![Book Cover of Coriolanus](/image/book/coriolanus.webp)
Coriolanus
'Coriolanus' Summary
The play opens in Rome shortly after the expulsion of the Tarquin kings. There are riots in progress, after stores of grain were withheld from ordinary citizens. The rioters are particularly angry at Caius Marcius, a brilliant Roman general whom they blame for the loss of their grain. The rioters encounter a patrician named Menenius Agrippa, as well as Caius Marcius himself. Menenius tries to calm the rioters, while Marcius is openly contemptuous, and says that the plebeians were not worthy of the grain because of their lack of military service. Two of the tribunes of Rome, Brutus and Sicinius, privately denounce Marcius. He leaves Rome after news arrives that a Volscian army is in the field.
The commander of the Volscian army, Tullus Aufidius, has fought Marcius on several occasions and considers him a blood enemy. The Roman army is commanded by Cominius, with Marcius as his deputy. While Cominius takes his soldiers to meet Aufidius' army, Marcius leads a rally against the Volscian city of Corioli. The siege of Corioli is initially unsuccessful, but Marcius is able to force open the gates of the city, and the Romans conquer it. Even though he is exhausted from the fighting, Marcius marches quickly to join Cominius and fight the other Volscian force. Marcius and Aufidius meet in single combat, which ends only when Aufidius' own soldiers drag him away from the battle.
In recognition of his great courage, Cominius gives Caius Marcius the agnomen, or "official nickname", of Coriolanus. When they return to Rome, Coriolanus's mother Volumnia encourages her son to run for consul. Coriolanus is hesitant to do this, but he bows to his mother's wishes. He effortlessly wins the support of the Roman Senate, and seems at first to have won over the plebeians as well. However, Brutus and Sicinius scheme to defeat Coriolanus and whip up another riot in opposition to his becoming consul. Faced with this opposition, Coriolanus flies into a rage and rails against the concept of popular rule. He compares allowing plebeians to have power over the patricians to allowing "crows to peck the eagles". The two tribunes condemn Coriolanus as a traitor for his words, and order him to be banished. Coriolanus retorts that it is he who banishes Rome from his presence.
After being exiled from Rome, Coriolanus makes his way to the Volscian capital of Antium, and asks Aufidius's help to wreak revenge upon Rome for banishing him. Moved by his plight and honoured to fight alongside the great general, Aufidius and his superiors embrace Coriolanus, and allow him to lead a new assault on Rome.
Rome, in its panic, tries desperately to persuade Coriolanus to halt his crusade for vengeance, but both Cominius and Menenius fail. Finally, Volumnia is sent to meet her son, along with Coriolanus's wife Virgilia and their child, and the chaste gentlewoman Valeria. Volumnia succeeds in dissuading her son from destroying Rome, urging him instead to clear his name by reconciling the Volscians with the Romans and creating peace.
Coriolanus concludes a peace treaty between the Volscians and the Romans. When he returns to the Volscian capital, conspirators, organised by Aufidius, kill him for his betrayal.
Book Details
Author
![William Shakespeare image](/thumbs/image/author/william-shakespeare.webp)
William Shakespeare
United Kingdom
William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon. The son of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, he was probably educated at the King Edward VI Grammar School in Stratford, where he...
More on William ShakespeareDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books
![Shakespeare Monologues Collection vol. 12 (Multilingual) Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/shakespeare-monologues-collection-vol-12-multilingual.webp)
Shakespeare Monologues Collection vol. 12 (Multilingual) by William Shakespeare
This is the 12th edition of the Shakespeare Monologues Collection, in which we bring you your favourite characters' monologues. All topics and emotion...
![Why Marry? Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/why-marry.webp)
Why Marry? by Jesse Lynch Williams
Why Marry? is a 1917 play written by American playwright Jesse Lynch Williams. It won the first Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1918.
![The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-widowing-of-mrs-holroyd.webp)
The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd by D. H. Lawrence
The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd is a play by the English writer D. H. Lawrence. It was written in 1911 and the revised version was published in 1914 by D...
![Rosmersholm Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/rosmersholm.webp)
Rosmersholm by Henrik Ibsen
Rosmersholm is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen in Danish—the common written language of Denmark and Norway at the time—and origina...
![The Lady From the Sea Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-lady-from-the-sea.webp)
The Lady From the Sea by Henrik Ibsen
The Lady from the Sea is a play written in 1888 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen inspired by the ballad Agnete og Havmanden. The drama is notable...
![The Spanish Tragedy Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-spanish-tragedy.webp)
The Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd
The Spanish Tragedy is often considered to be the first mature Elizabethan drama, a claim disputed with Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlaine, and was par...
![The Cherry Orchard Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-cherry-orchard.webp)
The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov
The Cherry Orchard is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by Znaniye (Book Two, 1904), and came...
![History Plays for the Grammar Grades Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/history-plays-for-the-grammar-grades.webp)
History Plays for the Grammar Grades by Mary Ella Lyng
A charming collection of 14 short American history plays for the very young - ranging from Christopher Columbus to George Washington to Susan B Anthon...
![Trelawny of the Wells Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/trelawny-of-the-wells.webp)
Trelawny of the Wells by Arthur Wing Pinero
This is the story of a young actress named Rose Trelawny, who struggles to adapt to the changing times of the theatre world in the late 19th century....
![The Awakening of Spring Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-awakening-of-spring.webp)
The Awakening of Spring by Frank Wedekind
Spring Awakening is the German dramatist Frank Wedekind's first major play and a foundational work in the modern history of theatre. It was written so...
Reviews for Coriolanus
No reviews posted or approved, yet...