Heather Blanchard

Burton

English 382

December 5, 2000

Coriolanus: Manipulated Victim or Arrogant Snob?

Although Coriolanus is considered the Ahero@ and protagonist of Shakespeare=s Coriolanus and should be a strong, sympathetic character, he is dominated and overpowered by the other main characters of the play because they well understand his weaknesses and are able to manipulate and defeat him. Persuasion is the key to power in Shakespeare=s play, and those who possess the talent of persuasion are the ones who succeed. These characters, including Coriolanus himself, bring about the hero=s downfall through their speeches and means of persuasion. While Coriolanus failed because of his insincerity, arrogance, and inability to appeal to his audience, Brutus, Sicinius, and Volumina were successful because they knew the strengths and weaknesses of their audience, were able to give the speech that was most effective, and thus used manipulation to get the effects that they desired.

Although Coriolanus (also called Caius Martius) is the Ahero@ of the play, he is unlikable; temperamental, proud, arrogant, stubborn, and greedy for power.

Coriolanus is the least popular of the great tragedies and this is probably due to the character of the hero with whom modern audiences find it more difficult to sympathise than with those who commit murder or adultery . . . while Shakespeare has frequently been praised for his universal subjects, for his >holding a mirror up to nature,= it=s rare to encounter someone like Coriolanus and much rarer . . . to feel the way he does. We do not understand his arrogance and we do not like it. (Wheeler xv-xvi)

Coriolanus is not a typical Shakespearean hero. Comparing him to other of Shakepeare=s heroes, who have even committed serious crimes, such as Hamlet, Macbeth, or even Caesar, Coriolanus is too self-righteous and arrogant to be likable. ACoriolanus is no Hamlet. He has no doubts of his own rightness nor of his own righteousness. The >reasons= he gives for his behaviour are widely accepted generalizations pushed to such extremes as to reveal themselves as pure prejudice founded on arrogant self-will@ (Smith 130).

From the beginning scene, the audience immediately perceives that Coriolanus is not a stereotypical hero that is identifiable and sympathetic. In the midst of war, Coriolanus is a revered soldier; he fights valiantly against the Volscians and proves himself to be a hero and as a reward for his heroics, he is offered the position of consul by the Senate. However, Coriolanus must first get the approval from the citizens of Rome before he can take this position. Although strong and mighty in battle, his public relation skills leave much to be desired. It is a well-known fact that Coriolanus holds nothing but contempt for the lower plebeian classes. He shouts to the crowd in Act I, Scene I, which is our first exposure to the protagonist,

What would you have you curs, / that like nor peace nor war? . . .Who deserves greatness / Deserves your hate; and your affections are / A sick man's appetite, who desires most that / Which would increase his evil. He that depends / Upon your favours swims with fins of lead / And hews down oaks with rushes. Hang ye! (I, i, 167 - 182)

It is this first glimpse of Coriolanus that sets the precedent for the rest of the play. AWhile Martius= [Coriolanus=] bullheaded pride and brashness may serve him well on the battlefield, his lack of delicacy will prove his undoing among the populace@ (Douthat 4).

Coriolanus= arrogance and perceived superiority is very apparent in his epideictic speech to the plebeians in Act II. It is important to note that Coriolanus is an aristocrat, and Athis is the scene where his superiority in nobleness is most apparent@ (Bradley 34). He sees the patrician class of which he is a part to be virtuous and noble, and does not at all feel this way about the lower plebeian class. As A. C. Bradley notes in his lecture ACoriolanus,@

The plebeians, in his eyes, are destitute of this virtue, and therefore have no place in this community . . . . To ask anything of them is to insult not only himself but the virtues that he worships. To give them a real share in citizenship is treason to Rome; for Rome means these virtues. They are not Romans, they are the rats of Rome. He is very unjust to them, and his ideal, though high, is also narrow. But he is magnificently true to it, and even when he most repels us we feel this and glory in him. He is never more true to it than when he tries to be false . . . (Bradley 33-34).

He nearly had the consulship given right to him, but he cannot bring himself to lower to the level of the plebeians. He pleads, AI do beseech you, let me o'erleap that custom@ (II, ii,134-35), but finally relents saying, AIt is a part / That I shall blush in acting, and might well / Be taken from the people@ (II, ii,143-45).

By showing his battle wounds and glorifying his heroics to the crowd in the marketplace, Coriolanus hopes to win the favor of the plebeians, appealing to his ethos. At first, his arrogance is apparent; he struggles in the role of a petitioner. When asked why he is there, he states, Amine own desert@ (II, iii, 65), in other words, for himself and not for the people. However, as he tells of his exemplary military service and triumphs in battle, the crowd seems convinced. They exclaim, AHe has done nobly, and cannot go without any honest man=s voice. Therefore let him be consul. The gods give him joy and make him good friend to the people!@ (II, iii, 132-136) Coriolanus leaves the marketplace satisfied that his speech was successful and assured that he will win the position. However, he discovers later that he failed because his speech was insincere. In his essay, AHow to do Things with Austin and Searle: Speech Act Theory and Literary Criticism,@ Stanley E. Fish quotes John Searle saying, Aa promise is defective if the things promised is something the promisee does not want done@ (Fish 984). Fish himself comments that Coriolanus set himself up for failure because he voided Ahis request by making it in such a way as to indicate that he [did] not accept the conditions on its successful performance@ (Fish 984). Coriolanus made several mistakes that doomed his speech: he was apparent in disdain for the audience, failed to adapt his speech to accommodate them, did not believe in what he was petitioning for, saw the plebeians as too incompetent to even vote for him in the first place, and was insincere and unconvincing in his delivery. Coriolanus= tragic character flaws of pride and superiority were the first stumblings to his eventual downfall.

Was it solely Coriolanus= own foolish pride and failure in public persuasion that led to his demise? His obvious weaknesses and pride made him an easy target for both his allies and his enemies to take advantage of him. Brutus and Sicinius were motivated by their duty to represent and take care of the people, and Coriolanus= dangerous nature was a threat. Volumnia was motivated by her own desire for power and honor in Rome, and Coriolanus= banishment and alliance with the Volscians was a disgrace. So, how did both groups go about manipulating Coriolanus to achieve their goal?

Brutus and Sicinus are two tribunes opposed to Coriolanus, Awhose talent for demagoguery and manipulation of the masses enable them to turn the people of Rome against Coriolanus B an easy task, given the hero=s propensity for violent outbursts@ (Douthat 2). Brutus and Sicinius, who are well aware of Coriolanus= disdain for the plebeians, are scared of the danger to the Roman citizens they represent if the arrogant war hero is elected. Through their compelling and fluid speech, they are easily able to persuade the plebeian crowds; talent that Coriolanus has not mastered.

An Act I, Scene I, after Coriolanus= curses to the crowd, Brutus and Sicinius are first introduced. From the very beginning, it is apparent that the two are going to be the antagonists to our Ahero.@ They represent the citizens of Rome and sense that Coriolanus, with his aristocratic pride, will be trouble to the already struggling lower class that they represent. Thus, their motivation becomes the destruction and ruin of Coriolanus. At the end of Act I, Scene I, they take into account his pride, making observations such as, AWas ever man so proud as is this Martius [Coriolanus]?@ (I, ii, 252), Abeing mov=d, he will not spare to gird the gods@ (I, ii, 256), Ahe is grown / Too proud to be so valiant@ (I, ii, 258), and Asuch a nature / Tickled with good success, disdains the shadow / Which he treads on at noon@ (I, ii, 259-261). Both tribunes vow loyalty to the citizens and will do anything in their power to defeat the arrogant Coriolanus from persecuting their people.

Following Coriolanus= insincere and barely successful speech to the plebeians, Brutus and Sicinius, the two tribunes opposed to Coriolanus, are easily able to turn the citizens against the arrogant war hero. ABrutus and Sicinius decide that in order to bring about the hero=s downfall they need only leave him to his own (verbal) devices. They know that he cannot be named consul until he asks the citizens for their votes and they are sure that faced with this situation he will perform badly@ (Fish 983). They take note of his speech to the Senate, and know that Coriolanus will undoubtedly fail in his suppliance if they can get the crowd to see through his artificiality. Brutus states, AYou see how he intends to use the people@ (II, iii, 155). Sicinius replies, AMay they perceive his intent! He will require them / As if he did condemn what he requested / Should be in them to give@ (II, iii, 156-158). Brutus then proposed that all they need to do is tell the crowd of their knowledge of Coriolanus, ACome, we=ll inform them / Of our proceedings here on th= market-place; I know they do attend us@ (II, iii, 159-161).

Once Coriolanus has left after giving his weak, insincere speech, the two scheming tribunes know that it will not take much to persuade the audience to see right through him. Brutus reminds the people of how Coriolanus treated them before and points out to them, ADid you perceive / He did solicit you in free contempt / When he did need your loves; and do you not think / That his contempt shall not be bruising to you / When he hath power to crush? Why, had your bodies / No heart among you? Or had you tongues to cry / Against the rectorship of judgement?@ (II, iii, 199-204) Brutus and Sicinius appeal to the crowd=s pathos; they make them feel dumb and ignorant in their appointing Coriolanus. With the push from the two tribunes, the crowd clearly sees through Coriolanus= thinly-veiled speech and realizes that he is feigning humility in order to obtain their approval. They revoke their approval and deny him the consulship Brutus and Sicinus succeed not only because they were persuasive in their own speech, but also in making Coriolanus= errors and insincerity visible.

Volumnia, the third dominant character, is a mother with an iron will and domineering persona. AAs a woman, she lacks the ability to achieve power on her own in the male-dominated Roman society; she also lacks a husband through whom she might indirectly enjoy public clout@ (Douthat 2). Due to her lack of a husband, she exercises her power and influence through her son. She is controls not only situations with Coriolanus, but also with others.

Volumnia=s control is first felt in Act I, Scene iii; a setting of Volumnia, Virgilia, and a neighbor woman sewing. AWe find Coriolanus= wife and mother in a domestic scene, sitting and sewing, and then gossiping with one of their friends who pays a visit. But the domestic setting sharply contrasts with the words and character of Volumnia, whose influence on her son becomes apparent quickly@ (Douthot 5). Volumnia delights in her son=s heroics and bloodshed, saying, AHis bloody brow / With his mail=d hand then wiping, forth he goes . . . it more becomes a man / Than gilt his trophy. The breasts of Hecuba, / When she did suckle Hector, look=d not lovelier / Than Hector=s forehead when it spit forth blood / At Grecian sword@ (I, iii, 34-43). This is not exactly the talk of a typical, nurturing mother. Through her speech, it reveals her desire for power and shows that Coriolanus= triumph on the battlefield has been the direct result of her upbringing. She has raised her son to be a honored, mighty warrior, and she lives his life vicariously by controlling him to do as she directs.

Coriolanus= mother, Volumnia, although not his enemy, is also able to manipulate and persuade Coriolanus to get him to do what she wants. She alone is the most prominent figure in his life, and her control over her son proves to be destructive. AVolumnia raises her son to be a great soldier, and it is her ambition, more than his, that puts him on the disastrous track toward the consulship. Volumnia=s controlling nature constitutes a major cause of Coriolanus= fatal childishness; and while his legendary stubbornness holds sway in every other situation, she alone can overcome it . . . and thus unwittingly set his doom in motion@ (Douthat 2).

In Act II, Coriolanus had no desire to ask for the acceptance of the plebeians, but Volumnia persuaded him otherwise. She knows that Coriolanus needs this acceptance from the people, and goes as far to encourage him to lie and appear humble and suppliant in order to win their approval. In her argument to Coriolanus, she applies logos, showing that appearing humble to the people does not dishonor him, because it is the only way which he will be able to achieve the coveted consul position.

Because that it now lies on you to speak / To th= people; not by your own instruction, / Nor by th= matter which your heart prompts you, / But with such words that are but rooted in / Your tongue, though but bastards and syllables / Of no allowance to your bosom=s truth. / Now, this no more dishonours you at all, / Than to take in a town with gentle words / Which else would put you to your fortune and / The hazard of much blood. (III, ii, 52-69).

Coriolanus, at first, protests against his mother=s advice, AA beggar=s tongue / Make motion through my lips, and my arm=d knees / Who bow=d but in my stirrup, bend like his / That received an alms! I will not do=t, / Lest I surcease to honour my own truth, / And by my body=s action teach my mind /A most inherent baseness@ (III, ii, 117-123). But, as seems to be a pattern, he relents and gives into his mother=s advice; APray be content: / Mother, I am going to the market-place; / Chide me no more@ (III, ii, 130-132).

Volumnia=s dangerous influence and control over her son is most prominent in Act V. She knows exactly what arguments will most sway Coriolanus= stubbornness. AAs a Roman delgate, she appeals to his sense of patriotism, to his love for his family, and to his reputation; and last, as a mother, she accuses him of ingratitude@ (Wheeler xxvi). Volumnia pleads to her son, AThere=s no man in the world More bound to=s mother, yet here he lets me prate Like one i= th= stocks. Thou hast never in thy life Show=d thy dear mother any courtesy, When she, poor hen, fond of no second brood, Has cluck=d thee to the wars, and safely home, Loaden with honor@ (V, iii, 158-164). She uses the metaphor of a dutiful hen guiding her chicks to appeal to her son=s pathos. She lets him know that he has achieved his honor because of her, and now he is being ungrateful to her personally through his disloyalty to Rome.

Coriolanus= failure in speech and temperamental character is only made more obvious by the other characters in the play whose rhetoric and persuasive techniques are much more skillful and successful. AThough Coriolanus is himself unsubtle, preferring to express himself directly (indeed, this contributes to his downfall), he is surrounded by craftier, more manipulative characters@ (Douthat 2). Brutus, Sicinus, two of his enemies, and Volumnia, his own doting mother, are three of the manipulative characters who prove to be much better persuaders than the hot-tempered protagonist. Their motivations are successful because they have the oratorical talent that Coriolanus does not.