

2011 Ralph Fienne’s Film

Answer 30

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.

Question 31

Volumnia

Haydn Gwynne on Volumnia

Answer 31

“Coriolanus is very much a character that Volumnia has created.
Lives vicariously.
She’s manipulative.”

Question 32

Martius

Paul Taylor Machine

Answer 32

“Turned into a killing machine by his ambitious, domineering mother.”

Question 33

2011 RF film Volumnia

Answer 33

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.

Question 34

Volumnia

Harold Bloom on Volumnia

Answer 34

“Dominating and devouring mother.”

Question 35

Volumnia

Robert Humphrey on Volumnia’s patriotism

Answer 35

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.

Question 36

Martius, Polictics

Christina LuckyJ on Corio’s downfall

Answer 36

“Politics, not his mother, kills Coriolanus.”