A Marxist Reading of Shakespeares Coriolanus Essay -- Coriolanus Essa

A bolshy Reading of Coriolanus One popular dissecting instrument of any Shakespearean reference work is the modern tool of psychoanalysis. Many of Shakespeares great tragic heroes-Macbeth, Hamlet, King Lear, and Othello, to strike a few- ingest all been understood by this method of plying back and construe the layers of motivation and desire that constitute every individual. Add to this list Shakespeares roman type warrior Coriolanus. His strong maternal ties coupled with his aggressive and intractable nature have been ideal fodder for modern psychoanalytic interpretation. This interpretation, however, falls within a larger, political context. For despite the fact that Coriolanus is a tragedy largely because of the foibles of its championship character, its first and most lasting impression is that it is a political play. Indeed, the col scene presents the audience with a rebellious throng of plebeians hungry for metric molecule that is being hoarded by the patricians. When Menenius, a patrician mouthpiece, enters the scene a dialectical is immediately established, and the members of the audience inexorably find themselves on one military position or the other of this dialectic, depending, most likely, on their particular station in life. The English nobility that viewed this play in Shakespeares time undoubtedly form Menenius fable of the belly compelling, in which the belly-representing the patricians-is said to be a dissemination centre that may initially receive all the flour (nourishment), still parcels it out evenly to the various limbs, and organs-representing all other classes of the republic-leaving itself only the bran. I doubt the audience in the pit found this body fig very persuasive, especially since this play was initially per... ...bject of our misery, is as an / inventory to define their abundance our / sufferance is a gain to them (I.i.16-18). By rioting for grain and then banishing Coriolanus, the citizens are taking what l imited steps are operable to people of their class to effect change and receive recognition of their voices. Their insubordination pull up stakes indeed throw forth greater themes, one of which will be emancipation. Works Cited Appignanesi, Richard. (1976). Marx for Beginners. London, England Writers and Readers Publishing Co-operative (Society Limited). Cavell, Stanley. (1985). Who does the wolf love? Coriolanus and the interpretation of politics. In Parker, P. & Hartman, G. (ed.), Shakespeare and the question of theory. New York Methuen. Jagendorf, Zvi. (1990). Coriolanus body politic and private parts. Shakespeare Quarterly, 41(4), pp. 455-469.