Coriolanus critics

‘the tragedy of Coriolanus originates in his intense allegiance to the cult of virtus’ Miller
‘he is no more capable of restraining his fury than is a child in a tantrum’ headlam wells’The tragic struggle of the play is not that of patricians with plebeians, but of Coriolanus with his own self’
‘The tragic struggle of the play is not that of patricians with plebeians, but of Coriolanus with his own self’ hazlitt
‘Shakespeare was recognising and exploiting Coriolanus’ resemblance to Elizabethan military adventurers” Jorgensen
‘What Shakespeare wanted was a simpler and more appalling situation than he found in Plutarch, and a hero enslaved by his passion and driven blindly forward’ AC Bradley
If ‘his behaviour is at odds with the world around him, he will attempt to destroy the world around him’ Wheeler
‘Has finally learned to talk like a politician… but I’m doing so he debases himself… we admired him more when he spoke like a Roman’ Hussey
A warrior whose only charm is his lack of it Gurewitsch
His tragedy is not the consequence of the people’s fear and anger, but of his own nature and nurture Bloom
Killing machine Bloom
“The ruin of noble life through the sin of pride.” Dowden
You can’t make him easy to sympathise with- it weakens him as a character’ Fiennes
He sees himself… not only as a Roman, but as the embodiment Hatlen
Coriolanus I their greatest warrior, bred to believe that personal merit can be measured by the number of wounds sustained in a battle Kermode
His faults are repellent and chill our sympathies AC Bradley
The pride and wrath of Coriolanus can be seen as admirable as well as detestable Bloom
Victim of his own dominating and domineering mother Bloom
Anywhere except at a battlefield he is, at best, a disaster waiting to happen Bloom
Thinks his heart is iron, and it melts like snow before fire AC Bradely
With such a mother, nasty as he can be, must be forgiven by the audience Bloom
there is his relationship to war, his relationship to the community, and his relationship to his mother, and the quality of the first two derives from the strength of the last proser
July 21, 2019