Consider the way in which Shakespeare presents Martius in the early part of the play.

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Consider the way in which Shakespeare presents Martius in the early part of the play.  The first, and perhaps most popular view of Martius is that of the plebeians in the opening scene, who have an unequivocally negative opinion of the man soon to become a popular and ‘noble’ consul, albeit transiently. While it is argued by Martius that the citizens can never be content (‘what would you have, you curs, that like nor peace nor war?’), it is still significant that the earliest reference to him in the play states that he is ‘chief enemy to the people’. Further quotations help explain why this conclusion is drawn. Shortly after this point, one citizen suggests that they ‘kill him (Martius), and…have corn at our own price’. Since ‘Coriolanus’ is set in the period immediately succeeding a great famine in Rome, it is of paramount importance to the plebeians that they do not encounter the same situation again, therefore they are aggrieved that patricians like Caius Martius have the power to raise the price of corn at their discretion. Although it is widely understood that, during this period of civil unrest in Rome, few patricians are held in high esteem by the lower classes (‘They ne’er cared for us yet’, complains one citizen), it would be fair to state that Martius is among the least popular. In fact, he is further described as, ‘a very dog to the commonalty’. Here Shakespeare uses animal imagery, common throughout the play, to great effect in portraying Martius’ unpleasant character. The assembled hoi polloi continue their criticism of Martius’ personality, describing how he ‘pays himself (that is, for his services to the country) with being proud’. Additional reference is made to his pride in line 35, where the First Citizen alleges that ‘what he hath done famously…he did…to be partly proud – which he is, even to the altitude of his virtue’. Here, the implication is that Martius is as proud as he is righteous. It is interesting to note here that every single epithet used to describe the acclaimed soldier so far in the scene has been derogatory. Another interesting insight provided by the mob in this section is that on Volumnia, who is Caius Martius’ mother. One member of the crowd makes the point that he carried out his greatest acts of bravery in order to ‘please his mother’. This is the first insinuation of the degree of control exercised by Martius’ formidable mother, Volumnia over her son. Volumnia makes her first appearance in Act 1 Scene 1, wherein she is seen talking about her son with his devoted, if rather spineless (‘O Jupiter, no blood!’), wife Virgilia, and Valeria, a friend of theirs whose taste for anecdotes of a brutal nature is as voracious
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as Volumnia’s own. In this scene, Martius’ mother comes across as warlike (speaking of blood, she claims, ‘it more becomes a man than gilt his trophy’), and preoccupied with her son almost to the point of incest (‘If my son were my husband…’). Much of Martius’ psychological background is revealed in this part of the play, in description of his childhood, his behaviour on the battlefield and his reputation by his mother; his character is also manifested in the behaviour of his young son, which is spoken about at length by Valeria. Volumnia speaks boastfully of how she, in effect, ...

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