Coriolanus, by William Shakespeare

 Coriolanus by William Shakespeare


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it was ok
bookshelves: play

Discussed this play with a book group recently. Comments were generally aimed at describing the good and bad characteristics of Coriolanus (a.k.a. Marcius). He was good fighter in war, but he wasn't a people person. He seemed to have no empathy for the plebeians, and he did not like the tribunes much better. After he managed to make everybody angry at him he changed sides and swore his allegiance to Rome's enemies. He then broke that promise when his mother convinced him not to attack Rome.

There's not much to like about Coriolanus, but one can argue that the fact that he doesn't care what people think about him means that he is free to make decisions on the basis of their merit and not to let his decisions be based on trying to win favor with certain groups of people. Also, the plebeians of Rome weren't very nice to him, and there were several tribunes who caused trouble for him. 

Coriolanus had a personality similar to George Patton of WWII fame. He was a good fighter, but would be a bad politician. 

Some members of the book group thought Coriolanus was an example of current leadership in USA that is leaning authoritarian. But current leadership is populous, which means that it has a core of followers who are supporters. I'm not sure Coriolanus had any core support unless one counts his wife and mother.

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