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What is Shakespeare’s larger purpose in his characterisation of Coriolanus in Act I?

               One of Act one’s main purposes, in terms of the characterisation of Coriolanus is to showcase the aspects of Coriolanus’ personality and the context that it brings up. Shakespeare portrays Coriolanus as a decisive and effective battlefield commander in the battle scenes, by having Coriolanus give rising and encouraging speeches, “Now put your shields before your hearts, and fight With hearts more proof [strong] than shields” -Act 1 Scene 4, lines 33-34 and in lines 58, where Coriolanus calls on his men to follow him. The fact that Coriolanus is able to capture Corioles and hold his own against Aufidius is contextual proof of his skill as both soldier and commander. Shakespeare also details both the inner and physical strength of Coriolanus, through quotes such as: “The blood I drop is rather physical Than dangerous to me.” -Act 1 Scene 5, lines 20-21 and “…why cease you till you are so?” (context is Coriolanus is asking if they have captured the area yet) Act 1 scene 6, line 61. Coriolanus is also shown to be an honest man, sticking up for the messenger that claimed that he was defeated (line 53-54). In addition, Shakespeare calls upon both his and the audience’s (from that time period) knowledge of classic heroes, with the parallels of Coriolanus’ character traits and the traits of certain classical heroes, such as Aeneas or Achilles, sharing traits such as large amounts of bravery, endurance, and inhuman strength. Shakespeare could be described as building up Coriolanus as a ‘classical hero’ in the first act, due to Coriolanus having a fatal flaw (non-charismatic when it comes to peace-time politics and relationships) and having the heroic traits (his bravery, military/tactical thinking, strength, and leadership skills) to go along with that flaw.

            Moving on to the setting, it seems that the two main settings featured in Act One are there to showcase aspects of Coriolanus’ character and personality, showing how he acts and is perceived by the Romans at home during peacetime and how he acts and is perceived during times of battle. Coriolanus doesn’t change into a different person, and has a believable personality change in-between these two settings, with him still being brutally honest (states what he believes the plebeians are capable of) and using insults (he insults the plebeians in the first scene, but he also insults the Volsces as part of his effort to encourage his soldiers). The man that is hated by the common people becomes battlefield hero, which cause him to be honoured later in the play, with the nomination to be consul of Rome.


            In addition, the two main settings in Act One also introduce the two major conflicts in the play: Patricians v. Plebeians and Romans v. the Volsces. The conflicts are both given attention, the first one being featured in the first scene and the second conflict in the following scenes. Really, Act One, as usual per stories, works to introduce most, if not all, of the concepts in the story, including the characterisation of Coriolanus. Coriolanus, despite being a man of great strength, both physically and mentally, is caught in the middle of these conflicts, due to his fatal flaw (mentioned above) and ends up connecting the two conflicts near the end of the story, when he forms an alliance with Aufidius, his former rival.

Comments

  1. Unknown28 February 2017 at 10:54

    Great work Victor! I agree with you that the purpose of Act 1 is to represent Coriolanus's nature and aspect of personality. I like how you related Coriolanus to other classical heroes such as Achilles and Aeneas in terms of their heroic traits. Furthermore, you did a great job in relating to the setting. Perhaps, you could have talked more about the purpose of characterization regarding the conflicts that happened throughout Act 1.

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