| Ancient Rome, in the aftermath of a faminePlebians want right to price grain supply, Ruling aristocracy/patricians grant them five tribunes. Cause Martius defeats the Volscians and takes the city of Corioles and so is given name of Coriolanus. Senate offers to make Coriolanus a consul and make him go plead for the votes of the plebeians. First they vote for him, then they change their minds due to Brutus and Sicinius’s prodding. Coriolanus named trainer. Coriolanus goes to Volsces and his enemy Aufidius in the city of Antium. Together they march on Rome until Volumnia begs him to make peace and he does. Then Aufidius declares Coriolanus’s betrayal and his men assassinate Coriolanus | Plot |
| Tragedy | Genre |
| Coriolanus (still Caius Martius) established as anti populist, anti language, and a politician. | Act 1 |
| Coriolanus tries to persuade people to vote for him and fails | Act 2 |
| Coriolanus banished by the peopleChildish response “I banish you”point of no return | Act 3 |
| Coriolanus in exile and goes to Aufidius/Volscesplan to go fight Romerising action | Act 4 |
| Death of Coriolanus, killed by Aufidius’ menDownfall, devolvement | Act 5 |
| Valor | Which virtue is of greatest importance to Coriolanus? |
| His mother | Who does he bow in front of instead of his wife when he returns from war? |
| Lie to the people | What advice does his mother (Volumnia) give him? |
| Volumnia | Who is Coriolanus’s mother? |
| To set the price for the city’s grain supply | What do the citizens demand? |
| 5 | How many representatives are the common people granted? |
| The Volscians | What tribe do they fight against |
| Corioles | What city are they able to take as a result of the first war (and the heroism of Martius |
| Brutus and Sicinius | what two men sway the votes of the common people against Coriolanus |
| Virgilia | what is the name of Coriolanus’s wife? |
| Aufidius | Volscian general, Coriolanus’s rivalrealistthe modern man to Coriolanus’s epic hero Coriolanus makes peace with him |
| Women more than men | who does Coriolanus listen to the most? |
| treason | what crime is Coriolanus often accused of |
| Cominius | Roman patrician/former consulfellow Roman general against the Volscians |
| “What would you have, you curs, that like nor peace nor war? The one affrights you, the other makes you proud” | Quote: war and peace |
| “Caius Martius is chief enemy to the people” | Quote: how the Plebians see Martius |
| “But your people, I love them as they weigh” | Quote: Coriolanus on loving people according to their contributions |
| “all the swords of Italy could not have made this peace” | Quote: Coriolanus shows his ability to use a humane solution to find peace for all |
| “Let us revenge this with our pikes, ere we become rakes; for the gods know I speak this in hunger for bread, not in thirst for revenge” | Quote: revenge of the citizens |
| “There was a time when all the body’s members Rebelled against the belly; thus accused it” | Quote: Menenius compares Rome to a body, says the Senate is like the stomach and the common people are like the other body parts. The stomach is in charge of collecting all the food before dispersing the nutrients to the rest of the body, just like the Senate is in charge of collecting the city’s grain and dispersing it to the people. |
| Would you proceed especially against Caius Martius?Against him first. He’s a very dog to the commonalty.Consider you what services he has done for his country? | Quote: asks us to think about whether or not being a military hero automatically makes someone a good civic leader or politician |
| VOLUMNIAMethinks I see him stamp thus, and call thus:’Come on, you cowards! You were got in fear,Though you were born in Rome.’ His bloody browWith his mailed hand then wiping, forth he goesLike to a harvestman that’s tasked to mowOr all or lose his hire.VIRGILIAHis bloody brow? O Jupiter, no blood! | Quote: Volumnia fantasizes about her son’s military exploits and describes how awesome Coriolanus’ “bloody brow” must look on the battlefield. Meanwhile, Virgilia (Coriolanus’ wife) is horrified at the idea of her husband being wounded in battle. Virgilia is the only person not happy about warfare in the play. |
| Fable of the belly | Told by Menenius.The belly is the body’s “storehouse” for food but it’s also a distribution centre because the belly sends out nutrients through the bloodstream to all the other body parts.Point: Rome is just like a human body. The Senators are the “belly” because they’re the ones in charge of collecting the city’s grain before dispersing it to the common people of Rome, who are the “body parts.” In other words: quit complaining, because they’re not really starving and the ruling class is actually taking good care of them, if they were just smart enough to know it. If the plebeians (body parts) continue to revolt against the belly (the Senators), the whole body (Rome) is going to die. |
| Harsh, abrasive | Coriolanus has a reputation for ___ language? |
| verse, iambic pentameter | Patricians typically speak in…? Shows noble/aristocratic status (what metric?) |
| prose | Plebeians typically speak in…? Shows class |
| Patricians as the important belly, Plebeians as body’s members (the great toe!) | The fable of the belly is symbolism for… |
| nobility, word repetition and imagery | key idea in the play? Emphasised by… |
| speak, mouth, tongue, voice, words | key idea of speech, Coriolanus’ inability to effectively speak politics, frequently refers to terms |
| blood (imagery) | superiority is assessed in terms of |
| curs, dogs, animals | plebeians often referred to as… |
| obstinacy | the ___ of Coriolanus’ nature (stubborness) |
| purity | theme, upper class’ ____, giving him ‘right’ to rule over the less so |
| bodily extremities, and social members | body’s members stand for both…(dual role) |
| wounded | implications that to be a hero one must also be |
| author, wants to be protected by unfeeling so emancipates | Coriolanus wants to consider himself an ____ of himself |
| doom | Paradox- his moments of relationship or connectedness bring his |
| surrenders, ambition | Coriolanus ____ to his mother, and subscribes to her wishes for him, associated with her own ____ lived through him |
| “he shall have a noble memory” | achieves nobility, ending |
Coriolanus
July 7, 2019