Coriolanus Summary
William Shakespeare

Biography Essay"He was not of an age, but for all time." So wrote Ben Jonson in his dedicatory verses to the memory of William Shakespeare in 1623, and so we continue to affirm today. No other writer,... Read more

Considered by critics, scholars, and the theater-going public the most important dramatist in the history of English literature, William Shakespeare occupies a unique position in the pantheon of great... Read more

William Shakespeare's reputation is based primarily on his plays. With the partial exception of the Sonnets (1609), quarried since the early nineteenth century for autobiographical secrets allegedly ... Read more

John Plotz, Harvard University Young people today can be said to be in a situation where ordinary common sense no longer suffices to meet the strange demands life makes. Everything has becom... Read more

In the essay that follows, Simmons compares Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra, claiming that the former play glorifies the plebeians as the moral center of the state. Shakespeare wrote many plays... Read more

In this essay, Motohashi sees Coriolanus as a critique of societies in which heterogeneous class elements coexist only at the expense of heroic individuals. In act 3 of Coriolanus, Sicinius who lea... Read more

In the following essay, Gurr explores Coriolanus as a critique of the concept of the body politic by examining Shakespeare's topical references to the Midlands riots and parliamentary quarrels.... Read more

In the following essay, Wilson interprets Coriolanus as Shakespeare's depiction of an emerging market economy, focusing particularly on his treatment of the fluctuation of values. I The fami... Read more

In the essay below, Crowley contends that in Coriolanus Shakespeare was working within the framework of a mixed genre—an amalgamation of tragic and epic form. Coriolanus has not been the obj... Read more

In the review that follows, Liston offers a generally favorable assessment of Coriolanus, as directed by Tony Taccone. The production, notes Liston, is set in the feudalistic future and features an &#... Read more

In the following review, Smith offers a negative assessment of Ralph Fiennes's Coriolanus, although the critic does praise the efforts of the other principal actors. Smith maintains that the pl... Read more

In the following essay, Jagendorf relates the play's rhetoric of war to the fractured nature of the political body in Coriolanus, showing that the aristocratic class is associated with wholenes... Read more

In the essay that follows, Holstun discusses the genre of Coriolanus, and considers the play’s relation to both tragedy and comedy. Shakespearean drama provides the history of ideas with no ... Read more

In the following essay, Wells reviews the conflict between war and peace in ancient Rome as it is depicted in Coriolanus and examines how these conflicts parallel the political situation of Shakespear... Read more

In the essay that follows, Goldman examines the unique way in which Coriolanus is discussed by the other characters in the play, noting that the other characters experience great difficulty in charact... Read more

In the essay that follows, Datta states that the central dilemma faced by Coriolanus is his disgust for, and battle to come to terms with, the pragmatism practiced by Rome's leaders and his adm... Read more

In the following essay, originally published in 1962, Waith dissects Coriolanus's character, finding him to be a praiseworthy, though flawed, hero. Waith maintains that Coriolanus's grea... Read more

In the following review, Shore assesses Jonathan Kent's production of Coriolanus for London's Almeida Theater. Shore notes that Kent's production focused on the personal aspects o... Read more

In the following review of Jonathan Kent's New York staging of Coriolanus, Lahr contends that Ralph Fiennes's Coriolanus lacked a sense of heroism and that Kent's direction failed... Read more

In the following essay, Geisler examines the ways in which Coriolanus seems to presage the English Civil War of 1642, arguing that the play accurately dramatizes the way that political petitioning may... Read more

In the following excerpt, Thomas contrasts Shakespeare's dramatic presentation of Coriolanus with Plutarch's historical assessment of the figure, comparing the two authors' diverg... Read more

In the following essay, originally published in 1985, Barton emphasizes the historical and political themes of Coriolanus and considers the influence of Livy and Machiavelli on Shakespeare's dr... Read more

In the following excerpt, Parker surveys political, psychological, and existential approaches to theme and character in Coriolanus. The special brilliance of Coriolanus is its insight into the mutu... Read more

In the following essay, Michael concentrates on Coriolanus as an isolated, tragic figure whose failure involves an inability to assert his own humanity. Much of the criticism of Shakespeare'... Read more

In the following essay, Bligh highlights Coriolanus's unswerving devotion to a set of aristocratic ideals that eventually contribute to his undoing. Coriolanus is no philosopher, but in his ... Read more

In the following review of director David Farr's 2002 Royal Shakespeare Company production of Coriolanus at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, Carnegy finds the exotic setting in feudal J... Read more

William M. Hawley A skilled practitioner of martial law, Coriolanus ultimately favors the emancipation of peace over war. Convicted of treason in disparate jurisdictions, though, he dies for havi... Read more

Burton Hatlen, University of Maine at Orono Tonally, Coriolanus is Shakespeare's coolest tragedy. The protagonist does not invite audience identification—if anything, he spurns ... Read more

Because Coriolanus is largely a stage of competing self-interests, it seems wholly unnecessary to acknowledge their centrality in the play. Most of these interests are ephemeral or situational, and ar... Read more