| “The man and his… | reputation are interchangeable”-Bridget Elscome |
| “The love of power within ourselves and the admiration of… | it in others are both natural to man:the one makes him a tyrant, the other a slave”-William Hazlitt |
| “Still he is more his own enemy than he is theirs (plebeians),… | and his tragedy is not the consequenceof their fear and anger, but of his nature and nurture.”-Bloom |
| “The subject of Coriolanus is the… | ruin of a noble life through the sin of pride” -E Dowden |
| “Coriolanus invokes the gods and Fortune… | not for victory in battle, as others do, but simply for the opportunity to fight and prove his virtue…”-John H Blitz |
| “Coriolanus is characterised chiefly by opposition and conflict… | both external andinternal…Coriolanus is constantly divided both against others and within himself”-John H Blitz |
| “Coriolanus’ spirited opposition toeverything in his nature except… | spiritedness itself gives rise to his spirited opposition to his enemiesin battle” -John H Blitz |
| “he is always…. | at war against others.”-John H Blitz |
| “Volumnia the… | awful Roman matron”-E Dowden |
| “Martius subtly betrays… | his pride in a superhuman potential still imperfectly realized”-Philip Brockbank |
| “Our tendency to… | identify with the hero can make us blind to his faults”-Martin Scofield |
| “Coriolanus is an….. | unreflected man of action” -Maurice Charney |
| “The fact is that Coriolanus is not totally unsympathetic is a… | Shakespearean triumph, since of all the major figures in the plays, this one has the most limited consciousness.”-Bloom |
| “Coriolanus is… | an overgrown child”-Bloom |
| “we had rather be… | the oppressor than the oppressed”-William Hazlitt |
| “In accepting the name Coriolanus,… | Martius accepts public recognition for what he has done, and necessarily compromises himself” -Norman Rabbit |
| “The emotionally-starved son is forced to live on anger,… | displaced from its primal source, his mother”-Bridget Elscome |
| “Coriolanus’s alienation reveals… | itself in his response to praise.”-Bridget Elscome |
| “Reverses his initial triumph,… | when the gates of Corioles shut him in alone of all the attacking Romans”-Levin |
| “His wars are not… | for Rome: they are an end in themselves”-G Wilson Knight |
| “Aufidius seems at times to be the Volscian equivalent of Coriolanus but… | unlike the Roman he is capable of deceit can can work within the framework of the government” – Ralph Fiennes |
| “An obsessive power struggle with… | homosexual overtones” -Ralph berry |
| “Aufidius and Coriolanus… | must be thought of as alter egos” -Kenneth Burke |
| “Honour, for the… | Roman, is life’s highest good” -John H Blitz |
| “Shakespeare indicates through Menenius and Cominius… | that decency is indeed attainable even in this Rome” -CM Sicherman |
| “Friendship with Menenius cannot command Coriolanus’ pity… | because of the position of Rome’s ingratitude” – Joe Dowling |
| “To Menenius hunger is a… | discursive phenomena to be manipulated, not a literal condition that must be acknowledged” -Arthur Riss |
| “Menenius presents the… | ruling classes as compassionate and paternal” -Phyllis Rackin |
| “The tribunes make his crisis… | one to be met with words, not blows” -PA Jorgenson |
| “Brutus’ directions to his fellow tribunes reveal a knowledge… | of Coriolanus’ tragic potentialities” -PA Jorgenson |
| “The tribunes are proud because… | they lack self-knowledge” -Mark blitz |
| “To the tribunes, Coriolanus is… | the wolf threatening the plebiean lamb” -Lee bliss |
| “while in private always calculating,… | in public they put on shows of anger or indignation purely for political effect” -Mark blitz |
| “It as though… | Volumnia scripted his behaviour” -Lee Bliss |
| “Love and war are so intertwined in Volumnia’s indignation that… | eroticised violence becomes the mark of her relationship with her son” -Sprengnether |
| “The passion of maternity… | whether interpreted as maternal love or maternal pride, penetrates her nature to the core” -G Wilson Knight |
| “The subject of Coriolanus… | is the ruin of a noble life through the sin of pride” – E Dowden |
| “The emotionally starved son… | is forced to live on anger, displaced from its primal source, his mother” -Bridget Elscome |
| “The man… | and his reputation are interchangeable” -Bridget Elscome |
| “Coriolanus’ alienation reveals… | itself in his response to praise” – Bridget Elscome |
| “He is more his own enemy… | than he is theirs, and his tragedy is not the consequence of their fear and anger but of his nature and nurture” -Bloom |
| “Coriolanus is characterised chiefly… | by opposition and conflict…both external and internal” -John h blitz |
| “Coriolanus is constantly divided… | both against others and within himself” -John h blitz |
Coriolanus: critical quotes
July 17, 2019