Coriolanus, part 9

Coriolanus

Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Death & Marriage

LAST TIME ON CORIOLANUS: Having returned in triumph from the wars, Coriolanus is prompted by his mother to run for the office of consul. His wartime heroics make him the frontrunner for the job, and he is quickly approved by the Senate. However, according to tradition, he must now put on "the gown of humility" and speak to the people, showing them his wounds in order to gain their voices in support. But will the fickle people forgive him for being such a hard-nosed bastard?

OK, so maybe the people are a little fickle. In their defense, the whole "giving your voices to the consul" ceremony is almost entirely pro forma, so it's not like they're used to the idea that their voices actually count for something. 

This is a fantastic and rather hilarious section, where you have Coriolanus, all brimming with righteous indignation and dressed up in an incredibly filthy and torn outfit, attempting to beg the people whom he despises for their support. The people, it must be said, are remarkably accommodating, and never say anything like "Hey! Aren't you the guy who is always saying how stupid and worthless we are, and how we should all be hanged?" 

Of course, just when it looks like Coriolanus has gotten away with it, the tribunes come back and remind everyone that they're always complaining about how much Coriolanus hates them, and that actually, yes, he wasn't very nice when he asked us for our voices, was he? Now, I try to stand up for the common people as much as possible, but in this case they really are a lot like sheep, instantly following whoever was the last person to speak to them. 

Tune in again next Monday, when the public grumbling stirred up by the tribunes finally explodes. And so does Coriolanus's temper. There's a surprise.

Coriolanus

Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Death & Marriage

Coriolanus, part 8

Coriolanus

Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Death & Marriage

LAST TIME ON CORIOLANUS: Caius Martius, now known as Coriolanus, returns in triumph to Rome, where his war heroics are thought to make him a shoe-in for the position of consul. 

These two random guys come on stage to put cushions out for the Senate and have a cheery little conversation about the merits of Coriolanus. The chief take-away message is "Coriolanus: he hates the people, but at least he's honest about it". 

Did we mention Coriolanus hates the people? Oh, we have? Well, have you gotten the message yet?

Here we have another one of Coriolanus's little tantrums, as he storms out of the senate rather than sit and listen to himself be praised. I mean, it's all admirable and stuff not to want people to make a big deal of what you perceive as just being your job, but Coriolanus really does manage to take this attitude into new levels of petulance. 

Also, Cominius has a great speech about how Coriolanus is a fantastic solider and is really good at killing people, but he never once says anything remotely resembling "Oh, and he'd be a really good civilian administrator". Apparently that's not a required skill. 

Coriolanus is annoyed for several reasons. First, as we've already established, he doesn't like people making a big deal of his military accomplishments, so he's not exactly thrilled about having to show off his scars to the people to convince them that he's a great war hero. Secondly, he doesn't believe the people should even have any role in the appointment of consuls, given how fickle and pointless they all are. 

Stay tuned tomorrow, when Coriolanus has to wear"the vesture of humility" and ask the people nicely if they would approve him as consul. As I'm sure you can see, this is heading towards a great, old-fashioned showdown in the next couple scenes...

Coriolanus

Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Death & Marriage

Coriolanus, part 7

Coriolanus

Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Death & Marriage

LAST TIME ON CORIOLANUS: After helping the Romans seize the city of Corioles, Caius Martius is awarded the honorific name of "Coriolanus". Triumphant, he returns home to Rome. However, the tribunes of the people are worried about what his new-found glory will allow him to achieve...

I absolutely love this scene. One the one hand, it's deeply disturbing to hear a mother sound so happy upon learning that her son has terrible gaping wounds, and comparing his overall wound tally with his friend. On the other hand, it's morbidly hysterical to hear a mother sound so happy upon learning that her son has terrible gaping wounds, and comparing his overall wound tally with his friend.

Virgilia doesn't actually faint in this scene, I should point out. That was dramatic license on my part. But if I were her, I would seriously examine what life choices led to me being tethered to such a sick family. 

Volumnia is one of those mothers who vicariously lives through her son. She's so proud of him... but she's also sure he could do jusssssst a little bit more and become President of the United States, isn't that right, don't you want to make your old mother happy?

The tribunes of the people. On the one hand, it looks like they're concerned entirely about maintaining their own political power. On the other hand, they know exactly how much Coriolanus hates the common people, and want to prevent him from being in a position to do anything bad to them. Serving their constituents or serving their self-interests? I'll let you decide.

Stay tuned tomorrow for some more political wheeling and dealing! 

Coriolanus

Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Death & Marriage

Coriolanus, part 6

Coriolanus

Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Death & Marriage

LAST TIME ON CORIOLANUS: The Roman army, led by General Cominius, launched a counter-attack on an invading Volscian army. During the ensuing battle, Caius Martius single-handedly took on the troops of the Volscian city of Corioles and battled his arch-nemesis, Volscian general Tullus Aufidius. The Romans are victorious!

A lot of people get embarrassed if they're praised publicly, but Maritus gets embarrassed and mad. He really really really doesn't like it. Except maybe he does. I love his line "I will go wash", which acts as a huge bucket of cold water over the preceding exultant shouts of praise. 

I also love the moment at the end of this scene where Martius asks for a Volscian who sheltered him while he was fighting in Corioles to be released. It's the first time he shows some real compassion. Of course, he then promptly forgets the name of the Volscian and moves on, presumably leaving the poor guy to linger in Roman custody indefinitely. 

Poor old Aufidius. He just can't win.

Anyways, that's the end of the Battle of Corioles. Let's move back to Rome and see how Martius's exploits are being received by his friends and family, not to mention the rather surly tribunes elected to represent the people of Rome...

Check back in tomorrow, when we'll find out exactly how alarmingly screwed-up Martius's mother Volumnia is, featuring possibly one of my favorite exchanges in the entire play. 

Coriolanus

Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Death & Marriage

Coriolanus, part 5

Coriolanus

Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Death & Marriage

LAST TIME ON CORIOLANUS: There was a big battle at the Volscian city of Corioles, and Martius is running around, covered in blood, killing everyone.

It's time for the big battle! It's mildly anticlimactic (in more ways than one) because just as Martius looks like he's going to take Aufidus down, a bunch of Aufidius's Volscian buddies rush in and save him. This makes Aufidius sad, either because (a) his honor has been besmirched by his troops interfering in an honorable duel-to-the-death, or (b) he is deprived of an excuse to wrestle further with Martius. The possible homoerotic undertones of this fight are ludicrously played up in the 1984 BBC Shakespeare production starring Alan Howard as Coriolanus and Mike Gwilym as Aufidus. Both of them are wearing little more than tiny leather posing pouches, are oiled to a point of luminescence, and spend a lot of time grappling with each other.

I have actually finished penciling 1.9 and 1.10, but before I could ink and scan them this morning I had to rush off to a work appointment that I nearly forgot about. Oh crass commercialism, getting in the way of true art! Anyways, stay tuned tomorrow, when we find out why the play is called Coriolanus, and Martius gets all embarrassed. 

Coriolanus

Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Death & Marriage

Coriolanus, part 4

Coriolanus

Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Death & Marriage

LAST TIME ON CORIOLANUS: The Roman attack on the Volscian city of Corioles looks doomed to defeat when a Volscian sortie beats back the Roman troops. Infuriated, Caius Martius launches a one-man attack on the city, only to be trapped inside when the gates are shut behind him. His comrades think he is dead... right up until he emerges, covered in blood and still fighting. Inspired, the Romans redouble their attack on the city.

Martius spends most of the Battle of Corioles running around, covered in blood. Everyone else spends most of the Battle of Corioles commenting on the fact that he's running around, covered in blood.

I have temporarily lost custody of my DVD of Ralph Fiennes's Coriolanus movie, but over the weekend I will put together a couple video clips of the "make you a sword of me" line. That line of often cited as distilling the core of Martius's character. He's not a human being. He's a weapon.

Like a sword, he's also sharp, pointy, and covered in blood.

Is this one of the shortest scenes in Shakespeare? I'm sure there are shorter ones, but this is definitely a contender. I'll have to do some research.

Join me again on Monday, when Martius and Aufidius finally face off in battle! That gives me the weekend to work on my "stick figure combat" drawing skills.

Coriolanus

Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Death & Marriage

Coriolanus, part 3

 Coriolanus

Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Death & Marriage

LAST TIME ON CORIOLANUS: News has reached Rome that a Volscian army, led by the infamous Tullus Aufidius, is marching towards Rome. The Roman Senate appoints consul Cominius to be the commanding general of the Roman army, with Titus Lartius and Caius Martius serving under him. Cominius marches to intercept the Volscians...

It should be dawning on you at this point that Volumnia was not the sort of mother who baked Martius cookies and took him to the public library on weekends. Let's see how her baby is doing in battle...

The moment when Martius emerges from the gates of Corioles, covered in blood and fighting off dozens of Volscians, is just pure stage gold. Also, I like to think about what goes on backstage during a performance: presumably the actor playing Coriolanus rushes into the wings, where he is attacked by several make-up artists wielding ketchup squeeze bottles filled with fake blood. 

Stay tuned tomorrow, when we have... well, we have more of the Battle of Corioles, unfortunately. It's not that it's not exciting. It's just that it's very hard to draw.

 Coriolanus

Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Death & Marriage

Coriolanus, part 2

 Coriolanus

Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Death & Marriage

LAST TIME ON CORIOLANUS: The people of Rome, angry at the patricians for hoarding food while they starve, take to the streets in protest. The senate responds by granting them five tribunes - elected officials who help protect the interests of the people. Meanwhile, reports of a Volscian army marching on Rome have emerged. General Cominius is appointed to lead the Roman army against him. He takes Titus Lartius, another general, and Caius Martius with him. Caius Martius is a fantastic warrior, but is despised for his derisive attitude towards the people. 

Sicinius and Brutus are.. well, they're not really the villains of the piece, since they're just trying to defend the interests of the people, which, I think we can all agree, is admirable. However, they are politicians, which makes them as easy a target as anyone. 

And here is Tullus Aufidius, the famous Volscian general with whom Caius Martius has fought many times. As much as Martius is obsessed with Aufidius, it seems that Aufidius is even more obsessed with Martius, as we'll see later on. It's kind of cute, in a "I totally want to kill you" sort of way.

Stay tuned tomorrow, when we'll check in with the womenfolk and start on the Battle of Corioles!

 Coriolanus

Dramatis Personae | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Death & Marriage