In Coriolanus, the titular character’s mother tells him “You are too absolute” (Shakespeare). Volumnia, in this case, is trying to convince her son to approach the common plebeians for their votes to the Senate. Coriolanus is a proud man and an excellent soldier, but he struggles throughout the text with problems associated with his pride and his unwillingness to engage in political maneuvering. His mother, who ostensibly wants to see her son elected and placed in power, tries her hardest to convince him that he should participate in the process of trying to woo the people (Shakespeare). By “absolute,” Volumnia seems to mean that Coriolanus is incapable of seeing the world as shades of experience; he sees everything as right or wrong, noble or ignoble. He is a prideful man, and his “absolute” nature
In the first act of the play, the viewers are treated to the disdain that Coriolanus seems to have for the common people. In Act I Scene i, Coriolanus says, “What's the matter, you dissentious rogues/ That rubbing the poor itch of your opinion,/ Make yourselves scabs?” (Shakespeare). The diction is clear and derogatory, and it is quite obvious that Coriolanus thinks very poorly of the poor people whose votes he needs to be successful in politics. In fact, it seems that Coriolanus does not believe that the new government of Rome should even allow participation in the political process for those who are considered plebeians (Shakespeare). Indeed, at one point, Coriolanus even refers to the plebeians as Hydra, which was a mythical beast with many heads (Shakespeare).
Coriolanus is indeed too absolute in his dealings with the people. He needs their support, but rather than being a good and kind leader—and recognizing that the people’s power was legitimate—he prefers to maintain his impression of nobility. However, in his quest for nobility, he seems to lose much of his pride. His loss of pride stems directly from his hubris, as it is his hubris and inability to evolve that makes his fall inevitable. Coriolanus is blunt and unforgiving with his words, and it seems fitting, then, that his downfall should come as a result of his inability to interact appropriately with his constituents. Although he is a hero, and should be a man of the people, he falls instead into the trap that so many members of the gentry did.
The 1996 production of Romeo and Juliet—directed by Baz Luhrmann—is an interesting depiction of the story of Romeo and Juliet. Set in a relatively contemporary setting, the film utilizes many of the original lines written by William Shakespeare, but it manages to bring the story into a new realm for contemporary audiences. For many, Shakespeare’s stories are fascinating and the plot lines eternal, but the politics of ancient Rome or even Shakespearian Britain are quite difficult to engage with for the modern audience. Although this particular story is ostensibly a tragedy, there are interesting aspects of the play—and the film—that blur the line between tragedy and comedy.
Although sometimes held up as a love like no other, the fact remains that Romeo and Juliet were young adolescents when they met, prone to many different whims and fancies. The forbidden nature of their love is likely what drove them to the extremity of their actions (Shakespeare). Their young love is immature, but they take actions that are very adult and bring about the death of both young people. Indeed, in the final scene, Romeo says “Then I defy you, stars” referring to the fates that brought him to the place where, he believed, his beloved had died (Shakespeare). One of the most wonderful things about the 1996 film was the way that the issue of age was handled. It is easy to look at Romeo and Juliet and ignore their age in the context of a historical play; however, in a contemporary setting, the ludicrous nature of their actions are emphasized much more significantly. The highs and lows of the film show the pitches and heights that adolescents seem to experience on a day to day basis: somehow, the play becomes less of a love story in the 1996 film and more of a cautionary tale (Romeo and Juliet).
The violence has also been upgraded in the film, which is quite interesting in its effect. It is easy to imagine the Montagues and the Capulets of the 1996 film as the privileged class of Californian society, and the violence that is so often associated with ill-gotten wealth is lurking around the edges of the film (Romeo and Juliet). This is something that is unique and sets the film in a more modern context, but it is also something that adds quite significantly to the modern viewer’s understanding of the film. The director kept some of the enduring thematic ideas from Shakespeare’s quintessential play, but adapted other ideas into a much more modern contextual understanding.
Shakespeare has an interesting understanding of gender and gender roles in his work. In Macbeth, for instance, the Lady Macbeth moves beyond the traditional role for the female in literature and becomes a driving force for the plot; it is she, not her husband, who becomes the impetus for action in the murder of Duncan (Shakespeare). When Lady Macbeth first meets the witches, she begs them to change her qualities to male ones, saying “Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts! unsex me here,/ And fill me from the crown to the toe top full / Of direst cruelty” (Shakespeare). Indeed, when her husband balks at the task of killing Duncan, she berates him for his “milk of human kindness,” a feminine feature (Shakespeare). When talking himself into the act, Macbeth encourages himself in his monologue to “become a man”, which seems to indicate that he believes those who are unable to kill are not men (Shakespeare).
In Romeo and Juliet, the characters are younger and much less mature; the males of the text are mouthy about their sexuality and their conquests. Indeed, the banter starts early: in the first scene, Gregory and Sampson discuss their role as men, saying “My naked weapon is out” and discussing taking “maidenheads” (Shakespeare). In this play, it is easy to see that male sexuality—particularly young male sexuality—is rooted in violence and aggression, particularly sexual violence and sexual aggression. Where Lady Macbeth becomes more masculine, she remains cunning and feminine in her cunning; the male method of violence is much more overt and exaggerated. Macbeth has a different power structure, and the goals of the characters are different: it is this, combined with their ages, that allows Shakespeare to portray the characters differently (Shakespeare). Swords are commonly used in Romeo and Juliet as a symbol for male virility and masculinity.
In Othello, the titular character is the ultimate “other.” As characters go, Othello is remarkably sympathetic for the audience; although he is a Moor, he is a good man and he seems to want to be a noble man. However, there is one character in the play that wants to cause Othello trouble by othering him in society as a whole—potentially due to racism and a desire to see Othello fall from grace (Shakespeare). Indeed, Iago constantly refers to Othello as though the latter is an animal. He calls Othello an “old black ram” and a “Barbary horse” (Shakespeare). By the end of the play, Othello himself believes that he is “monstrous, monstrous”—which he never would have been if Iago were not pushing him into the fringes of society as a whole. Othello is not the only character in Othello which is an “other,” but he is one of the most distinct because he is a different color than others in the play.
In The Taming of the Shrew, Katherina is the “other” of the play. She is fierce and unwilling to yield. When she interacts with Petruchio, he calls her a wasp; she responds “If I be waspish, best beware my sting” (Shakespeare). She is constantly described as beautiful, but she is also always described as “disobedient,” a “wasp,” “cursed,” and “shrewd” (Shakespeare). Although she is compliant by the end of the play, she remains a strong female character; she is distinct in this way, and she is quite isolated because of it. Her love story is tragic in some ways, because she is forced to give up the independence that she guarded so fiercely for so long.
Works Cited
Romeo And Juliet. Hollywood: Baz Luhrmann, 1996. DVD.
Shakespeare, William. The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare. Champaign, Ill.: Project Gutenberg. Print.
