“There was a time when all the body’s members,
Rebell’d against the belly, thus accused it:
That only like a gulf did it remain unactive.
As you malign our senators for that
They are not such as you.”
The noisy arguments are temporarily ceased, until Coriolanus embarks on the scene. As soon as he has embarked in on the scene, he starts to speak his mind and calls the plebeians a bunch of scabs.
Coriolanus’s lack of political knowledge is also a major factor to his dramatic downfall. Coriolanus does not seem to understand that he has to act differently in the public’s eye than he does in his private life. Coriolanus has hatred towards the plebeians and the plebeians know this by the way he acts in the public’s view. His hatred for the plebeians must be kept on his private side of his life. In the public view he should be seen as one that actually loves the common people.
Menenius however, has a much better knowledge of politics than Coriolanus has. Menenius like Coriolanus also has great hatred to the common people. With his great understanding of politics Menenius makes the common people believe that he actually has great love towards them. This can easily be seen by his allegory. In his allegory he represents the plebeians as the belly and the senate as the major internal organs of the body, such as the brain and the heart. By twisting the usage of his words he actually makes the belly seem as the most important part of the body. The plebeians as a result stop the protests, because they feel that without the belly the Roman hierarchy will be in ruins.
When Coriolanus is exiled from Rome his immaturity takes over. He joins up with the Volsces, the enemy, to conquer Rome. Aufidius the Volscian rival of Coriolanus is pleased to see that his archrival has joined up with him to conquer Rome.
“O Martius, Martius!
Each word thou hast spoke hath weeded from my
heart
A root of ancient envy.”
The move that Coriolanus made to the Volsces shows his immaturity. When Coriolanus was in Rome he saw Rome as the best and the Volsces as the enemy. However as soon as he is thrown out of Rome he sees things in the complete opposite, now Rome is the enemy and the Volsces are the ones to protect.
Earlier on in the play Coriolanus conquered the Volscian army in Corioles. His anger makes him almost incoherent; the Roman army support him as he charges through the gates of Corioles and goes into the hands of the enemy who he fights alone. This may be seen as a virtue that Coriolanus has but it can also be seen as him reacting to an incident without actually thinking about what he is doing.
Volumnia, the mother of Coriolanus is also a main factor to his ruin. Volumnia has brought up Coriolanus to be a fearless warrior and a person who is devoted to his family. When Coriolanus is exiled from Rome and joins up with Aufidius, Volumnia is outraged. When Coriolanus was about to attack Rome with his Volscian army he is approached by his mother. Volumnia pleads to Coriolanus that he should not attack Rome and that he should return back to his loving family.
“To save the Romans, thereby to destroy
The Volsces whom you serve, you might condemn us
As poisonous of your honour.”
Volumnia finally persuades Coriolanus to not conquer Rome and to return home to where he belongs. Coriolanus knows the outcome but has high hopes that Aufidius and the Volsces will forgive him but Aufidius leaves nothing in doubt and kills Coriolanus.
Pride was a major factor to the ruin of Coriolanus’s noble life, but there were many other factors that circled around it. If Coriolanus had any political knowledge he could have been accepted into the senate. This would have resulted in him staying in Rome where he belonged. Without joining up with the Volsces as he did he and his family could have been saved from the heartache of his dramatic ruin. Coriolanus is a tragic play which some of us can relate to even today, in the twenty-first century. Some people today will be immature, lack in political knowledge, and react to circumstances in a rushed manner, which can result to their final downfall.
