Shakespeare and the Constant Romans Geoffrey Miles

I Play the Man I Am: CoriolanusAbstract and KeywordsIn a paradox characteristic of the intensely paradoxical play Coriolanus, the passionate traitor Coriolanus is Shakespeare's most self-consciously constant character, and the play is Shakespeare's most searching treatment of the ideal of constancy. here the earlier play demonstrated ho! Senecan and Ciceronian elements are inter!o"en in the construction of Roman constancy, Coriolanus sets them against each other, and sho!s ho! the internal self-contradictions of the ideal, !hen it is pushed to its limits, come close to destroying Rome. Coriolanus is Shakespeare's definiti"e criti#ue of the contradictions of constancy, and its potentially destructi"e conse#uences for an indi"idual or a society !hich holds it as the supreme "irtue.Keywords: Corlolanus, Rome, Shakespeare, Roman "irtue, CiceroIn the opening scene of Coriolanus, the hero is called upon to fight against the $olscians% It is your former promise. Sir, it is, he responds, &nd I am constant '(. (. )*+,-.. /e means I !ill keep my !ord0 1ut, like 2rutus lines on formal constancy, the phrase has !ider re"er1erations. In a paradox characteristic of this intensely paradoxical play, the passionate traitor Coriolanus is Shakespeares most self-consciously constant character, and the play '!hose characters could ne"er ha"e heard of Stoicism. is Shakespeares most searching treatment of the ideal of constancy. here the earlier play demonstrated ho! Senecan and Ciceronian elements are inter!o"en in the construction of Roman constancy, Coriolanus sets them against each other, and sho!s ho! the internal self-contradictions of the ideal, !hen it is pushed to its limits, come close to destroying Rome.Not to be other than one thingIt is not surprising that Coriolanus is not usually read as a play a1out Stoic constancy. 3he Rome of Coriolanus is "ery different from that of Julius Caesar, and its hero is no 2rutus 1ut a fierce, passionate, "iolent !arrior !ho seems to ha"e 'in 2radleys !ords. not a drop of stoic 1lood in his "eins.( 3he most recent discussion, 1y Charles and 4ichelle 4artindale, !hile ackno!ledging that the play deals centrally !ith notions of constancy and change, sees the hero as disastrously un-Stoic, and his constancy, if it may 1e so called as in fact !hat 5ipsius calls 61stinacy or fro!ardness.)'p.(78. 3his is effecti"ely the "ie! em1odied in 9lutarchs 5ife, !here the kind of constancie 'apatheia. 4artius sho!s in his endurance of pain and indifference to pleasure is hopelessly "itiated1y irrational o1stinacy and anger. :et 9lutarch also grants that these "irtues and faults are linked in 4artius moral code% he is a man !ho ne"er yeelded, 1elie"ing that to o"ercome al!aies;!as a token of magnanimitie. I 1elie"e that Shakespeare, dra!ing on this hint, sees Coriolanus strengths and !eaknesses as related to an ideal of constancy.3his ideal is for Shakespeare the essence of Roman "irtue, and the differences 1et!een its manifestations in Coriolanus and in 2rutus are partly a matter of historical de"elopment. In the Rome of Coriolanus, centuries earlier than that of Julius Caesar, constancy takes the form of a simple heroic code, made up of the !arrior "irtues !hich the Romans called virtus and fides: courage to stand fast in 1attle, honour !hich tells the truth and keeps its !ord. 6"er time this simplecode !ill e"ol"e into the more philosophical ethics of a 2rutus0 1ut the "alue Rome places on steadfastness and consistency remains the same.3he constancy of Coriolanus partakes of 1oth these 1asic #ualities. /is steadfastness is em1odied inthe repeated image of him standing firm in 1attle !hile others flee. /e contemptuously calls his co!ardly follo!ers these mo"ers '(. ),7.@expresses the ideal of constancy in its no1lest form% the immo"a1ility of the Stoic hero, like that of a lighthouse, ser"es as an example of constancy !hich guides others to safety.3he other aspect of Coriolanus constancy, his consistency, is partly a Roman insistence on fides, 1eing constant to ones former promises. 3he most damning insult he can thro! at &ufidius is 3 do hate thee ? orse than a promise-1reaker '(. -. (,).. 4ore fundamentally, it is a determination to remain consistently true to the same 1eliefs and "alues. Coriolanus contempt for the muta1le rank-scented meinie '*.(. >8. is largely 1ased on their fickleness and unrelia1ility% /e that trusts to you, here he should find you lions finds you hares, here foxes, geese. :ou are no surer, no, 3han is the coal of fire upon the ice, 6r hailstone in the sun.; /ang yeA 3rust yeB ith e"ery minute you do change a mind, &nd call him no1le that !as no! your hate, /im "ile that !as your garland. '(. (. (), (>-,+).In attacking them as the em1odiment of inconstant opinion, he defines himself as consistent in standing 1y his fixed 1eliefs. /e is no more !illing to compromise his "ie!s than to run a!ay from an enemy in 1attle. In the political conflicts of &ct * he insists upon the consistency of his position '3his !as my speech, and I 'p.(7). !ill speakt again, *. (. . ,>).. $olumnias account in (. * of the principles on !hich she 1rought up her son makes clear the dominance of !arlike courage and desire for glory o"er all other "alues. &s many critics ha"e noted, the placing of such sentiments in a !omans mouth pro"ides an ironic perspecti"e on Romes masculine "alues and the unnaturalness of a !orld in !hich a mother cheerfully sends her son to death '(+I )(., a 1leeding !ound is lo"elier than a mothers 1reast '=),7., and an angry little 1oy tearing a 1utterfly to pieces is a no1le child 'Eo1le is itself a key !ord in the Roman "oca1ulary0 it and its cognates occur eighty-fi"e times in the play, and are insistently associated !ith the hero, from his first acclamation as no1le 4artiusA '(. (. (8 '!ho argues o"er-simply that his constancy lies in this% he is al!ays the potential killer '(eroic Image, (7=..0 PranH, Q3oo Oreat a 4indN, (78,*,+= , notes '+). that no1le occurs more often in Coriolanus than in any other Shakespeare play.'-. 4iolas discussion of Cicero in the play '$ha%espeare*s .ome, (+(,-)., focusing on De oratore,does not discuss this passage, 1ut ends 1y #uoting De officiis * and dra!ing a similar contrast 1et!een Ciceros social and Coriolanus potentially anti-social morality. Re1horns analysis of aristocratic emulation in Julius Caesar 'Crisis of the &ristocracy. is also rele"ant to the earlier Rome of Coriolanus.'(8. 6n the much-discussed #uestion of honour I am most inde1ted to Simmons and to L. C. Oordons classic Eame and Fame% Shakespeares Coriolanus in O. I. Luthie 'ed.., "apers +ainly $ha%espearian 'Gdin1urgh, (- . 6ther useful discussions are 1y Eorman Ra1kin, $ha%espeare and the Common &nderstanding 'Ee! :ork, (-., ((-,=='esp. (*8,**. and9iatt, .ome and .omans, +.0 and 4ichael 3aylor, 9laying the 4an /e Is% Role-playing in Shakespeares Coriolanus, Ariel (7 '(-+=., (-,)+, !ho argues that Coriolanus authentic self is irrepressi1ly social '1ut sees his su1mission too simply as a return to his true Roman role.. Constance C. Relihan, &ppropriation of the Q3hing of 2loodN% &1sence of Self and the Struggle for 6!nership in Coriolanus, Iowa $tate Journal of .esearch, .. R"i Cagendorf, Coriolanus: 2ody 9olitic and 9ri"ate 9arts, $0 =( '(--8., =77,. .')). 3his de"ice of setting up an ethical hypothesis is a recurring one in the play% compare Cominius on Roman virtus 'It is held;If it 1e;., and, for a minor example, the $olscian guards though it !ere as "irtuous to lie as to li"e chastely '7. ). )+,-..')*. 4any critics 'e.g. Camp1ell, Ra1kin, 3ra"ersi, aith. read the su1mission scene much more 1leakly or ironically, seeing Coriolanus as gi"ing !ay to his social conditioning or his mothers domination. hile ackno!ledging the ironies, I prefer the more positi"e readings of 2radley 'the con#uest of passion 1y simple human feelings% Coriolanus, =7.. /ermann /euer, From 9lutarch to Shakespeare% & Study of Coriolanus, $h$ (8 '(-7>., 78,- , is a good discussion of nature in this scene.