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When does Coriolanus take place?
Coriolanus takes place during the period when Rome was transitioning from a kingdom to a republic, around the turn of the fifth century BCE. King Tarquin, who was the seventh and final Roman king, was overthrown by a group of Roman nobles in 509 BCE. These nobles, also known as patricians, then formed a new government presided over by a senate of fellow patricians. Tarquin’s fall took place in the play’s recent past, and on a couple of occasions characters reference each other’s participation in this overthrow. The events of Coriolanus depict the particular moment of tension that arose as commoners, or plebeians, were granted representation in the form of elected tribunes.
Why is Coriolanus banished from Rome?
Coriolanus is partially responsible for his own banishment from Rome. When the patricians nominate him for the position of consul, Coriolanus is expected to perform a ritual where he appears before the plebeians and, under the guise of humility, asks them for their “voices,” or votes. Coriolanus does perform this ritual, but only after great pressure from his fellow patricians. Yet his disdain for the lower classes comes through even as he asks for their votes. This disdain seems to confirm that he is not fit to serve all Romans. However, the reason Coriolanus is banished rather than just denied the consulship is that the two newly elected tribunes, Brutus and Sicinius, manipulate the masses into interpreting Coriolanus’s lack of social grace as a sign of a tyrannical personality. Thus, naming him a “traitor,” they first call for his death, then commute that sentence to exile.
Why does Coriolanus join forces with Tullus Aufidius?
On the surface of things, Coriolanus joins forces with Tullus Aufidius because he is furious with how the Roman people have betrayed him. He knows Aufidius to be a fierce enemy of Rome, and he figures he couldn’t find a better collaborator in Rome’s downfall than this longtime foe. Yet there is also a deeper attraction between these two men that goes beyond their shared personal grievances against Rome. This attraction is evident from the first time these two men meet onstage in act 1, where the fierceness of their fighting is bound up with a deep sense of mutual respect and fascination. There is indeed a subtle erotic charge in their dedication to fighting each other.
How does Volumnia convince Coriolanus to give up his campaign against Rome?
Volumnia’s capacity to change Coriolanus’s mind is mainly due to her domineering influence over her son. That isn’t to say that she lacks rhetorical finesse. On the contrary, Volumnia is an expert at manipulating her son’s emotions. Her skills are on full display in act 5, scene 3, where she delivers several lengthy speeches in which she questions his honor and paints a gruesome picture of what will happen to her and the rest of his family should he continue with his plan to sack Rome. After laying down the mother of all maternal guilt trips—“There’s no man in the world / More bound to ’s mother, yet here he lets me prate / Like one i’ th’ stocks” (5.3.180–82)—Volumnia kneels in humility before her son. It is at this point that Coriolanus finally breaks and calls off his campaign.
How does Coriolanus die?
Coriolanus dies at the hands of Aufidius and his fellow conspirators in act 5, scene 6. Despite having been eager to join forces when Coriolanus first proposed a collaborate campaign against Rome, Aufidius began to sour when his own men grew to favor his new ally. Alienated in this way, Aufidius started actively to conspire against Coriolanus. His opportunity to strike comes when Coriolanus yields to his mother and decides unilaterally to break their shared military campaign against Rome. After this event, Aufidius publicly accuses Coriolanus of being a traitor, and his collaborators fall on the Roman, stabbing him to death in the streets of Corioles—the very city that gave him his name.
