Early Modern Drama · Character Archetypes

VIRGILIA

in Coriolanus — Shakespeare, William

Metadata

PlayCoriolanus
AuthorShakespeare, William
Year (catalogued)1623
First performance1608
Decade1620s
GenreTragedy
Play typeAdult Professional
CompanyKing's Men
Speech prefix(es)Virg. | Ʋ ir. | Vir. | Virgil. | Vlug.
Words228
Characters1157
Typicality0.39 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP idA11954.26
BritDrama no.1589
ClusterCluster 1 — Wives, widows & intimate counsel

Important excerpts

No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).

Full speech

But had he died in the Business Madame, how then? Beseech you give me leave to retire my self. His bloody Brow? O Jupiter, no blood. A Crack Madam. No (good Madam) I will not out of doors. Indeed no, by your patience; I'll not over the threshold, till my Lord return from the Wars. I will wish her speedy strength, and visit her with my prayers: but I cannot go thither. O good Madam, there can be none yet. Give me excuse good Madame, I will obey you in every thing hereafter. O heavens! Oh heavens! You shall stay too: I would I had the power To say so to my Husband. What then? Hee'ld make and end of thy posterity The sorrow that delivers us thus changed, Makes you think so. I, and mine, that brought you forth this boy, To keep your name living to time. Heavens bless my Lord from fell Auffidius. I am glad to see your Ladyship. Indeed Madam. I thank your Ladyship: Well good Madam. No good Madam, pardon me, indeed I will not forth. No At a word Madam; Indeed I must not, I wish you much mirth. Yes certain, there's a Letter for you, I saw't. O no, no, no. The Gods grant them true. My Lord and Husband. It's not to save labour, nor that I want love.

Plot summary

Plot — Coriolanus
The. citizens of Rome riot for corn. They insist that the patricians are hoarding the commodity, but Menenius Agrippa tells them a fable suggesting that the Senate has made an equitable distribution of what there is. The Senate grants the people tribunes to represent their interests, to the disgust of the patrician soldier Martius. ‘The Volsces put troops in-the field in an attempt to capture Roman territory. The Romans split their powers: the general Cominius takes on the attacking army under the Volscian commander Aufidius, while Martius and Titus Lartius attack the Volscian town of Corioles. Martius ventures alone into the town and is trapped when the gates close behind him. When he re-emerges, bleeding from the fight, he invigorates the troops and Corioles is conquered. He goes to relieve Cominius, while Titus Lartius finalizes the terms of the Roman occupation. Martius confronts Aufidius in single combat. They are long-time rivals who have sworn to fight to the death, but they are balked when Aufidius’ troops intervene to rescue him. Meanwhile, Aufidius realizes that he will never beat Martius in a fair fight: it will have to be by stealth. Martius, now surnamed Coriolanus, returns triumph to Rome, and is put forward for the consulship. By custom, he must humbly ask the consent of the people and show them his war-wounds. He is reluctant, partly through contempt for the plebeians and partly out of a concern that his valour might be misinterpreted as political ambition. Even so, he. undertakes the obligation and receives the people’s voices, but does not actually show the wounds. The Tribunes persuade the people to withdraw their votes, since it would not be in their best interests to have Coriolanus as head of state. When the Tribunes intervene to block his promotion, Coriolanus loses his temper and speaks to them in terms which exacerbate the situation. Cominius undertakes to get him to apologise, but Coriolanus — persuaded to comply only at the intervention of his mother, Volumnia — still cannot keep his temper, and the Tribunes banish him from Rome. Coriolanus goes to Aufidius’ house in Antium and is received. The Volsces are mobilizing a new army for a fresh attack on the Romans, and Aufidius splits his command with Coriolanus, who marches on Rome. When his victory seems certain, first Cominius and then Menenius entreat his clemency, but are refused. An embassy from Volumnia, his wife, and young son proves more effective, however: he decides to…