Particularize Regarding Books Coriolanus
| Title | : | Coriolanus |
| Author | : | William Shakespeare |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Oxford School Shakespeare |
| Pages | : | Pages: 208 pages |
| Published | : | January 29th 2004 by Oxford University Press, USA (first published 1623) |
| Categories | : | Plays. Classics. Drama. Fiction. Theatre. Literature. Historical. Historical Fiction |
Interpretation Conducive To Books Coriolanus
After the exotic eroticism of Antony and Cleopatra, Shakespeare returned to Rome for one of his final tragedies, and the change could not have been more dramatic. Coriolanus is one of Shakespeare's harshest and most challenging studies of power, politics and masculinity, based around the life of Caius Marcius.Based on the Roman chronicles of Plutarch's Lives and Livy's History of Rome, the play is set in the early years of the Roman Republic. Its famous opening scene, particularly admired by Bertolt Brecht, portrays its citizens as starving and rebellious, and horrified by the arrogant and dismissive attitude of Caius Marcius, one of Rome's most valiant but also political naive soldiers. Spurred on by his ambitious mother Volumnia, Caius takes the city of Corioles, is renamed Coriolanus in honour of his victory, and is encouraged to run for senate. However, his contempt for the citizens, who he calls "scabs" and "musty superfluity" ultimately leads to his exile and destructive alliance with his deadly foe, Aufidius. Despite its relative unpopularity, Coriolanus is a fascinating study of both public and personal life. Its language is dense and complex, as its representation of the tensions built into the fabric of Roman political life. Yet it also contains extraordinarily intimate scenes between Coriolanus and both his mother, who ultimately proves "most mortal" to her own son, and his enemy Aufidius, whose "rapt heart" is happier to see Coriolanus than his own wife. One of Shakespeare's darker and more disturbing plays. --Jerry Brotton
Mention Books To Coriolanus
| Original Title: | The Tragedy of Coriolanus |
| ISBN: | 019832006X (ISBN13: 9780198320067) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Gaius Marcius Coriolanus, Volumnia, Tullus Aufidius, Menenius, Brutus, Sicinius, Cominius, Virgilia, Valeria |
| Setting: | Rome(Italy) |
Rating Regarding Books Coriolanus
Ratings: 3.72 From 12144 Users | 748 ReviewsCritique Regarding Books Coriolanus
In anticipation of the release of a new filmed version of Coriolanus, I reread the play in Dec 2011.It remains a difficult play to enjoy, and I'm going to retain my 2-star rating - it's OK compared to other Shakespeare plays.The protagonist is an arrogant, spoiled, immature patrician whose disgust for Rome's plebeians is so manifest and violent that his enemies easily manipulate the citizens into banishing him. He flies to his chief enemy, Tullus Aufidius, the leader of the Volsces, and returnsLet it be virtuous to be obstinate. - William Shakespeare, CoriolanusI'm a sucker for a revenge play, so this one floats easily just on the heat generated by Coriolanus' anger. I remember being exposed to the Coriolanus story last year when I was reading Plutarch's Lives, Vol 1* and again earlier this year when I was reading Livy I: History of Rome, Books 1-2. So, going into the play I was fairly comfortable with the basic story, but completely unprepared for Shakepeare's viscious tongue.
I'm told Coriolanus, the person, is unlikeable, but I happen to like him. I don't even think he's a right-wing bastard, just shy, awkward and misunderstood. It's his severe self-effacement that makes him hate publicity. Who wants to stand in the market and exhibit your wounds in a stupid political stunt? And his thickheadedness, the fact he has no idea when to use that soldierly bluntness and when to keep his trap shut, is a naivety I like against the politics of Rome. He's a soldier, yes, but
I really don't get this play. Why was everyone so obsessed with Coriolanus? Like, people either really loved him (and excused all his shitty behaviour without a second thought) or they literally hated him and wanted to see him tortured or killed. In the first act, we are thrown into the action without much explanation as to why the plebeians hate Coriolanus (then known as Caius Marcius) so friggin' much. I mean, when he steps onto the scene it becomes kind of apparent because he is the biggest
Fierce warrior, great general, total prat.
This play made me realize how good Shakespeare really is. I had honestly never heard of "Coriolanus", and I picked it up to read because the National Theatre Live is broadcasting it live on January 30, 2014. I have read a few of the basic Shakespeare plays - "Hamlet", "Macbeth", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "Julius Caesar" - the usual suspects. The problem is that I already knew how they would end, more or less. I don't remember a time in my life when I didn't know the plot and ending of "Romeo
Caius Marcius Coriolanus on the public he would rule: He that will give good words to thee will flatter Beneath abhorring. What would you have, you curs, That like nor peace nor war? the one affrights you, The other makes you proud. He that trusts to you, Where he should find you lions, finds you hares; Where foxes, geese: you are no surer, no, Than is the coal of fire upon the ice, Or hailstone in the sun.The fires i th lowest hell fold in the people!His opponents the demagogic tribunes, though
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