!! Coriolanus Master Deck Flashcards
First Citizen
Martius enemy
Act 1
“Caius Martius is chief enemy to the people”
first impression
Second Citizen
Martius mother
Act 1 Scene 1
“please his mother and be partly proud”
taking a jab at Martius masculinity
First Citizen
Martius dog
Act 1
“He’s a very dog to the commonality”
animal imagery, hes against the common people
Martius
Citizens scabs
Act 1
“dissentious rogues”
“Make yourselves scabs?”
dehumanising the common people, body politic
Martius
Aufidius anything
Act 1
“If I were anything but I am, I would wish me only he”
they’re two of the same
Martius
Aufidius lion
Act 1
“He is a lion, That I am proud to hunt”
animal imagery
Coriolanus refers to Aufidius as a lion he is proud to hunt in Act 1, Scene 1. The Romans viewed the lion as powerful and associated it with the Greek god Hercules, who wore a lion skin. This reference to a symbol of power indicates Coriolanus’s respect for Aufidius. This admiration will manifest again in Act 4 when Coriolanus seeks out Aufidius to join with him in launching an attack against Rome
Cominius
Addressing Martius
Act 1
“Noble Martius!”
difference between particians vs plebians
Volumnia
Martius Son
Act 1
“If my son were my husband”
sees all men as serving a similar purpose, something she can use
Volumnia
Martius die
Act 1
“I had rather had eleven [sons] die nobly for their country than one… surfeit out of action”
only view men for what they can do for her - honour
Martius
Yelling at soldiers
Act 1
“You shames of Rome!”
“You souls of geese”
animal imagery
Cominius
Aufidius heart
Act 1
“Their very heart of hope!”
body politic, the centre of the Volsci army
Martius
Cominius wedding
Act 1
“By th’blood we have shed together, by th’vows we have made”
“And Tapers burned to bedward!”
queer interpretation, violence and love on the battlefield
Martius
Painting
Act 1
“That love this painting”
referring to the blood, sees wounds as a work of art to be admired
Martius
Bribe
Act 1
“A bribe to pay my sword. I do refuse it”
doesn’t want rewards as it dampens his honour
Aufidius
Mirroring
Act 1
“He’s mine or I am his”
queer relationships, violence and love on the battlefield
Martius
Bad Life
Act 1 scene 4
“If any think brave death outweighs bad life, and that his country’s dearer than himself; let him alone, or so many so minded, wave thus, to express his disposition,”
juxtaposition, ironic, masculinitty and test of honour
Martius
Sword
Act 1 scene 4
“Make you a sword of me?”
Sicinius
Nature
Act 2 scene 1
“Nature teaches beasts to know their friends.”
Sicinius is insulting the aristocracy and Coriolanus by stating the plebeians can recognize who represents them and who is against their interests.
Menenius
Hot Wine
Act 2 scene 1
“One that loves a cup of hot wine with not a drop of allaying Tiber in ‘t.”
talking about his reputation - hasty over small things
Menenius
Worships
Act 2 scene 1
“God-den to your worships. More of your conversation would infect my brain, being the herdsmen of the beastly plebeians.”
Second Officer
Flattered
Act 2 scene 2
“Faith, there have been many great men that have flatter’d the people, who ne’er loved them.”
Volumnia
Action
Act 3 scene 2
“Action is eloquence.”
Volumnia
Anger
Act 4 scene 2
“Anger’s my meat; I sup upon myself,
And so shall starve with feeding.”
Menenius
Loves
Act 2
“He loves your people, but tie him not to be their bedfellow.”
- He loves and serves the ordinary people of Rome, but don’t make him their equal
Martius
People
Act 2
“But your people, I love them as they weigh.”
He loves people according to their contribution
Martius
Nothings
Act 2
“To hear my nothings monstered”
- My achievements are nothing, I got honour from doing them, for you to talk about them distorts/destroys them
Cominius
Rewards
Act 2
“…rewards his deeds with doing them”
- Coriolanus desires no extrinsic reward, only the intrinsic virtue of the deed
Martius
Blush
Act 2
“It is a part that I shall blush in acting”
- Coriolanus sees being consul as a public role that will shame him if it requires his being inauthentic or unnatural
Menenius
Noble
Act 3
“His nature is too noble for this world, He would not flatter Neptune for his trident “
- It is the corrupt state of the world which brings about Coriolanus’ downfall (early one)
If he wouldnt bow for Gods, he definately wouldnt for the Tribunes
Menenius describes Coriolanus’s lack of humility by saying he would not stoop to honor the gods to have their power.