The humorous scenes which give the play variety were entirely contributed by Shakespeare; and the presentation of the mob is highly characteristic. The Poet hated the irrationality and violence of untrained men. Coriolanus never for a moment conceals his contempt for them:— I heard him swear, Were he to stand for consul, never would he Appear i' the market-place, nor on him put Nor, showing (as the manner is) his wounds This is quite in accord with Casca's contempt for the "rabblement" which "hooted, and clapped their chapped hands, and threw up their sweaty night-caps, and uttered such a deal of stinking breath," because Cæsar refused the crown. This contempt finds its most satiric expression in Jack Cade's manifesto: "Be brave then; for your captain is brave, and vows reformation. There shall be, in England, seven halfpenny loaves sold for a penny; the three-hooped pot shall have ten hoops; and I will make it felony to drink small beer; all the realm shall be in common, and in Cheapside shall my palfrey go to grass." In complete contrast with this conception of the common people as a mere rabble, full of passion and devoid of ideas, stands Coriolanus-a typical aristocrat, with the virtues of the aristocrat: courage, indifference to pain, scorn of money, independence of thought, command of eloquence, and natural aptitude for leadership. These great qualities are neutralized by colossal egotism, manifesting itself in a pride so irrational and insistent that, sooner or later, by the necessity of its nature, it must produce the tragic conflict. Coriolanus, in spite of his great faults, has heroic proportions, and fills the play with the sense of his superiority; he lives and dies like a true tragic hero. MABIE: William Shakespeare: Poet, Dramatist, and Man. VIII. Dramatic Features. There is more unity in the tragedy of Coriolanus than in either of the other Roman plays; yet, grand and powerful as it is, its tragical interest is less than that of Julius Cæsar and its poetical merit less than that of Antony and Cleopatra. There is something hard about it, both in sentiment and in style. The delineation of social and personal pride is not a subject to evoke much sympathy or emotion, and although it may in its course reach sublime heights, its sublimity is wholly independent of moral greatness. Of all Shakespeare's greater works, this is the most difficult to construe; the unintelligibility of several passages is doubtless due to some corruption of the text, but besides this, the general style is exceedingly obscure, and overloaded with metaphorical and elliptical expressions. Even the great scene between Coriolanus and his mother is not of uniform excellence. STAPFER: Shakespeare and Classical Antiquity. The Tragedy of Coriolanus is one of the most amusing of our author's performances. The old man's merriment in Menenius; the lofty lady's dignity in Volumnia; the bridal modesty in Virgilia; the patrician and military haughtiness in Coriolanus; the plebeian malignity and tribunitian insolence in Brutus and Sicinius, make a very pleasing and interesting variety; and the various revolutions of the hero's fortune, fill the mind with anxious curiosity. There is perhaps too much bustle in the first act, and too little in the last. JOHNSON: General Observations on Shakspeare's Plays. TULLUS AUFIDIUS, general of the Volscians. Lieutenant to Aufidius. Conspirators with Aufidius. A Citizen of Antium. Two Volscian Guards. VOLUMNIA, mother to Coriolanus. VIRGILIA, wife to Coriolanus. VALERIA, friend to Virgilia. Gentlewoman attending on Virgilia. Roman and Volscian Senators, Patricians, Ediles, Lictors, Soldiers, Citizens, Messengers, Servants to Aufidius, and other Attendants. SCENE: Rome and the neighbourhood; Corioli and the neigh bourhood; Antium. The Tragedy of Coriolanus. ACT FIRST. Scene I. Rome. A street. Enter a company of mutinous Citizens, with staves, clubs, and other weapons. First Cit. Before we proceed any further, hear me speak. All. Speak, speak. First Cit. You are all resolved rather to die than to famish? All. Resolved, resolved. First Cit. First, you know Caius Marcius is chief enemy to the people. All. We know 't, we know 't. First Cit. Let us kill him, and we 'll have corn at our own price. Is 't a verdict? All. No more talking on 't; let it be done: away, away! Sec. Cit. One word, good citizens. ΙΟ First Cit. We are accounted poor citizens; the patricians, good. What authority surfeits on would relieve us if they would yield us but the superfluity while it were wholesome, we might guess they relieved us humanely; but they think we are too dear: the leanness that afflicts us, the 20 object of our misery, is as an inventory to par- Sec. Cit. Would you proceed especially against Caius All. Against him first: he's a very dog to the com monalty. Sec. Cit. Consider you what services he has done for his country? First Cit. Very well; and could be content to give him good report for 't, but that he pays himself with being proud. Sec. Cit. Nay, but speak not maliciously. 30 First Cit. I say unto you, what he hath done famously, he did it to that end: though soft-conscienced men can be content to say it was for his country, he did it to please his mother and to be partly 40 proud; which he is, even to the altitude of his virtue. Sec. Cit. What he cannot help in his nature, you account a vice in him. You must in no way say he is covetous. First Cit. If I must not, I need not be barren of accusations; he hath faults, with surplus, to tire in repetition. [Shouts within.] What shouts are these? The other side o' the city is risen: why stay we prating here? to the Capitol! All. Come, come. First Cit. Soft! who comes here? 50 |