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{{short description|Play by William Shakespeare}}
{{about|the Shakespeare play|the protagonist|Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus||Coriolanus (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{italic title}}
[[File:Thomas Lawrence - John Philip Kemble as Coriolanus (1798).jpg|thumb|''[[John Philip Kemble]] as Coriolanus in "Coriolanus" by William Shakespeare'', [[Thomas Lawrence]] (1798)]]

'''''Coriolanus''''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ɒ|r|i|ə|ˈ|l|eɪ|n|ə|s}} or {{IPAc-en|-|ˈ|l|ɑː|-}}<ref>{{cite book
|last = Jones
|first = Daniel
|author-link = Daniel Jones (phonetician)
|title = English Pronouncing Dictionary
|editor1-last = Roach
|editor1-first = Peter
|editor2-last = Hartmann
|editor2-first = James
|editor3-last = Setter
|editor3-first = Jane
|location = Cambridge
|publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]]
|orig-year = 1917
|year = 2003
|isbn = 3-12-539683-2
|ref = {{harvid|Jones|1917}}
}}</ref>) is a [[tragedy]] by [[William Shakespeare]], believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary [[Roman Republic|Roman]] leader [[Gaius Marcius Coriolanus|Caius Marcius Coriolanus]]. Shakespeare worked on it during the same years he wrote ''[[Antony and Cleopatra]]'', making them his last two tragedies.

Coriolanus is the name given to a Roman general after his military feats against the [[Volsci]]ans at [[Corioli]]. Following his success he seeks to be [[Roman consul|consul]], but his disdain for the [[plebeians]] and mutual hostility with the [[Tribune of the plebs|tribunes]] lead to his banishment from Rome. In exile, he presents himself to the Volscians, then leads them against Rome. After he relents and agrees to a peace with Rome, he is killed by his previous Volscian allies.

== Characters ==
''Romans''
{{div col|colwidth=20em|}}
* [[Gaius Marcius Coriolanus|Caius Marcius]] – later surnamed Coriolanus
* [[Agrippa Menenius Lanatus (consul 503 BC)|Menenius Agrippa]] – [[Roman Senate|Senator of Rome]]
* [[Postumus Cominius Auruncus|Cominius]] – [[Roman consul|consul]] and commander-in-chief of the army
* [[Titus Larcius]] – Roman general
* [[Volumnia]] – Coriolanus' mother (historically, [[Veturia]])
* [[Virgilia]] – Coriolanus' wife
* Young Martius – Coriolanus' son
* Valeria – chaste lady of Rome and friend to Coriolanus' family
* [[Lucius Sicinius Vellutus|Sicinius Velutus]] – [[tribune]]
* [[Tiberius Junius Brutus|Junius Brutus]] – tribune
* Roman Citizens
* Roman Soldiers
* Roman Herald
* Roman Senators
{{div col end}}
''Volscians''
{{div col|colwidth=20em|}}
* [[Attius Tullius|Tullus Aufidius]] – general of the [[Volsci]]an army
* Aufidius' Lieutenant
* Aufidius' Servingmen
* Conspirators with Aufidius
* Adrian – Volscian spy
* Nicanor – Roman traitor
* Volscian Lords
* Volscian Citizens
* Volscian Soldiers
{{div col end}}
''Other''
{{div col|colwidth=20em|}}
* Gentlewoman
* Usher
* Volscian senators and nobles
* Roman captains
* Officers
* Messengers
* [[Lictor]]s
* [[Aedile]]s
{{div col end}}

==Synopsis==
[[Image:Virgilia bewailing the absence of Coriolanus, by Thomas Woolner.jpg|thumb|upright|"Virgilia bewailing the absence of Coriolanus" by [[Thomas Woolner]]]]

The play opens in Rome shortly after the expulsion of the [[Lucius Tarquinius Superbus|Tarquin]] kings. There are riots in progress after stores of grain have been withheld from ordinary citizens. The rioters are particularly angry at [[Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus|Caius Marcius]],<ref>Spelled Martius in the 1623 Folio, otherwise known as Marcius, i.e., a member of the ''gens Marcia''.</ref> a brilliant Roman general whom they blame for the loss of their grain. The rioters encounter a [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]] named [[Agrippa Menenius Lanatus (consul 503 BC)|Menenius Agrippa]], as well as Caius Marcius himself. Menenius tries to calm the rioters, while Marcius is openly contemptuous, and says that the [[plebs|plebeians]] are not worthy of the grain because of their lack of military service. Two of the [[tribunes]] of Rome, Brutus and Sicinius, privately denounce Marcius. Marcius leaves Rome after news arrives that a [[Volsci]]an army is in the field.

The commander of the Volscian army, [[Attius Tullius|Tullus Aufidius]], has fought Marcius on several occasions and considers him a blood enemy. The Roman army is commanded by Cominius, with Marcius as his deputy. While Cominius takes his soldiers to meet Aufidius's army, Marcius leads a rally against the Volscian city of [[Corioli]]. The siege of Corioli is initially unsuccessful, but the Romans conquer it when Marcius is able to force open the gates of the city. Even though he is exhausted from the fighting, Marcius marches quickly to join Cominius and fight the other Volscian forces. Marcius and Aufidius meet in single combat, fighting until Aufidius's own soldiers drag him away from the battle.

[[File:Volumnia pleads with Coriolanus.jpg|thumb|left|An 1800 painting by [[Richard Westall]] of Volumnia pleading with Coriolanus not to destroy Rome.]]
In recognition of his great courage, Cominius gives Caius Marcius the [[agnomen]], or "official [[nickname]]", of ''Coriolanus''. When they return to Rome, Coriolanus's mother Volumnia encourages her son to run for [[consul]]. Coriolanus is hesitant to do this, but he bows to his mother's wishes. He effortlessly wins the support of the [[Roman Senate]], and seems at first to have won over the plebeians as well. However, Brutus and Sicinius scheme to defeat Coriolanus and instigate another plebeian riot in opposition to his becoming consul. Faced with this opposition, Coriolanus flies into a rage and rails against the concept of [[democracy|popular rule]]. He compares allowing plebeians to have power over the patricians to allowing "crows to peck the eagles". The two tribunes condemn Coriolanus as a traitor for his words and order him to be banished. Coriolanus retorts that it is he who banishes Rome from his presence.

After his exile from Rome, Coriolanus makes his way to the Volscian capital of [[Antium]], and asks Aufidius's help to wreak revenge upon Rome for banishing him. Moved by his plight and honoured to fight alongside the great general, Aufidius and his superiors embrace Coriolanus, allowing him to lead a new assault on Rome.

Rome, in its panic, tries desperately to persuade Coriolanus to halt his crusade for vengeance, but both Cominius and Menenius fail. Finally, Volumnia is sent to meet her son, along with Coriolanus's wife Virgilia and their child, and the chaste gentlewoman Valeria. Volumnia succeeds in dissuading her son from destroying Rome, urging him instead to clear his name by reconciling the Volscians with the Romans and creating peace.

Coriolanus concludes a peace treaty between the Volscians and the Romans. When he returns to the Volscian capital, conspirators, organised by Aufidius, kill him for his betrayal.

==Sources==
[[File:North's translation of Plutarch.jpg|thumb|The first page of ''The Life of Caius Martius Coriolanus'' from [[Thomas North]]'s 1579 translation of [[Plutarch]]'s ''Lives of the noble Grecians and Romanes''.]]
''Coriolanus'' is largely based on the "Life of Coriolanus" in [[Thomas North]]'s translation of [[Plutarch]]'s ''[[Parallel Lives|The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans]]'' (1579). The wording of [[Menenius Agrippa|Menenius]]'s speech about the [[body politic]] is derived from [[William Camden]]'s ''Remaines of a Greater Worke Concerning Britaine'' (1605),<ref>R.B. Parker, ed. ''Coriolanus'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994), 17–21.</ref><ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.03.0106%3Asection%3DDATE+OF+COMPOSITION%3Asubsection%3DMalone] Furness, Horace Howard, ''The Tragedie of Coriolanus'' (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1928), p. 596.</ref> where [[Pope Adrian IV]] compares a well-run government to a body in which "all parts performed their functions, only the stomach lay idle and consumed all"; the fable is also alluded to in [[John of Salisbury]]'s ''[[Policraticus]]'' (Camden's source) and [[William Averell]]'s ''A Marvailous Combat of Contrarieties'' (1588).<ref name="umich.edu">[https://web.archive.org/web/20130719142930/http://www.umich.edu/~bhlumrec/admin_unit/president/WEBSITE/09142005accession/rsc/plays/coriolanus/composition.html University of Michigan, The Royal Shakespeare Company, Michigan Residency, 2003] Retrieved 15 March 2013.</ref>

Other sources have been suggested, but are less certain. Shakespeare might also have drawn on [[Livy]]'s ''[[Ab Urbe condita (book)|Ab Urbe condita]]'', as translated by [[Philemon Holland]], and possibly a digest of Livy by [[Lucius Annaeus Florus]]; both of these were commonly used texts in Elizabethan schools. [[Machiavelli]]'s ''[[Discourses on Livy]]'' were available in manuscript translations, and could also have been used by Shakespeare.<ref>Parker, 18–19</ref> He might also have made use of Plutarch's original source, the ''[[Dionysius of Halicarnassus#Works|Roman Antiquities of Dionysius of Halicarnassus]]'',<ref>Parker, 18</ref> as well as on his own knowledge of Roman custom and law.<ref name="umich.edu"/>

==Date and text==
[[File:First Folio, Shakespeare - 0616.jpg|left|thumb|The first page of ''The Tragedy of Coriolanus'' from the [[First Folio]] of Shakespeare's plays, published in 1623]]

Most scholars date ''Coriolanus'' to the period 1605–10, with 1608–09 being considered the most likely, although the available evidence does not permit great certainty.

The earliest date for the play rests on the fact that Menenius's fable of the belly is derived from [[William Camden]]'s ''Remaines'', published in 1605. The later date derives from the fact that several other texts from 1610 or thereabouts seem to allude to ''Coriolanus'', including [[Ben Jonson]]'s ''[[Epicoene]]'', [[Robert Armin]]'s ''Phantasma'' and [[John Fletcher (playwright)|John Fletcher]]'s ''[[The Woman's Prize|The Woman's Prize, or the Tamer Tamed]]''.<ref>Lee Bliss, ed. ''Coriolanus'' (Cambridge University Press, 2000), pp. 1–2; R.B. Parker, ''Coriolanus'' (Oxford University Press, 1994), 2–3.</ref>

Some scholars note evidence that may narrow down the dating to the period 1607–09. One line may be inspired by [[George Chapman]]'s translation of the ''[[Iliad]]'' (late 1608).<ref>Parker, 4–5; Bliss, 6–7.</ref> References to "the coal of fire upon the ice" (I.i) and to squabbles over ownership of channels of water (III.i) could be inspired by [[Thomas Dekker (writer)|Thomas Dekker]]'s description of the freezing of the [[Thames]] in 1607–08 and [[Hugh Myddleton]]'s project to bring water to London by channels in 1608–09 respectively.<ref>Parker, 5–6; Bliss, 3–4.</ref> Another possible connection with 1608 is that the surviving text of the play is divided into acts; this suggests that it could have been written for the indoor [[Blackfriars Theatre]], at which Shakespeare's company began to perform in 1608, although the act-breaks could instead have been introduced later.<ref>Bliss, 4–7.</ref>

The play's themes of popular discontent with government have been connected by scholars with the [[Midland Revolt]], a series of peasant riots in 1607 that would have affected Shakespeare as an owner of land in [[Stratford-upon-Avon]]; and the debates over the charter for the [[City of London]], which Shakespeare would have been aware of, as it affected the legal status of the area surrounding the Blackfriars Theatre.<ref>Parker, 6–7.</ref> The riots in the Midlands were caused by hunger because of the enclosure of common land.

For these reasons, R.B. Parker suggests "late 1608 ... to early 1609" as the likeliest date of composition, while Lee Bliss suggests composition by late 1608, and the first public performances in "late December 1609 or February 1610". Parker acknowledges that the evidence is "scanty ... and mostly inferential".<ref>Parker, 7, 2; Bliss, 7</ref>

The play was first published in the [[First Folio]] of 1623. Elements of the text, such as the uncommonly detailed stage directions, lead some Shakespeare scholars to believe the text was prepared from a theatrical [[prompt book]].

==Analysis and criticism==
{{expand section|date=February 2021}}
[[File:Maulbertsch Coriolanus at the gates of Rome.jpg|thumb|''Coriolanus at the gates of Rome'', [[Franz Anton Maulbertsch]] (c. 1795)]][[A. C. Bradley]] described this play as "built on the grand scale,"<ref>Bradley, ''Shakespearean Tragedy''</ref> like ''King Lear'' and ''Macbeth,'' but it differs from those two masterpieces in an important way. The warrior Coriolanus is perhaps the most opaque of Shakespeare's tragic heroes, rarely pausing to [[soliloquy|soliloquise]] or reveal the motives behind his proud isolation from Roman society. In this way, he is less like the effervescent and reflective Shakespearean heroes/heroines such as [[Macbeth]], [[Hamlet]], [[King Lear|Lear]] and [[Cleopatra]], and more like figures from ancient classical literature such as [[Achilles]], [[Odysseus]], and [[Aeneas]]—or, to turn to literary creations from Shakespeare's time, the [[Christopher Marlowe|Marlovian]] conqueror [[Tamburlaine]], whose militaristic pride finds its parallel in Coriolanus. Readers and playgoers have often found him an unsympathetic character, as his caustic pride is strangely, almost delicately balanced at times by a reluctance to be praised by his compatriots and an unwillingness to exploit and slander for political gain. His dislike of being praised might be seen as an expression of his pride; all he cares about is his own self-image, whereas acceptance of praise might imply that his value is affected by others' opinion of him. The play is less frequently produced than the other tragedies of the later period, and is not so universally regarded as great. (Bradley, for instance, declined to number it among his famous four in the landmark critical work ''Shakespearean Tragedy.'') In his book ''Shakespeare's Language'', [[Frank Kermode]] described ''Coriolanus'' as "probably the most fiercely and ingeniously planned and expressed of all the tragedies".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kermode |first=Frank |year=2001 |title=Shakespeare's Language |location=London |publisher=Penguin Books |page=254 |isbn=0-14-028592-X }}</ref>

[[T. S. Eliot]] famously proclaimed ''Coriolanus'' superior to ''Hamlet'' in ''[[The Sacred Wood (T. S. Eliot)|The Sacred Wood]]'', in which he calls the former play, along with ''[[Antony and Cleopatra]]'', the Bard's greatest tragic achievement. Eliot wrote a two-part poem about Coriolanus, "Coriolan" (an alternative spelling of Coriolanus); he also alluded to ''Coriolanus'' in a passage from his own ''[[The Waste Land]]'' when he wrote, "Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eliot |first=T. S. |year=1963 |title=Collected Poems |location=Orlando |publisher=Harcourt |pages=69, 125–129 }}</ref>

''Coriolanus'' has the distinction of being among the few Shakespeare plays banned in a democracy in modern times.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maurois |first=Andre |author-link=Andre Maurois |year=1948 |title=The Miracle of France |others=Henri Lorin Binsse (trans.) |location=New York |publisher=Harpers |page=432 }}</ref> It was briefly suppressed in France in the late 1930s because of its use by the fascist element, and [[Slavoj Žižek]] noted its prohibition in Post-War Germany due to its intense militarism.<ref>Parker 123</ref>

==Performance history==

Like some of Shakespeare's other plays (''[[All's Well That Ends Well]]''; ''[[Antony and Cleopatra]]''; ''[[Timon of Athens]]''), there is no recorded performance of ''Coriolanus'' prior to the [[English Restoration|Restoration]]. After 1660, however, its themes made it a natural choice for times of political turmoil. The first known performance was [[Nahum Tate]]'s bloody 1682 adaptation at [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane|Drury Lane]]. Seemingly undeterred by the earlier suppression of his ''[[Richard II (play)|Richard II]]'', Tate offered a ''Coriolanus'' that was faithful to Shakespeare through four acts before becoming a [[John Webster|Websterian]] bloodbath in the fifth act. A later adaptation, [[John Dennis (dramatist)|John Dennis]]'s ''[[The Invader of His Country|The Invader of His Country, or The Fatal Resentment]]'', was booed off the stage after three performances in 1719. The title and date indicate Dennis's intent, a vitriolic attack on the Jacobite [[Jacobite rising of 1715|'Fifteen]]. (Similar intentions motivated [[James Thomson (poet, born 1700)|James Thomson]]'s 1745 version, though this bears only a very slight resemblance to Shakespeare's play. Its principal connection to Shakespeare is indirect; [[Thomas Sheridan (actor)|Thomas Sheridan]]'s 1752 production at [[Theatre Royal, Dublin|Smock Alley]] used some passages of Thomson's. [[David Garrick]] returned to Shakespeare's text in a 1754 Drury Lane production.<ref>F. E. Halliday, ''A Shakespeare Companion 1564–1964,'' Baltimore, Penguin, 1964; p. 116.</ref>

[[Laurence Olivier]] first played the part at [[The Old Vic]] in 1937 and again at the [[Shakespeare Memorial Theatre]] in 1959. In that production, he performed Coriolanus's death scene by dropping backwards from a high platform and being suspended upside-down without the aid of wires.<ref>[http://www.rsc.org.uk/searcharchives/search/data?type_id=1&field,RESOURCE_IDENTIFIER,substring,string=C_M982_34 RSC.org.uk] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215053707/http://www.rsc.org.uk/searcharchives/search/data?type_id=1&field%2CRESOURCE_IDENTIFIER%2Csubstring%2Cstring=C_M982_34 |date=15 February 2009 }} Accessed 13 October 2008.</ref>

In 1971, the play returned to the Old Vic in a National Theatre production directed by [[Manfred Wekwerth]] and Joachim Tenschert with stage design by [[Karl von Appen]]. [[Anthony Hopkins]] played Coriolanus, with [[Constance Cummings]] as Volumnia and [[Anna Carteret]] as Virgilia.{{Citation needed|date=February 2019}}

Other performances of Coriolanus include [[Alan Howard (actor)|Alan Howard]], [[Paul Scofield]], [[Ian McKellen]], [[Ian Richardson]], [[Toby Stephens]], [[Robert Ryan]], [[Christopher Walken]], [[Morgan Freeman]], [[Colm Feore]], [[Ralph Fiennes]] and [[Tom Hiddleston]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2019}}

In 2012, [[National Theatre Wales]] produced a composite of Shakespeare's ''Coriolanus'' with [[Bertolt Brecht]]'s [[Coriolanus (Brecht)|''Coriolan'']], entitled Coriolan/us, in a disused hangar at [[MOD St Athan]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Dickson |first=Andrew |date=30 July 2012 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/jul/30/coriolanus-pearson-brooks-interview |title=National Theatre Wales's Coriolan/us: ready for take-off |work=The Guardian |location=UK}}</ref> Directed by Mike Brookes and Mike Pearson, the production used [[silent disco]] headsets to permit the text to be heard while the dramatic action moved throughout the large space. The production was well received by critics.<ref>{{cite news |last=Billington |first=Michael |date=10 August 2012 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/aug/10/coriolanus-review |title=Coriolan/us – review |work=The Guardian |location=UK}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Moore |first=Dylan |date=10 August 2012 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/9467499/Coriolanus-National-Theatre-Wales-RAF-St-Athan-review.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/9467499/Coriolanus-National-Theatre-Wales-RAF-St-Athan-review.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Coriolan/us, National Theatre Wales, RAF St Athan, review |work=Daily Telegraph |location=UK}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In December 2013, [[Donmar Warehouse]] opened their new production. It was directed by [[Josie Rourke]], starring [[Tom Hiddleston]] in the title role, along with [[Mark Gatiss]], [[Deborah Findlay]], [[Hadley Fraser]], and [[Birgitte Hjort Sørensen]].<ref name=DonmarWarehouse2>{{cite web |title=Coriolanus 06 December 2013 – 13 February 2014 |url=http://www.donmarwarehouse.com/whats-on/donmar-warehouse/2013/coriolanus |publisher=Donmar Warehouse |access-date=27 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112204547/http://www.donmarwarehouse.com/whats-on/donmar-warehouse/2013/coriolanus |archive-date=12 November 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="LondonTheatre">{{cite web|url=https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/news/further-casting-for-donmar-warehouses-coriolanus|title=Further casting for Donmar Warehouse's Coriolanus|date=11 October 2013|publisher=London Theatre|access-date=1 November 2013}}</ref> The production received very strong reviews. [[Michael Billington (critic)|Michael Billington]] with ''[[The Guardian]]'' wrote "A fast, witty, intelligent production that, in Tom Hiddleston, boasts a fine Coriolanus."<ref name=GuardianReview>{{cite web |last=Billington |first=Michael |date=17 December 2013 |title=Coriolanus – review |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/dec/18/coriolanus-review-donmar-warehouse |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=27 January 2014}}</ref> He also credited Mark Gatiss as excellent as Menenius, the "humorous patrician".<ref name=GuardianReview /> In ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', David Benedict wrote that [[Deborah Findlay]] in her commanding maternal pride, held beautifully in opposition by [[Birgitte Hjort Sørensen]] as Coriolanus's wife Virgilia.<ref>{{cite web |last=Benedict |first=David |title=London Theater Review: 'Coriolanus' Starring Tom Hiddleston |date=17 December 2013 |url=https://variety.com/2013/legit/reviews/london-theater-review-coriolanus-starring-tom-hiddleston-1200969320/ |publisher=Variety |access-date=27 January 2014}}</ref> Helen Lewis, in her review of ''Coriolanus'', along with two other concurrently running sold-out Shakespeare productions with celebrity leads—[[David Tennant]]'s ''[[Richard II (play)|Richard II]]'' and [[Jude Law]]'s ''[[Henry V (play)|Henry V]]''—concludes "if you can beg, borrow or plunder a ticket to one of these plays, let it be ''Coriolanus''."<ref>{{cite web |last=Lewis |first=Helen |title=We three kings: David Tennant, Jude Law and Tom Hiddleston take on Shakespeare |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/2013/12/tennant-law-hiddleston-shakespeare |publisher=New Statesman |access-date=2014-02-07}}</ref> The play was broadcast in cinemas in the U.K. and internationally on 30 January 2014 as part of the [[National Theatre Live]] programme.<ref name=Donmare1>{{cite web |url=http://www.donmarwarehouse.com/whats-on/donmar-warehouse/2013/coriolanus |publisher=Donmar Warehouse |title=Coriolanus – Donmar Warehouse |access-date=1 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112204547/http://www.donmarwarehouse.com/whats-on/donmar-warehouse/2013/coriolanus |archive-date=12 November 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=Savoy>{{cite web |url=http://www.savoy-filmtheater.de/klassik-programm/film/english-theatre-coriolanus.html |publisher=Savoy Kino Hamburg |title=English theatre: Coriolanus |access-date=20 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140123034831/http://www.savoy-filmtheater.de/klassik-programm/film/english-theatre-coriolanus.html |archive-date=23 January 2014}}</ref>

==Adaptations==
[[Bertolt Brecht]] adapted Shakespeare's play in 1952–55, as ''[[Coriolanus (Brecht)|Coriolan]]'' for the [[Berliner Ensemble]]. He intended to make it a tragedy of the workers, not the individual, and introduce the [[alienation effect]]; his journal notes showing that he found many of his own effects already in the text, he considered staging the play with only minimal changes. The adaptation was unfinished at Brecht's death in 1956; it was completed by Manfred Wekwerth and Joachim Tenschert and staged in [[Frankfurt]] in 1962.<ref>{{Cite book |editor-last=Brown |editor-first=Langdon |year=1986 |title=Shakespeare Around the Globe: A Guide to Notable Postwar Revivals |location=New York |publisher=Greenwood Press |page=82 }}</ref>

In 1963, the BBC included Coriolanus in ''[[The Spread of the Eagle]]''.

Slovak composer [[Ján Cikker]] adapted the play into an opera which premiered in 1974 in [[Prague]].

In 1983, the ''[[BBC Television Shakespeare]]'' series produced a version of the play. It starred [[Alan Howard (actor)|Alan Howard]] and was directed by [[Elijah Moshinsky]].

In 2003, the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]] performed a new staging of ''Coriolanus'' (along with two other plays) starring [[Greg Hicks]] at the [[University of Michigan]]. The director, David Farr, saw the play as depicting the modernization of an ancient ritualized culture, and drew on [[samurai]] influences to illustrate that view. He described it as "in essence, a modern production. The play is basically about the birth of democracy."<ref>{{cite web |last=Nesbit |first=Joanne |date=2003-01-20 |title=U-M hosts Royal Shakespeare Company's U.S. premiere of "Midnight's Children" |url= http://www.ur.umich.edu/0203/Jan20_03/19.shtml |work= The University Record Online | publisher= [[University of Michigan]] |location=[[Ann Arbor]] |access-date=2017-08-03 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071126104647/http://www.ur.umich.edu/0203/Jan20_03/19.shtml | archive-date=2007-11-26 | quote= Headlined by the U.S. premiere of the stage adaptation of Salman Rushdie's award-winning novel "Midnight's Children," the 16-day residency also offers new stagings of Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and "Coriolanus". }}</ref>

In 2011, [[Ralph Fiennes]] directed and starred as Coriolanus with [[Gerard Butler]] as Aufidius and [[Vanessa Redgrave]] as Volumnia in a modern-day film adaptation ''[[Coriolanus (film)|Coriolanus]]''. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray in May, 2012. It has a 93% rating on the film review site Rottentomatoes.com, giving it a Certified Fresh award.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/coriolanus_2010/|title=Coriolanus|website=Rottentomatoes.com|access-date=29 July 2017}}</ref> [[Slavoj Žižek]] argued that unlike preceding adaptations, Fiennes' film portrayed Coriolanus without trying to rationalise his behaviour, "outlining the unique figure of a radical freedom fighter" whom he compares to Che Guevara, whom Žižek characterises as making clear that "a revolutionary also has to be a 'killing machine'".<ref>{{cite book |last=Wahnich |first=Sophie |author-link=Sophie Wahnich |title=In Defence of the Terror: Liberty or Death in the French Revolution |publisher=Verso Books |date=2001 |pages=xxiii–xxix |chapter=Foreword |isbn=978-1844678624}}</ref>

In 2019, the [[Tanghalang Pilipino]] staged a Filipino translation of the tragedy. It was translated by Guelan Varela-Luarca and was directed by Carlos Siguion-Reyna. The play was led by TP Actors Company's senior member Marco Viaña as Coriolanus, opposite to him is Brian Sy as Tullus Aufidius, [[Frances Makil-Ignacio]] and Sherry Lara alternating the role of Volumnia. Along with them are Jonathan Tadioan as Menenius, JV Ibesate as Velutus, Doray Dayao as Brutus, and the Tanghalang Pilipino Actors Company. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Tan |first=Frida |date=2019-02-07 |title=“Coriolano” is the Latest William Shakespeare Adaptation |url=http://theaterfansmanila.com/coriolano-is-the-latest-william-shakespeare-adaptation/ |access-date=2023-05-25 |website=TheaterFansManila.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Tanghalang Pilipino Stages William Shakespeare's Coriolanus |url=https://www.cnnphilippines.com/lifestyle/2019/3/1/tanghalang-pilipino-stages-coriolanus.html |access-date=2023-05-25 |website=cnn |language=en}}</ref>

===Parody===
While the title character's name's pronunciation in [[classical Latin]] has the ''a'' pronounced "[aː]" in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]], in English the a is usually pronounced "[eɪ]." [[Ken Ludwig]]'s ''[[Moon Over Buffalo]]'' contains a joke dependent upon this pronunciation, and the parody ''[[The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)|The Complete Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged)]]'' refers to it as "the [[anus]] play". Shakespeare pronunciation guides list both pronunciations as acceptable.<ref>Shakespeare, W. (1968). ''Coriolanus: Special Illustrated Edition.'' Starbooks Classics. Retrieved from [https://books.google.com/books?id=DBr7mQyPAkQC&dq=Shakespeare+pronunciation+guides+list+both+pronunciations+as+acceptable&pg=PP1 books.google.com]. Accessed 11 April 2014.</ref>

[[Cole Porter]]'s song "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" from the musical ''[[Kiss Me, Kate]]'' includes the lines: "If she says your behavior is heinous,/Kick her right in the Coriolanus."

Based on ''Coriolanus'', and written in blank verse, "Complots of Mischief" is a satirical critique of those who dismiss conspiracy theories. Written by philosopher Charles Pigden, it was published in ''Conspiracy Theories: The Philosophical Debate'' (Ashgate 2006).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.odt.co.nz/tags/he-kitenga/32797/complots-mischief-coriolanus-and-conspiracy|title=Complots of Mischief: Coriolanus and conspiracy|date=21 November 2008|website=Odt.co.nz|access-date=29 July 2017}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* Krajewski, Bruce. "Coriolanus: 'Unfit for Anyone's Conversation,'" in ''Traveling with Hermes: Hermeneutics and Rhetoric'' (1992), {{ISBN|0-87023-815-9}}.
* {{Cite journal |last=Lunberry |first=Clark |year=2002 |title=In the Name of ''Coriolanus'': The Prompter (Prompted) |journal=Comparative Literature |volume=54 |issue=3 |pages=229–241 |doi= 10.1215/-54-3-229|jstor=4125436 |url=http://www.clarklunberry.com/uploads/4/2/3/4/42346943/4125436.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=2021-04-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423120508/http://www.clarklunberry.com/uploads/4/2/3/4/42346943/4125436.pdf }}

==External links==
* Text of the play by Shakespeare:
** {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/william-shakespeare/coriolanus}}
** [http://shakespeare.mit.edu/coriolanus/index.html Full text of Shakespeare's play]
** [https://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/doc/Cor_F1/index.html Old Spelling Transcription] – Transcription of First Folio.
** [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1535 ''Coriolanus''] at [[Project Gutenberg]].
* [http://www.bl.uk/works/coriolanus ''Coriolanus''] at the British Library
* {{librivox book | title=Coriolanus | author=William SHAKESPEARE}}
** [http://www.maximumedge.com/shakespeare/coriolanus.htm ''Coriolanus''] – Scene-indexed and searchable version of the play.
* Plutarch's ''Life of Coriolanus'' :
** [http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/coriolan.html Plutarch's ''Life of Coriolanus''] – 17th century English translation by [[John Dryden]]
** [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#LIFE_OF_CAIUS_MARCIUS_CORIOLANUS Plutarch's ''Life of Coriolanus''] – 19th century English translation by Aubrey Stewart and George Long
* {{IMDb title|1372686|Coriolanus}}

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[[Category:1608 plays]]
[[Category:English Renaissance plays]]
[[Category:Plays set in ancient Rome]]
[[Category:Shakespearean tragedies]]
[[Category:British plays adapted into films]]
[[Category:Plays based on works by Plutarch]]
[[Category:Plays set in the 5th century BC]]

Coriolanus - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 08:52, 18 September 2023