The theme of POWER

The Theme Of Power In Coriolanus 

The political play Coriolanus is taken place during the reign of King James, and throughout the play, we are able to identify that power is an integral theme in the play. However, Coriolanus differs from other Shakespeare's play such as Macbeth, we associate almost all of Shakespeare's work to have a common theme. For instance, in Macbeth, the theme of jealousy is identified as the plot that drives the plot and similarly plays a part as the downfall, demonstrating that the play’s main theme is jealous. In correspondence, Coriolanus does share a theme, however not as powerful as seen in other Shakespearean plays 

The opening scene of the play consists of plebeians (common people of Rome) rioting against the senators, already demonstrating a divide in power between the two social classes. The theme of power is much more clear within the “main” characters of the play.

 The protagonist of the play; Caius Martius or “Coriolanus” as identified later in the play is characterised as a leader on the battlefield, portraying a godlike role, with his heroic and brave characteristics he demonstrates a strong autocratic position within the battlefields however falls short on finding a respectable relationship with the common people of Rome, ultimately leading to his banishment from the very city that he swore to love and protect. Caius Martius shows the theme of power in the shape of a military hero, and due to his powerful abilities, finds himself in situations doing stuff for other people as a form of being manipulated by other characters, more specifically his mother; Volumnia 

Voulumnia, is the Caius Martius mother. She is demonstrated as a very powerful character in the play, in contrast to her son, she does not have the godlike ability on the battlefield, but demonstrates a power with her treatment of the hero! Caius Martius and his mother relationship leads to the hero’s downfall in Act V, at the start of the play, the citizens accuse Caius Martius of fighting to please his mother, as evident in Act 1, Scene 1 (Page 9) “He did it to please his mother and to be partly proud. “ Line 38-39. Volumnia is known to have raised him Rome's deadliest warrior. Nevertheless, she portrays a character that uses her ss on's heroic abilities to feed her more power. She forces Coriolanus to do many things that goes against his principles. The time she urges him to go and apologise to the plebeians, showing that she may lack the fighting ability her son has, she is able to hold a strong and firm political stance. In addition we see her use many manipulative ways to convince her son to do what she desires. She appeals to his sense of patriotism, to his love for his family, and to his reputation.In addition she uses ethos when pleading Coriolanus to spare Rome, begging him and asking as his mother to do this for her.Knowing that Coriolanus would accept her plea, this was the only time we identifies Volumnia in a position of weakness, however by manipulating her son to spare Rome, she returns as their saviour while her son must suffer the consequences of going back on his word and is ultimately killed by Aufidius. 

Aufidius is the chief Volscian general who is first identifies as Coriolanus semis, however both him and Caius Martius express their upmost respect to each other.Similarly to Coriolanus, Aufidius is a strong character in the battlefield, however we do not see him in a political stance, but we can assume that he shares a better relationship with his people than Coriolanus did. Identical to Volumnia, Aufidus uses his manipulative skills to control the powerful Caius Martius in doing what he wants(Take over Rome). 

When it comes to discussing the “Lesser Characters” We see Menenius Agrippa who is a educated Roman senator, and shares a very good relationship with Coriolanus.His power comes from language, he is known to be an articulate speaker who is very persuasive with his words, that is where his power comes from, in contrast to the plebeians who demonstrated their power through unity, no battlefield experience (which is why Coriolanus despises them) and controlled by the Tribunes, Sicinius and Brutus who are scheming politicians. 

 Shakespeare uses the theme of power within each character to identity the government function, where being a hero in battle is no longer good enough to be in a political state, where mental power is seen as a more powerful commodity than physical one.