Coriolanus<\/em>, we have a rapacious Roman war hero (Fiennes), the son of a lionhearted mother, Volumnia (Vanessa Redgrave). She\u2019s like the Spartan women who sent their sons into battle, handing them their shields and saying \u201cWith this or on this,\u201d meaning they\u2019d either return from battle victorious, armed with shields, or dead, carried on their shields. Win or die.<\/p>\nBut Coriolanus is a victim of the very thing that makes him what he is. Honor is his undoing. The Roman is a killing machine who cannot abide the company of his people. He is glorious on the field, arrogant in the court, and utterly unfit for the consular office others thrust upon him. To Coriolanus, diplomacy is craven, and he will not curry the favor of the rabble that he champions.<\/p>\n
Then Shakespeare raises things a notch by showing the masses to be contemptible: The Romans are a boorish mob, as unworthy of credit as Coriolanus says. Their spokesmen, the tribunes, are despicable too; they crave power in the name of the \u201cpeople.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everybody gets a coat of blackwash, but you don\u2019t realize that at first. You\u2019re all set to side with the common man, vulnerable to the populist pabulum they recite. A widespread mistake is to confound poverty and purity, as though hearts of gold reside necessarily in those who want. Of course, Shakespeare uses the error.<\/p>\n
There are better lines in Will\u2019s other plays, but when you\u2019re talking about better lines in Shakespeare, you\u2019re talking about white, five-carat diamonds compared to yellow, three-carat diamonds. One\u2019s not as valuable, but we\u2019re still talking serious jewels. And the greatest value comes by the power of compression\u2014when a single line is packed with such tension that it drips like oil from an olive.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a sample:<\/p>\n
Coriolanus to the mob, mocking their fickle support: \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter, you dissentious rogues; That, rubbing the poor itch of your opinion, Make yourselves scabs?\u201d <\/em><\/p>\nCoriolanus rallying his troops, offering himself as their weapon: \u201cO, me alone! Make you a sword of me!\u201d<\/p>\n
Volumnia venting her rage at Coriolanus\u2019 banishment: \u201cAnger\u2019s my meat; I sup upon myself; And so shall starve with feeding.\u201d
\n<\/em><\/p>\nLook at those images\u2014the counter-play, the inversion, the density.<\/p>\n
Still, they aren\u2019t quite equal to those in Hamlet,<\/em> where exquisite lines are spoken within a disorienting theater-scape of metaphysical quandaries. We\u2019re watching a play, yes, but we\u2019re watching players in a play who watch a play too. If all the world is in fact a stage, and we . . .<\/p>\nThen, in a trice, the wall is behind us. We\u2019re swept inside the drama like carnival-goers lost in a house of mirrors. We\u2019re watching them, but who exactly is watching us?<\/p>\n
We are asked: What is it to be? That\u2019s a hell of a question all by itself. But then the questioning goes further: What is it not<\/em> to be?<\/p>\n\u2014 ay, there\u2019s the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come; When we have shuffled off this mortal coil?. . . Thus Conscience does make Cowards of us all, And thus the Native hue of Resolution
\nIs sicklied o\u2019er, with the pale cast of Thought.<\/em><\/p>\nThe actions and inactions of both avengers, Hamlet and Coriolanus, undo them, playing not only upon questions of who we are and what roles we should take, but also questions of where we are and what all this playing means.<\/p>\n
Further still: What is it to do, or to be, God\u2019s will?<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll relate a little exchange with a student regarding Hamlet<\/em>, to illustrate the payoff that comes when someone realizes for the first time what the old boy can do:<\/p>\nHim:<\/em> But Hamlet won\u2019t act.<\/p>\nMe:<\/em> And that\u2019s what you want him to do? Act?<\/p>\nHim:<\/em> Yes.<\/p>\nMe:<\/em> I\u2019d say he\u2019s an actor. But I guess you mean you want him to murder Claudius?<\/p>\nHim:<\/em> Right.<\/p>\nMe:<\/em> He kills Polonious. \u00a0Isn\u2019t that acting?<\/p>\nHim:<\/em> That was by mistake.<\/p>\nMe:<\/em> But wasn\u2019t it acting?<\/p>\nHim:<\/em> Yeah, but\u2026<\/p>\nMe:<\/em> And he sees that the traitors Rosencrantz and Guildenstern get what they deserve?<\/p>\nHim:<\/em> Yes, but he draws back whenever it comes to Claudius. He won\u2019t act there.<\/p>\nMe:<\/em> He spurs the king\u2019s conscience, doesn\u2019t he, in the play-within-a-play? Doesn\u2019t that act bring about some consequence? If he hadn\u2019t acted as he did\u2014<\/p>\nHim:<\/em> But that play-within-a-play stuff is more about acting and the theater and double entendre.<\/p>\nMe:<\/em> Yes. It\u2019s acting. Hamlet acts a lot. He\u2019s in a play.<\/p>\nSilence from him.
\n<\/em><\/p>\nHim:<\/em> Wait, so you mean\u2014so when you say \u201cact,\u201d you mean\u2014<\/p>\nSilence from me.<\/em><\/p>\nHim:<\/em> Wait\u2014what are we talking about here? Where are we?<\/p>\nA+, my son. A+.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Has the Lord God graced us with any poetic mind as elegant and potent as that of his darling, William Shakespeare?\u00a0 No, I say, No!\u2014thrice and four times, No! Fie upon it. Out, damned calumny! And don\u2019t speak any garbage about him not really being him; nobody outside Bigfoot believers and Roswell Rosicrucians seriously contends […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1049,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[167,166,168],"class_list":["post-1505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-g-harmon","tag-coriolanus","tag-shakespeare","tag-theatre"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>Has the Lord God graced us with any poetic mind as elegant and potent as that of his darling, William Shakespeare?\u00a0 No, I say, No!\u2014thrice and four times, No! Fie upon it. Out, damned calumny!<\/p>\n