CORIOLANUS: ACT 1

To start off, Coriolanus was a play written by Shakespeare during the Elizabethan Era. Because Latin and Greek formed the basis of education at that time, many people, including Shakespeare himself, learned about Roman times in depth. Moreover, Shakespeare's audiences were familiar with classical literature of Latin and Greek. Typically, classical literature had a heroic, and almost divine figure, the protagonist, and an antagonist on the opposite side, who was often the rival, Likewise, Shakespeare set Coriolanus as the protagonist, and characterizes him as a typical heroic figure throughout Chapter 1.

 Also, Shakespeare doesn't forget to reveal Coriolanus's Achilles' heel, and that is his hatred of the plebeians. This is evident in Act 1 Scene 1 where Coriolanus (Martius) scowls at the plebeians describing them as useless beings. This scene, in particular, is where Coriolanus's political views are presented. From looking at his disgust of the "lower-class people', it shows that Coriolanus highly believes in hierarchy and meritocracy. However, it is evident that almost everyone in Rome has changed and started to value more of democracy and equality. Hence, Shakespeare is conveying and foreshadowing a friction later in the play between Coriolanus and the others, specifically the plebeians, due to their contradicting political ideologies.

Secondly, Shakespeare hints another weakness of Coriolanus, but in an indirect way. In Act 3 where 3 ladies, Volumnia, Virgilia, Valeria converse, Coriolanus's excessive love for his mom and wife is represented. It is almost expressed as if Coriolanus has attended at wars for the pride of his mom. This high dependency on others reveals his unsuitable nature as a consul; this foreshadows his failure as being a consul later in the play.

Next, in Act 1, there are 2 big settings: One in the city (Capitol) and the other in the battlefield. It is notable that Coriolanus's nature is deliberately characterized differently in these 2 settings. In the city, his nature is depicted as being nasty, condemnatory, vile whereas in the battlefield, he is depicted as bold, praiseworthy and most importantly, a good leader. This clear contradiction of Coriolanus's nature in 2 different places implies and foreshadows Coriolanus's downfall as being a consul, a high position in the capitol, but his more adequacy as a soldier in battlefields.

Another possible purpose of Shakespeare's characterization of Coriolanus in Act 1 might be his attempt to catch his audiences attention, considering that it is a play, through its fast escalation. Unlike other classical literature, this play has an uncommon structure, where the climax happens relatively earlier in the play: The battle between Rome and Volsces from Act 1 scene 4 - 9.