Coriolanus Essay
Coriolanus is a play about human fallacy- In this play it can be argued that the downfall of Rome, and Coriolanus was bought upon the people by their own mistakes and misguided, fickle judgement.
From Act 1, Menenius was shown to be a powerful character who spoke harsh words to the people. He would address the people as “charitable” which show how he insults them. This is Menenius’s downfall because people grew hatred towards him. Since the people are fickle, this judgement changed often. This too, is a fallacy in itself: the people would change their mind based on what they believed would be best for them at that moment.
From Scene 3 in Act 1, we noticed that Volumnia played a big role in Coriolanus difficult personality. Due to Coriolanus not wanting to disappoint his mother, he would often make decisions based on her opinion and not what was best for Rome. This was evident when two of Coriolanus friends come pleading for mercy, but Coriolanus refuses to hear them. However, when his mother begs him to make peace, he relents. This shows a fallacy in Coriolanus and in Volumnia. …show more content…
In Act 2 Scene 3, Sicinius and Brutus convince the people who were going to vote for Coriolanus to change their minds. This is seen when he states “your voices might be curses to yourselves” which explains that the people will be their own worst enemy if they vote for Coriolanus. This shows us that Brutus and Sicinius are good at negotiating, but not always for the right reasons and this is a fallacy.
To conclude, I agree to a large extent that Coriolanus is a play more about human fallacy than politics. Even though Coriolanus values “honour” and is a very honest man, it was seen as a tragic flaw and ultimately, the downfall of him and Rome. “His heart’s his mouth” which was said by Menenius in Act 3, Scene 1 which explains that Coriolanus speaks what he
From Act 1, Menenius was shown to be a powerful character who spoke harsh words to the people. He would address the people as “charitable” which show how he insults them. This is Menenius’s downfall because people grew hatred towards him. Since the people are fickle, this judgement changed often. This too, is a fallacy in itself: the people would change their mind based on what they believed would be best for them at that moment.
From Scene 3 in Act 1, we noticed that Volumnia played a big role in Coriolanus difficult personality. Due to Coriolanus not wanting to disappoint his mother, he would often make decisions based on her opinion and not what was best for Rome. This was evident when two of Coriolanus friends come pleading for mercy, but Coriolanus refuses to hear them. However, when his mother begs him to make peace, he relents. This shows a fallacy in Coriolanus and in Volumnia. …show more content…
In Act 2 Scene 3, Sicinius and Brutus convince the people who were going to vote for Coriolanus to change their minds. This is seen when he states “your voices might be curses to yourselves” which explains that the people will be their own worst enemy if they vote for Coriolanus. This shows us that Brutus and Sicinius are good at negotiating, but not always for the right reasons and this is a fallacy.
To conclude, I agree to a large extent that Coriolanus is a play more about human fallacy than politics. Even though Coriolanus values “honour” and is a very honest man, it was seen as a tragic flaw and ultimately, the downfall of him and Rome. “His heart’s his mouth” which was said by Menenius in Act 3, Scene 1 which explains that Coriolanus speaks what he