!! 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.
Martius
Dragon
Act 4
“I go alone like to a lonely dragon”
- Coriolanus is still full of energy although isolated and purposeless
Martius
World
Act 4
“Oh world, thy slippery turns”
Coriolanus laments the false and corrupted world
Martius
Services
Act 4
“My revengeful services”
Coriolanus’ twisted sense of service
Martius
View of Rome
Act 4
“cankered”; “city of kites and crows”
Coriolanus’ view of Rome
Martius
I am..
Act 1
“I am constant”
- Coriolanus does not go back on his word and is immediately eager to go to war
Lartius
Sword
Act 1
“sensibly outdares his senseless sword”
Coriolanus’ exceptional bravery
Herald
Alone
Act 2
“all alone Martius did fight”
Coriolanus’ exceptional bravery (later one)
Third Servingman
Mars
Act 4
“son and heir to Mars”
- Coriolanus’ military valour from the perspective of the Volsces
Sicinius
Soaring
Act 2
“his soaring insolence”
Coriolanus is a terrible politician
Citizens
City
Act 3
“The people are the city”
- Coriolanus doesn’t understand that he must accommodate the people (short)
Third Citizen
Worthier
Act 2
“if he would incline to the people, there was
never a worthier man.”
- Coriolanus doesn’t understand that he must accommodate the people
Aufidius
Virtues
Act 4
” our virtues lie in the interpretation of the time”
- Coriolanus’ sense of honour and justice conflict with the fickleness and fluidity in the world
Martius
Poor Host
Act 1
“I request you to give my poor host freedom”
Coriolanus shows his humanity
Menenius
Noble Man
Act 4
“We are all undone, unless the noble man have mercy.”
- Menenius shows that in truth Coriolanus is the noble one while Rome have been wicked
Martius
Peace
Act 5
“all the swords of Italy could not have made this peace”
- Coriolanus shows his ability to use a humane solution to find peace for all
Martius
Beast
Act 4
“The beast / with many heads butts me away”
beast represents the public that judges Coriolanus, juxta to dragon imagery- class divide
Coriolanus refers to the general public as “the beast with many heads” in Act 4, Scene 1. This is a reference to the Hydra, a beast that could devour men. Cutting off one of its heads was useless since another would grow in its place. This is a fitting representation of the public from Coriolanus’s point of view. There would always be someone present to judge him and remind him of his humanity.
Brutus, Menenius
Martius bear
Act 2
“He’s a lamb indeed, that baas like a bear”
“He’s a bear indeed, that lives like a lamb”
Chiasmus, wolf in sheeps clothing, animal imagery
Volumnia, Menenius
Coriolanus wounds
Act 2
“he had before his last expedition twenty-five wounds upon him.”
“Now its twenty-seven. Every gash was an enemies grave”
body imagery, numerical value, dehumanised
First officer, Second officer
Coriolanus Worthy
Act 2
f “he waved indifferently”
s “he hath deserved worthily of his country”
f “he’s a worthy man”
admire his attitude, want him to become consul
Coriolanus
Wounds
Act 2
“I had rather have my wounds to heal again Than hear say how I got them”
“Fo my wounds’ sake to give their sufferage”
doesn’t care for it to be discussed, dampens honour
Cominius
Young Martius
Act 2
“Amazonian chin”
“bristled lips”
“when he might act the woman in the scene, He proved best man i’th’field”
even when young and ‘womanly’ he was the best
Cominius
Young Martius Blood
Act 2
“He was a thing of blood”
links to Norton
Third Citizen
Tongues
Act 2
“we are to put our tongues into those wounds”
sexual, desire to consume Coriolanus, body politic
Brutus
God Complex
Act 3
“You speak o’th’people As if you were a god to punish, not a man if their infirmity”
god complex, classism
Sicinius, Brutus
Disease
Act 3
“He’s a disease that much be cut away”
“[cut him away] lest his infection.. spread further”
body politic
Volumnia
Disease
Act 4
“red pestilside strike all trades in Rome”
body politic, blaming plebians
Martius
Volumnia Hercules
Act 4
“If you had been the wife of Hercules, Six of his labours you’d have done, and saved Yo husband so much sweat”
feminine + masculine qualities
Martius
Dragon
Act 4
“like to a lonely dragon”
mightly + mythical, a legend
Sicinius, Volumnia
Masculinity
Act 4
“Are you mandkind?”
“Ay, fool.. Was not a man my father?”
gender roles
Martius
Rome
Act 4
“whose hours, whos bed, whose meal”
“My birthplace hate , and my love’s upon This enemy town”
“If he slay me, He does fair justice”
domestic side, mirrors Aufidius speech, juxtaposition
Aufidius
Coriolanus dream
Act 4
“more dances my rapt heart Than when I first my wedded mistress saw”
“I have nightly since Dreamt of encounters ‘twixt thyself and me”
“Unbuckling helms, fisting each other’s throats”
GAAAAAAAAAY
Cominius
God
Act 4
“He is their god. He leads them like a thing Made by some other deity than Nature”
Coriolanus god complex, nature vs. law
First citizen, second, third
Regret
Act 4
“When I said banish him, I said ‘twas pity”
“And so did I”
“And so did I”
hypocricy, cowards going back on their word
Aufidius
Dragon
Act 4
“Dragon-like”
“good husbandry for the Volscian state”
reference to Martius own words and GAAAAAY
Cominius
Dragon
Act 5
“Till he had forged himself a name i’th’fire Of burning Rome”
dragon reference
Martius
Knees
Act 5
“What’s this? Your knees to me? To your corrected son?”
he raises her
convinced by his mother to not invade Rome
Volumnia
Bound
Act 5
“There’s no man in the world More bound to’s mother”
boy mom fr
Menenius
Dragon
Act 5
“This Martius is grown from man to dragon. He has wings, he’s more than a creeping thing”
Sicinius
Mother
Act 5
“He loved his mother dearly”
Aufidius, Martius
Traitor
Act 5
A “He hath abused your powers.”
C “Traitor? How now?”
A “Ay, traitor, Martius!”
C “Martius?”
A “Ay, Martius! Caius Martius!”
loss of his honour, loss of his name and idenity, severed relationship
Aufidius
Sorrow
Act 5
“My rage is gone, And I am struck with sorrow.”
“Yet he shall have a noble memory”
giving him a noble funeral - avoiding naming Martius
Stage directions
End line
Act 5
Exeunt, bearing the body of Martius.
A dead march sounded
retains his name
Menenius
Heardsmen
Act 2 Scene 1
“the herdsmen of the beastly plebeians”
Coriolanus
Melt
Act 5 Scene 3
“I melt and am not / Of stronger earth than others.”
This is Coriolanus’s admission he is not above having the feelings of others.
