Coriolanus
"Coriolanus" is a drama written by the British dramatist William Shakespeare in his later years. It is a tragedy and was first published in 1623.
Through the description of the sharp contradictions between Rome's upper rulers and the people and the ethnic contradictions between Rome and Vols, the work shows the complex social life of Britain in the late Elizabethan rule and early Stuart rule. .
Creative background
1.Time backgroud
The food shortages and hoarding problems at the beginning of the show are said to be related to the riots that occurred in central England from 1607 to 1608. The plague that has prevailed in these years has basically closed the theater.
2.Creative process
The play may be for the opening period of the theater from April to July 1608. "Coriolanus" is Shakespeare's last tragedy written on the subject of Roman history, and is the penultimate of his ten tragedies. It first appeared in the first folio in 1623 and is generally considered to have been written between 1607 and 1608.
Synopsis
The famine ignited the discord between Roman civilians and nobles. The people particularly hate the arrogant Caius Martius. He is the son of Volumnia and never hides his contempt for the people. The city residents suspected that the aristocracy had their own food, and they opposed the aristocracy. The compensation they received was that the two representatives of the people were appointed as military officers, and they were given the new power to attend the Senate.
The battle with the neighboring countries interrupted the riots of the people. During the battle to attack the city, Caius Martius led the army with amazing courage and won the honor of "Coriolanus". After that, the nobility urged Coriolanus to seek a ruling position. He reluctantly agreed, and in accordance with the request, in public humility to win the approval of the city residents, but because they could not conceal their contempt for them, incurred their opposition again.
But not only did they oppose the election of Colliolanus, but they were also instigated by the defenders and expelled him from Rome. In order to get revenge, Coriolanus united the Volscians and the former enemy Tullus Aufidius to attack Rome. His old comrades went to seek peace, but he refused. He finally forgave Rome because his mother, wife and children intervened. He concluded a truce between the two sides, then he died full of anger at the Volscians sword.
Character introduction
Characters
Caius Martius - A Roman general, he is given the name "Coriolanus" after he leads the Roman armies to victory against the Volscian city of Corioles. Brave, fearsome in battle, and extremely honorable, he is also overly proud, immature, inflexible, and stubbornly aristocratic. These faults, combined with a fierce contempt for the lower classes of Rome, lead to his exile from his native city.
Volumnia - A Roman noblewoman and the mother of Coriolanus. She is devoted to her son and delights in his military exploits, having raised him to be a warrior; he, in turn, often allows himself to be dominated by her iron will.
Menenius - A Roman nobleman, or patrician, and a friend to Coriolanus. Gifted with a clever tongue, he has a reputation as a great wit, which he uses adeptly to avoid conflict.
Brutus - One of the tribunes elected by the common people, or plebeians, of Rome to serve as their representative in the government. A clever politician, he regards Coriolanus as a great danger to the class he represents and to the Roman state and works to keep him out of power.
Sicinius - A Roman tribune, a clever politician, and Brutus' ally in the struggle against Coriolanus.
Tullus Aufidius - A general of the Volscians, Rome's enemy. He is Coriolanus's great rival in warfare but is not quite the equal of the Roman general, and his inability to defeat Coriolanus rankles him.
Cominius - A patrician of Rome and a former consul. He is a friend of Coriolanus, and he's one of the generals who leads the Roman army against the Volscians.
Titus Lartius - An old Roman nobleman. He is appointed, along with Cominius, as a general against the Volscians.
Virgilia - A Roman noblewoman and Coriolanus's loyal wife
Valeria - A Roman noblewoman, she is close friends with Virgilia and Volumnia
Young Martius - Coriolanus and Virgilia's son
Appreciation of works
1.Main point
"Coriolanus" through the tragic fate of Coriolanus, profoundly reveals such a proposition of the relationship of the individual's contemporary. In a complex environment in which class contradictions and national contradictions are acute, outstanding individuals may become heroes that are expected to be popular, or they may become scumbags that are rejected by others. This is the ideological significance of this play.
2.Artistic features
In order to explain the unreasonableness of the civilians against the nobility, Menenius told the allegorical story that all the organs of the body united against the stomach. This metaphor constitutes the metaphorical tone of the whole drama of "Coriolanus". He calls the most talkative citizen the big toe. Coriolanus sometimes referred to the civil protection officers as "the mouthpiece of the civilian population" and sometimes as the mouths of the people. Citizen C said, "The masses who forget the injustice are a terrible demon; we are all part of the masses, all The organs and limbs of this demon are about to become salty. "
In this way, human organs are used to metaphor all kinds of affairs, which are not only easy to understand, but also contain a tone of meaning, with a special artistic interest.
Inspirational quotes
Had I a dozen sons, each in my love alike, and none less dear than thine and my good Marcius, I had rather had eleven die nobly for their country than one voluptuously surfeit out of action.
(Volumnia, Act 1 Scene 3)
If any think brave death outweighs bad life,
And that his country's dearer than himself,
Let him alone, or so many so minded,
Wave thus to express his disposition,
(Martius, Act 1 Scene 6)
Nature teaches beasts to know their friends.
(Sicinius, Act 2 Scene 1)
More of your conversation would infect my brain, being the herdsmen of the beastly plebeians.
(Menenius, Act 2 Scene 1)
But now 'tis odds beyond arithmetic,
And manhood is called foolery when it stands
Against a falling fabric.
(Cominius, Act 3 Scene 1)
His nature is too noble for the world:
He would not flatter Neptune for his trident,
Or Jove for’s power to thunder.
(Menenius, Act 3 Scene 1)
Action is eloquence.
(Volumnia, Act 3 scene 2)
Anger's my meat: I sup upon myself,
And so shall starve with feeding.
(Volumnia, Act 4 Scene 2)
Let me have war, say I: it exceeds peace as far as day does night: it's sprightly waking, audible, and full of vent. Peace is a very apoplexy, lethargy; mulled, deaf, sleepy, insensible: a getter of more bastard children than war's a destroyer of men.
(First Servingman, Act 4 Scene 5)
If you have writ your annals true, ’t is there,
That, like an eagle in a dovecote, I
Fluttered your Volscians in Corioles.
Alone I did it. Boy!
(Coriolanus, Act 5 scene 6)
My rage is gone,
And I am struck with sorrow.
(Aufidius, Act 5 Scene 6)