''Coriolanus'' ( or ) is a

tragedy A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

leader

Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus Gnaeus (or Gaius) Marcius Coriolanus was a ancient Rome, Roman general who is said to have lived in the 5th century BC. He received his toponymy, toponymic cognomen "Coriolanus" following his courageous actions during a Roman siege of the Volscian ...

. Shakespeare worked on it during the same years he wrote ''

Antony and Cleopatra ''Antony and Cleopatra'' is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed around 1607, by the King's Men at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre. Its first appearance in print was in the First Folio published ...

'', making them his last two tragedies. Coriolanus is the name given to a Roman general after his military feats against the

Volsci The Volsci (, , ) were an Italic tribe, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. At the time they inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium, bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the ...

ans at Corioli. Following his success, others encourage Coriolanus to pursue the

consulship The consuls were the highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC). Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum''an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspire ...

, but his disdain for the

plebeians In ancient Rome, the plebeians or plebs were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not Patrician (ancient Rome), patricians, as determined by the Capite censi, census, or in other words "commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Et ...

and mutual hostility with the tribunes lead to his banishment from Rome. In exile, he presents himself to the Volscians, then leads them against Rome. After he relents and agrees to a peace with Rome, he is killed by his previous Volscian allies.

Synopsis

The play opens in Rome shortly after the expulsion of the Tarquin kings. There are riots in progress after stores of grain have been withheld from ordinary citizens. The rioters are particularly angry at Caius Marcius, a brilliant Roman general whom they blame for the loss of their grain. The rioters encounter a patrician named Menenius Agrippa, as well as Caius Marcius himself. Menenius tries to calm the rioters, while Marcius is openly contemptuous, and says that the

are not worthy of the grain because of their lack of military service. Two of the tribunes of Rome, Brutus and Sicinius, privately denounce Marcius. Marcius leaves Rome after news arrives that a

an army is in the field. The commander of the Volscian army, Tullus Aufidius, has fought Marcius on several occasions and considers him a blood enemy. The Roman army is commanded by Cominius, with Marcius as his deputy. While Cominius takes his soldiers to meet Aufidius's army, Marcius rallies Roman troops in front of the Volscian city of Corioli. The siege of Corioli is initially unsuccessful, but the Romans conquer it when Marcius is able to force open the gates of the city. Even though he is exhausted from the fighting, Marcius marches quickly to join Cominius and fight the other Volscian forces. Marcius and Aufidius meet in single combat, fighting until Aufidius's own soldiers drag him away from the battle. Volumnia pleads with Coriolanus

In recognition of his great courage, Cominius gives Caius Marcius the

agnomen An ''agnomen'' (; : ''agnomina''), in the Roman naming convention, was a nickname, just as the ''cognomen'' had been initially. However, the ''cognomina'' eventually became family names, and so ''agnomina'' were needed to distinguish between sim ...

, or "official

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

", of ''Coriolanus''. When they return to Rome, Coriolanus's mother Volumnia encourages her son to run for

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

. Coriolanus is hesitant to do this, but he bows to his mother's wishes. He effortlessly wins the support of the

Roman Senate The Roman Senate () was the highest and constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in 753 BC) as the Sena ...

, and seems at first to have won over the plebeians as well. However, Brutus and Sicinius scheme to defeat Coriolanus and instigate another plebeian riot in opposition to his becoming consul. Faced with this opposition, Coriolanus flies into a rage and rails against the concept of popular rule. He compares allowing plebeians to have power over the patricians to allowing "crows to peck the eagles". The two tribunes condemn Coriolanus as a traitor for his words and order him to be banished. Coriolanus retorts that it is he who banishes Rome from his presence. After his exile from Rome, Coriolanus makes his way to the Volscian capital of

Antium Antium was an Ancient history, ancient coastal town in Latium, south of Rome. An oppidum was founded by people of Latial culture (11th century BC or the beginning of the 1st millennium BC), then it was the main stronghold of the Volsci people unti ...

, and asks Aufidius's help to wreak revenge upon Rome for banishing him. Moved by his plight and honoured to fight alongside the great general, Aufidius and his superiors embrace Coriolanus, allowing him to lead a new assault on Rome. Rome, in its panic, tries desperately to persuade Coriolanus to halt his crusade for vengeance, but both Cominius and Menenius fail. Finally, Volumnia is sent to meet her son, along with Coriolanus's wife Virgilia and their child, and the chaste gentlewoman Valeria. Volumnia succeeds in dissuading her son from destroying Rome, urging him instead to clear his name by reconciling the Volscians with the Romans and creating peace. Coriolanus concludes a peace treaty between the Volscians and the Romans. When he returns to the Volscian capital, conspirators, organised by Aufidius, kill him for his betrayal.

Characters

''Romans'' * Caius Marcius – later surnamed Coriolanus * Menenius Agrippa – Senator of Rome * Cominius –

and commander-in-chief of the army * Titus Larcius – Roman general *

Volumnia Volumnia is a character in William Shakespeare's play '' Coriolanus'', the mother of Caius Martius Coriolanus. She plays a large role in Coriolanus' life, encouraging him in his military success and urging him to seek political office. When t ...

– Coriolanus' mother (historically,

Veturia Veturia was a Roman matron, the mother of the possibly legendary Roman general Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus. According to Plutarch her name was Volumnia. Veturia came from a patrician family and encouraged her son's involvement in Roman politics. A ...

) *

Virgilia Virgilia is the wife of Coriolanus in William Shakespeare's play ''Coriolanus'' (1607–1610), in which same play Volumnia is his mother. Origins The life of the legendary figure Caius Marcius Coriolanus has been recorded more than once. In ...

– Coriolanus' wife * Young Martius – Coriolanus' son * Valeria – chaste lady of Rome and friend to Coriolanus' family * Sicinius Velutus –

tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the Tribune of the Plebs, tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs ac ...

* Junius Brutus – tribune * Roman Citizens * Roman Soldiers * Roman Herald * Roman Senators ''Volscians'' * Tullus Aufidius – general of the

an army * Aufidius' Lieutenant * Aufidius' Servingmen * Conspirators with Aufidius * Adrian – Volscian spy * Nicanor – Roman traitor * Volscian Lords * Volscian Citizens * Volscian Soldiers ''Other'' * Gentlewoman * Usher * Volscian senators and nobles * Roman captains * Officers * Messengers *

Lictor A lictor (possibly from Latin language, Latin ''ligare'', meaning 'to bind') was a Ancient Rome, Roman civil servant who was an attendant and bodyguard to a Roman magistrate, magistrate who held ''imperium''. Roman records describe lictors as hav ...

s *

Aedile Aedile ( , , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public orde ...

Sources

''Coriolanus'' is largely based on the "Life of Coriolanus" in Thomas North's translation of

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

's '' The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans'' (1579). The wording of Menenius's speech about the

body politic The body politic is a polity—such as a city, realm, or state—considered metaphorically as a physical body. Historically, the sovereign is typically portrayed as the body's head, and the analogy may also be extended to other anatomical part ...

is derived from

William Camden William Camden (2 May 1551 – 9 November 1623) was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and herald, best known as author of ''Britannia'', the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland that relates la ...

's ''Remaines of a Greater Worke Concerning Britaine'' (1605), where

Pope Adrian IV Pope Adrian (or Hadrian) IV (; born Nicholas Breakspear (or Brekespear); 1 September 1159) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 4 December 1154 until his death in 1159. Born in England, Adrian IV was the first Pope ...

compares a well-run government to a body in which "all parts performed their functions, only the stomach lay idle and consumed all"; the fable is also alluded to in John of Salisbury's '' Policraticus'' (Camden's source) and William Averell's ''A Marvailous Combat of Contrarieties'' (1588).University of Michigan, The Royal Shakespeare Company, Michigan Residency, 2003
Retrieved 15 March 2013. Other sources have been suggested, but are less certain. Shakespeare might also have drawn on

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

's ''

Ab Urbe condita ''Ab urbe condita'' (; 'from the founding of Rome, founding of the City'), or (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is ...

'', as translated by

Philemon Holland Philemon Holland (1552 – 9 February 1637) was an English schoolmaster, physician and translator. He is known for the first English translations of several works by Livy, Pliny the Elder, and Plutarch, and also for translating William Camden's ...

, and possibly a digest of Livy by Lucius Annaeus Florus; both of these were commonly used texts in Elizabethan schools. Machiavelli's ''

Discourses on Livy The ''Discourses on Livy'' (, ) is a work of political history and philosophy written in the early 16th century () by the Italian writer and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli, best known as the author of ''The Prince''. The ''Discourses'' ...

'' were available in manuscript translations, and could also have been used by Shakespeare. He might also have made use of Plutarch's original source, the '' Roman Antiquities of Dionysius of Halicarnassus'', as well as on his own knowledge of Roman custom and law.

Date and text

Most scholars date ''Coriolanus'' to the period 1605–10, with 1608–09 being considered the most likely, although the available evidence does not permit great certainty. The earliest date for the play rests on the fact that Menenius's fable of the belly is derived from

's ''Remaines'', published in 1605. The later date derives from the fact that several other texts from 1610 or thereabouts seem to allude to ''Coriolanus'', including

Ben Jonson Benjamin Jonson ( 11 June 1572 – ) was an English playwright, poet and actor. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence on English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for the satire, satirical ...

's '' Epicoene'',

Robert Armin Robert Armin (c. 1568 – 1615) was an English actor, and member of the Lord Chamberlain's Men. He became the leading comedy actor with the troupe associated with William Shakespeare following the departure of Will Kempe around 1600. Also a p ...

's ''Phantasma'' and John Fletcher's '' The Woman's Prize, or the Tamer Tamed''. Some scholars note evidence that may narrow down the dating to the period 1607–09. One line may be inspired by

George Chapman George Chapman ( – 12 May 1634) was an English dramatist, translator and poet. He was a classical scholar whose work shows the influence of Stoicism. Chapman is seen as an anticipator of the metaphysical poets of the 17th century. He is ...

's translation of the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

'' (late 1608). References to "the coal of fire upon the ice" (I.i) and to squabbles over ownership of channels of water (III.i) could be inspired by Thomas Dekker's description of the freezing of the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

in 1607–08 and

Hugh Myddleton Sir Hugh Myddelton (or Middleton), 1st Baronet (1560 – 10 December 1631) was a Welsh clothmaker, entrepreneur, mine-owner, goldsmith, banker and self-taught engineer. The spelling of his name is inconsistently reproduced, but Myddelton appear ...

's project to bring water to London by channels in 1608–09 respectively. Another possible connection with 1608 is that the surviving text of the play is divided into acts; this suggests that it could have been written for the indoor

Blackfriars Theatre Blackfriars Theatre was the name given to two separate theatres located in the former Blackfriars Dominican priory in the City of London during the Renaissance. The first theatre began as a venue for the Children of the Chapel Royal, child ...

, at which Shakespeare's company began to perform in 1608, although the act-breaks could instead have been introduced later. The play's themes of popular discontent with government have been connected by scholars with the Midland Revolt, a series of peasant riots in 1607 that would have affected Shakespeare as an owner of land in

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon (district), Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of Engl ...

; and the debates over the charter for the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, which Shakespeare would have been aware of, as it affected the legal status of the area surrounding the Blackfriars Theatre. The riots in the Midlands were caused by hunger because of the enclosure of common land. For these reasons, R.B. Parker suggests "late 1608 ... to early 1609" as the likeliest date of composition, while Lee Bliss suggests composition by late 1608, and the first public performances in "late December 1609 or February 1610". Parker acknowledges that the evidence is "scanty ... and mostly inferential". The play was first published in the

First Folio ''Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'' is a collection of plays by William Shakespeare, commonly referred to by modern scholars as the First Folio, published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. It is cons ...

of 1623. Elements of the text, such as the uncommonly detailed stage directions, lead some Shakespeare scholars to believe the text was prepared from a theatrical prompt book.

Analysis and criticism

Maulbertsch Coriolanus at the gates of Rome

A. C. Bradley described this play as "built on the grand scale," like ''King Lear'' and ''Macbeth,'' but it differs from those two masterpieces in an important way. The warrior Coriolanus is perhaps the most opaque of Shakespeare's tragic heroes, rarely pausing to soliloquise or reveal the motives behind his proud isolation from Roman society. In this way, he is less like the effervescent and reflective Shakespearean heroes/heroines such as

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

, Lear and

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

, and more like figures from ancient classical literature such as

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

Odysseus In Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, Odysseus ( ; , ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; ), is a legendary Greeks, Greek king of Homeric Ithaca, Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, epic poem, the ''Odyssey''. Od ...

, and

Aeneas In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas ( , ; from ) was a Troy, Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus (mythology), Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy ...

—or, to turn to literary creations from Shakespeare's time, the Marlovian conqueror

Tamburlaine ''Tamburlaine the Great'' is a play in two parts by Christopher Marlowe. It is loosely based on the life of the Central Asian emperor Timur (Tamerlane/Timur the Lame, d. 1405). Written in 1587 or 1588, the play is a milestone in English liter ...

, whose militaristic pride finds its parallel in Coriolanus. Readers and playgoers have often found him an unsympathetic character, as his caustic pride is strangely, almost delicately balanced at times by a reluctance to be praised by his compatriots and an unwillingness to exploit and slander for political gain. His dislike of being praised might be seen as an expression of his pride; all he cares about is his own self-image, whereas acceptance of praise might imply that his value is affected by others' opinion of him. The play is less frequently produced than the other tragedies of the later period, and is not so universally regarded as great. (Bradley, for instance, declined to number it among his famous four in the landmark critical work ''Shakespearean Tragedy.'') In his book ''Shakespeare's Language'',

Frank Kermode Sir John Frank Kermode, FBA (29 November 1919 – 17 August 2010) was a British literary critic best known for his 1967 work '' The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction'' and for his extensive book-reviewing and editing. He wa ...

described ''Coriolanus'' as "probably the most fiercely and ingeniously planned and expressed of all the tragedies".

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

famously proclaimed ''Coriolanus'' superior to ''Hamlet'' in '' The Sacred Wood'', in which he calls the former play, along with ''

'', the Bard's greatest tragic achievement. Eliot wrote a two-part poem about Coriolanus, "Coriolan" (an alternative spelling of Coriolanus); he also alluded to ''Coriolanus'' in a passage from his own ''

The Waste Land ''The Waste Land'' is a poem by T. S. Eliot, widely regarded as one of the most important English-language poems of the 20th century and a central work of modernist poetry. Published in 1922, the 434-line poem first appeared in the United ...

'' when he wrote, "Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus." ''Coriolanus'' has the distinction of being among the few Shakespeare plays banned in a democracy in modern times. It was briefly suppressed in France in the late 1930s because of its use by the fascist element, and

Slavoj Žižek Slavoj Žižek ( ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian Marxist philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is the international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, Global Distin ...

noted its prohibition in Post-War Germany due to its intense militarism.

Performance history

Like some of Shakespeare's other plays (''

All's Well That Ends Well ''All's Well That Ends Well'' is a play by William Shakespeare, published in the First Folio in 1623, where it is listed among the comedies. There is a debate about the date of its composition, with possible dates ranging from 1598 to 1608. ...

''; ''

Timon of Athens ''The Life of Tymon of Athens'', often shortened to ''Timon of Athens'', is a play written by William Shakespeare and likely also Thomas Middleton in about 1606. It was published in the ''First Folio'' in 1623. Timon of Athens (person), Timon ...

''), there is no recorded performance of ''Coriolanus'' prior to the Restoration. After 1660, however, its themes made it a natural choice for times of political turmoil. The first known performance was

Nahum Tate Nahum Tate ( ; 1652 – 30 July 1715) was an Anglo-Irish poet, hymnist, and lyricist, who became Poet Laureate in 1692. Tate is best known for '' The History of King Lear'', his 1681 adaptation of Shakespeare's ''King Lear'', and for his libr ...

's bloody 1682 adaptation at

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the boundary between the Covent Garden and Holborn areas of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of London Borough of Camden, Camden and the southern part in the City o ...

. Seemingly undeterred by the earlier suppression of his ''

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince), and Joan, Countess of Kent. R ...

'', Tate offered a ''Coriolanus'' that was faithful to Shakespeare through four acts before becoming a Websterian bloodbath in the fifth act. A later adaptation, John Dennis's '' The Invader of His Country, or The Fatal Resentment'', was booed off the stage after three performances in 1719. The title and date indicate Dennis's intent, a vitriolic attack on the Jacobite 'Fifteen. (Similar intentions motivated James Thomson's 1745 version, though this bears only a very slight resemblance to Shakespeare's play. Its principal connection to Shakespeare is indirect;

Thomas Sheridan Thomas Sheridan may refer to: *Thomas Sheridan (divine) (1687–1738), Anglican divine *Thomas Sheridan (actor) (1719–1788), Irish actor and teacher of elocution *Thomas Sheridan (soldier) (1775–1817/18) *Thomas B. Sheridan (born 1931), America ...

's 1752 production at Smock Alley used some passages of Thomson's.

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1716 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, Actor-manager, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil a ...

returned to Shakespeare's text in a 1754 Drury Lane production.

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

first played the part at

The Old Vic The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, nonprofit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. It was established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal ...

in 1937 and again at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in 1959. In that production, he performed Coriolanus's death scene by dropping backwards from a high platform and being suspended upside-down without the aid of wires. In 1971, the play returned to the Old Vic in a National Theatre production directed by Manfred Wekwerth and Joachim Tenschert with stage design by Karl von Appen.

Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor. Considered one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for List of Anthony Hopkins performances, his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins ha ...

played Coriolanus, with

Constance Cummings Constance Cummings CBE (May 15, 1910 – November 23, 2005) was an American-British actress with a career spanning over 50 years. Early life Cummings was born on 15 May 1910 in Seattle, Washington, the only daughter and younger child of Kate ...

as Volumnia and Anna Carteret as Virgilia. Other performances of Coriolanus include Alan Howard,

Paul Scofield David Paul Scofield (21 January 1922 – 19 March 2008) was an English actor. During a six-decade career, Scofield achieved the Triple Crown of Acting, winning an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Tony Award for his work. Scofield ...

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cu ...

Ian Richardson Ian William Richardson (7 April 19349 February 2007) was a Scottish actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Conservative politician Francis Urquhart in the BBC's '' House of Cards'' (1990–1995) television trilogy, as well as the pivot ...

Tommy Lee Jones Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an American actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Tommy Lee Jones, various accolades including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and two Scre ...

Toby Stephens Toby Stephens (born 21 April 1969) is an English actor who has appeared in films in the United Kingdom, United States, and India. He is known for the roles of Bond villain Gustav Graves in the 2002 James Bond film '' Die Another Day'', for whic ...

Robert Ryan Robert Bushnell Ryan (November 11, 1909 – July 11, 1973) was an American actor and activist. Known for his portrayals of hardened cops and ruthless villains, Ryan performed for over three decades. He was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...

Christopher Walken Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. Christopher Walken on stage and screen, His work on stage and screen has earned him List of awards and nominations received by Christopher Walken, accolades includin ...

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, producer, and narrator. In a career spanning six decades, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as a nomination for a Tony ...

Colm Feore Colm Joseph Feore (; born August 22, 1958) is a Canadian actor. A 15-year veteran of the Stratford Festival, he is known for his Gemini-winning turn as Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in the CBC miniseries '' Trudeau'' (2002), his portrayal of ...

Ralph Fiennes Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Ralph Fiennes, various accolades, including a British Academy Film ...

Tom Hiddleston Thomas William Hiddleston (born 9 February 1981) is a British actor. He gained international fame portraying Loki (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), beginning with ''Thor (film), Thor'' in 2011 and incl ...

and

David Oyelowo David Oyetokunbo Oyelowo ( ; ; born 1 April 1976) is a British actor, director and producer. His accolades include a Critics' Choice Award and two NAACP Image Awards as well as nominations for three Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awar ...

. In 2012, National Theatre Wales produced a composite of Shakespeare's ''Coriolanus'' with

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

's ''Coriolan'', entitled Coriolan/us, in a disused hangar at

MOD St Athan Ministry of Defence St Athan or MOD St Athan ( Welsh: Maes awyr Sain Tathan), formerly known as Royal Air Force St Athan, or more simply RAF St Athan, is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, sou ...

. Directed by Mike Brookes and Mike Pearson, the production used

silent disco A silent disco or silent rave is an event where people dance to music listened to on wireless headphones. Rather than using a speaker system, music is broadcast via a radio transmitter with the signal being picked up by wireless headphone recei ...

headsets to permit the text to be heard while the dramatic action moved throughout the large space. The production was well received by critics. In December 2013,

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit Off-West End theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage, Josie Rourke and Michael Longhurst have all served as artistic direc ...

opened their new production. It was directed by

Josie Rourke Josie Rourke is an English theatre and film director. She is a vice-president of the London Library, and was the artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse theatre from 2012 to 2019. In 2018, she made her feature film debut with the Academy Award ...

, starring

in the title role, along with

Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. Best known for his acting work on stage and screen as well as for co-creating television shows with Steven Moffat, he has received ...

, Deborah Findlay,

Hadley Fraser Hadley Fraser (born Robert Hugh Fraser, April 21, 1980) is an English actor and singer. He made his West End debut as Marius Pontmercy in ''Les Misérables''. He also originated the role of Tiernan for his Broadway debut in '' The Pirate Qu ...

, and Birgitte Hjort Sørensen. The production received very strong reviews. Michael Billington with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' wrote "A fast, witty, intelligent production that, in Tom Hiddleston, boasts a fine Coriolanus." He also credited Mark Gatiss as excellent as Menenius, the "humorous patrician". In '' Variety'', David Benedict wrote that Deborah Findlay in her commanding maternal pride, held beautifully in opposition by Birgitte Hjort Sørensen as Coriolanus's wife Virgilia. Helen Lewis, in her review of ''Coriolanus'', along with two other concurrently running sold-out Shakespeare productions with celebrity leads—

David Tennant David John Tennant (; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the Tenth Doctor, tenth and Fourteenth Doctor, fourteenth incarnations of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Docto ...

's ''

'' and

Jude Law David Jude Heyworth Law (born 29 December 1972) is an English actor. He began his career in theatre before landing small roles in various British television productions and feature films. Law gained international recognition for his role in An ...

's ''

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1216–1281 ...

''—concludes "if you can beg, borrow or plunder a ticket to one of these plays, let it be ''Coriolanus''." The play was broadcast in cinemas in the UK and internationally on 30 January 2014 as part of the

National Theatre Live National Theatre Live is an initiative operated by the Royal National Theatre in London. It broadcasts live, by satellite, performances of their productions (and those of other theatres) to cinemas and arts centres around the world. About I gre ...

programme.

Adaptations

adapted Shakespeare's play in 1952–55, as '' Coriolan'' for the Berliner Ensemble. He intended to make it a tragedy of the workers, not the individual, and introduce the

alienation effect The distancing effect, also translated as alienation effect ( or ''V-Effekt''), is a concept in performing arts credited to German playwright Bertolt Brecht. Brecht first used the term in his essay "Alienation Effects in Chinese Acting" published ...

; his journal notes showing that he found many of his own effects already in the text, he considered staging the play with only minimal changes. The adaptation was unfinished at Brecht's death in 1956; it was completed by Manfred Wekwerth and Joachim Tenschert and staged in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

in 1962. In 1963, the BBC included Coriolanus in '' The Spread of the Eagle''. Slovak composer Ján Cikker adapted the play into an opera which premiered in 1974 in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. In 1983, the ''

BBC Television Shakespeare The ''BBC Television Shakespeare'' is a series of British television adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and broadcast by BBC Television. Transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to ...

'' series produced a version of the play. It starred Alan Howard and was directed by Elijah Moshinsky. In 2003, the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

performed a new staging of ''Coriolanus'' (along with two other plays) starring

Greg Hicks Greg Hicks (born 27 May 1953) is an English actor. He completed theatrical training at Rose Bruford College and joined The Royal Shakespeare Company in 1976. He was nominated for a 2004 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in the category "Best Act ...

at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. The director, David Farr, saw the play as depicting the modernisation of an ancient ritualised culture, and drew on

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

influences to illustrate that view. He described it as "in essence, a modern production. The play is basically about the birth of democracy." In 2011,

directed and starred as Coriolanus with

Gerard Butler Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor and film producer. After studying law, he turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as '' Mrs Brown'' (1997), the James Bond film ''Tomorrow Never ...

as Aufidius and

Vanessa Redgrave Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress. In her career spanning over six decades, she has garnered List of awards and nominations received by Vanessa Redgrave, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony A ...

as Volumnia in a modern-day film adaptation ''

Coriolanus ''Coriolanus'' ( or ) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus. Shakespeare worked on it during the same ...

''. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray in May, 2012. It has a 93% rating on the film review site Rottentomatoes.com.

argued that unlike preceding adaptations, Fiennes' film portrayed Coriolanus without trying to rationalise his behaviour, as a raw figure for the "radical

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...

" whom he compares to Che Guevara, whom Žižek characterises as making clear that "a revolutionary also has to be a 'killing machine'". In 2019, the Tanghalang Pilipino staged a Filipino translation of the tragedy. It was translated by Guelan Varela-Luarca and was directed by Carlos Siguion-Reyna. The play was led by TP Actors Company's senior member Marco Viaña as Coriolanus, opposite to him is Brian Sy as Tullus Aufidius, Frances Makil-Ignacio and Sherry Lara alternating the role of Volumnia. Along with them are Jonathan Tadioan as Menenius, JV Ibesate as Velutus, Doray Dayao as Brutus, and the Tanghalang Pilipino Actors Company.

Parody

While the title character's name's pronunciation in

classical Latin Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a Literary language, literary standard language, standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It formed parallel to Vulgar Latin around 75 BC out of Old Latin ...

has the ''a'' pronounced " ː in the IPA, in English the a is usually pronounced " ɪ" Ken Ludwig's '' Moon Over Buffalo'' contains a joke dependent upon this pronunciation, and the parody '' The Complete Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged)'' refers to it as "the

anus In mammals, invertebrates and most fish, the anus (: anuses or ani; from Latin, 'ring' or 'circle') is the external body orifice at the ''exit'' end of the digestive tract (bowel), i.e. the opposite end from the mouth. Its function is to facil ...

play". Shakespeare pronunciation guides list both pronunciations as acceptable.

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

's song "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" from the musical ''

Kiss Me, Kate ''Kiss Me, Kate'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Bella and Samuel Spewack. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and the conflict on and off- ...

'' includes the lines: "If she says your behaviour is heinous,/Kick her right in the Coriolanus". Based on ''Coriolanus'', and written in blank verse, "Complots of Mischief" is a satirical critique of those who dismiss conspiracy theories. Written by philosopher Charles Pigden, it was published in ''Conspiracy Theories: The Philosophical Debate'' (Ashgate 2006).

References

External links

* Text of the play by Shakespeare: ** *
Full text of Shakespeare's play
*

– Transcription of First Folio. *
''Coriolanus''
at

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital li ...

.
''Coriolanus''
at the British Library * *

– Scene-indexed and searchable version of the play. * Plutarch's ''Life of Coriolanus'' : *

– 17th century English translation by

John Dryden John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration (En ...

*
Plutarch's ''Life of Coriolanus''
– 19th century English translation by Aubrey Stewart and George Long * {{Authority control 1608 plays English Renaissance plays Plays set in ancient Rome Shakespearean tragedies British plays adapted into films Plays based on works by Plutarch Plays set in the 5th century BC Coriolanus

Synopsis

Characters

Sources

Date and text

Analysis and criticism

Performance history

Adaptations

Parody

References

Further reading

External links