History: Coriolanus By William Shakespeare Essay Sample

Coriolanus is a sad story done by William Shakespeare at around 1605 1nd 1608. it is written about the life of the legendary life of Caius Martius Coriolanus. Coriolanus is a title given to a Roman general who has done well in the battlefield and earned this honor. Soon after this success he is persuaded to join active politics and seeks political leadership. He is however, unsuitable for leadership due to his temperament and he is soon banished from Rome. Coriolanus is embittered by this treatment and seeks to avenge by forming an alliance with the Volscians but this finally results in his ultimate downfall as well as his death. One wonders why Coriolanus failed to enter the consul; was it his flawed character? Was it influenced by the plots of the vicious tribunes? Was it due to his mother`s influence? It is clear that the hero while at his peak of achievements falls due to a fatal flaw in his character. This paper will therefore, strive to point out the reasons that mainly led to the downfall of this great hero. We can allude Coriolanus fall to his flaws as a person. It is also true that an individual derives their characters from the family and society since these are the molders of children`s characters. This does not excuse the extreme character of Coriolanus. In his time, the society is divided into plebeians and patricians. The patricians are prepared to give the plebeians who recognize their need for leadership. Coriolanus does not fit in this society since he cannot fit with plebeians due to his valor in battle but he fails to understand what is needed to maintain a stable society by its authorities (patricians). He is naïve in his view of society as good patricians and bad plebeians. Coriolanus is egocentric and thinks he is right while everyone else is wrong. The play portrays its hero as trapped in two worlds: he is a kingly figure born to command but lacks the capability to lead and his fate as an exile comes in handy as he has no place in the political life of his own city. Coriolanus chief fault is childishness and submissiveness to his mother which contributes to his downfall.
Coriolanus finds himself insecure of the position he holds in society due to lack of a social matrix that would give him support and restraint whenever he needed it. This leaves him as an odd man out and his relationship with society relies on his own behavior and character both of which lead him to the extremes of status in society. This is well illustrated in the beginning of the play when the plebeians are determined to murder him. Twice the plebeians are ready to kill him, which shows that his fate is dangling on a tight end and one calculated shove to the wrong side will cause him to topple over. The tribunes are the ones who recognize his flaw and use it against him, even though Coriolanus also takes the blame for allowing himself to get so easily manipulated. His greatest flaw is his pride and his stubbornness to voice his opinions and ideologies regardless of the dire consequences. Coriolanus is also narrow-minded and thus refuses to change his mindset. Valor is the only virtue he recognizes and he believes that it is every Roman male`s duty to achieve valor. We can see that it his single-minded determination that in the beginning led to him achieving such victory over the Volscian army. This is however, what leads him to despise and hate those he feels do not measure up to his standards of duty.
The idea of countrymen means nothing or very little to Coriolanus. He fights enemies such as the Volsci army and though this is meant to save Rome, he holds the Romans in utter contempt. They have no importance or meaning to him and he makes no distinction between them and the enemy. It is a clear fact also that what ultimately causes his downfall is not that he holds these opinions but that he is unable to refrain from voicing them in public on any occasion he finds. Coriolanus continues to act in this way despite advice from his mother and good friend Menenius. According to the Roman society, the only one to blame for his downfall is Coriolanus Himself. A society is controlled by the harmonious operation of the community and on this standards each individual is judged. It is true that Coriolanus has done a lot for Rome but it is also undeniable that if he continues on the same façade he will do even more harm to the community.
It is very clear that Coriolanus contributes largely to his fall and final demise but he is also surrounded by very crafty people who in more than one ways contributed to his downfall. One of these people is Menenius (Senator of Rome), his close friend who also shares the ideologists held by Coriolanus but is saved by his smooth tongue and his ability to compromise. The tribunes of the people (Sicinius and Brutus) have also found the flaws which Coriolanus possesses and they turn the tables round to favor them. Their motivation is mainly that if Coriolanus makes to the consul he will demote them since they are also the ones who had privately denounced him earlier. They are also jealous of the fact that Coriolanus has achieved so much more than they will ever achieve in their own miserable lives. They push him into publicly making a treasonous statement that gets him banished. This turns the people who would have voted him into consult to banish him, those who loved him for saving them from the Volscian army. Another person who contributes to the downfall of Coriolanus is Tullus Aufidius (the general of the Volscian army). In the beginning of the play, they are great rivals and Coriolanus conquers him in battle. Later when he is banished, Coriolanus forms an alliance with Aufidius and together they plan to attack Rome. Once Coriolanus agrees to pardon Rome, he goes back to Antium. Aufidius isresentful of this decision and thus executes Coriolanus claiming that he is a traitor. The play is set in a society which is a man`s world where there are only two ways to earn power, that is, through politics and war, thus excluding women. The women are involved in domestic chores such as sewing, gossiping and welcoming their husbands celebrating victory from war. Volumina, Coriolanus` mother is used by the playwright to depict how a strong-willed woman can bring major changes in a male-dominated community. As a woman lacks the ability to achieve power on her own. Volumina has brought up her son for only one cause: to be a great soldier. She lives in her son, delighting in his victories and finally see him at the greatest pinnacle of political power, the consulship. Her domineering and controlling nature has a major impact on Coriolanus` life and is the major cause of his childishness. It is her ambition and bloodlust not his that sends him into seeking a seat in the consul. This makes him dependent on her such that she is the only one who is able to sway her when all others have failed. This ends up saving Rome from ruin and she ends up as the city`s savior while Coriolanus goes back to Antium where he meets his death. This is an ironic reversal and a triumph of maternal and maternal strength.
In conclusion therefore, Coriolanus was deemed to fail either way, he would not have made it to the consul. One of the main reasons being his flawed character, his pride, lack of self-control, stubbornness and childishness. We cannot however, blame the downfall of this great hero entirely on his person. Other characters in the play also influence his fall. This includes his close friend Menenius and the two sly and jealous tribunes; Sicinius and Junius. Also of great importance is Tullus Aufidius, the general of the Volscian army who kills him due to jealousy for Coriolanus had shown mercy on Rome. The most influential person on his life is however, his mother; Volumina.