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A Home Away from Rome:
Coriolanus and his Search for Security and Stability
The word home is much like its definition; comfortable and familiar
...
Setting is similar to this series of definitions of home because it can be a
tangible location as well as an intangible representation
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In this play, the title character Coriolanus is used to illustrate these various forms of
‘home
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He has a
family including his mother, wife, and son
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These people and location are typically associated with the home because they
are things that matter to him, they are things he cares about, he has obligation to them, and as the
play begins he has allegiance to them
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Coriolanus is looking for a home of his own in this play
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Coriolanus opens in the streets of Rome and Coriolanus, called Caius Martius at this
point, is trying to appease, much to his chagrin, the plebeians
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Coriolanus has dedicated

himself to his home of Rome
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He leaves his wife, mother, and child the moment his country calls on him
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What he cannot seem to find is
what the plebeians contribute to his home and becomes defensive about that fact
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It is during
and after this battle that Coriolanus is seen to being territorial about what he calls, “my country
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When he wins the battle and is receiving honors he not only feels too
humbled to receive praise but also makes an interesting point by mentioning his immediate
family, or household, “My mother who has a charter to extol her blood, when she does praise me
grieves me
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”(Coriolanus 1
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16-20) This is interesting because he is making a direct
correlation between his country and his family
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He is claiming ownership
to this country which raises its internal value
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Shakespeare makes this point clear by
changing the setting in which he is proving most loyal to Rome
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Coriolanus thinks he has found his purpose in life
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He shed blood for his
country and now has open wounds to remember it by
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Everyone wants to see his scars

which he finds uncomfortable
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The
Tribunes of the people exemplify to Coriolanus’ friend Menenius the situation in Rome
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(Coriolanus 2
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6) The Tribunes call Coriolanus a lamb who Menenius claims the
Plebeians devour
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A wolf is the plebeians and a wolf cannot live with a lamb
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This is clearly disheartening to Coriolanus when he feels the separation with the place he
loves so dearly and himself
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Although his family is not exactly traditional considering his fanatical
mother who says things like, “If my son were my husband, I should freelier rejoice in that
absence wherein he won honor than in the embracements of his bed where he would show most
love,” he like many considers the idea that family could be where the heart ultimately
lies
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3
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When everyone in Rome turns
against him, he turns to his family and friends for reassurance in a private location
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His mother is ushering him to giving in to apologizing for something he feels very
strongly about, something he is not accustomed to doing, and says, “Prithee, now, say you will,
and go about it
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2
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She once even says that she would rather him die in battle that be a coward and live, “I had
rather had eleven (sons) die nobly for their country than one voluptuously surfeit out of
action
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3
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This realization has weaned him from his mother and family and finally considers that
where he belongs is not a place, and when he learns of his banishment he exclaims, “For you the
city, thus I turn my back
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”(Coriolanus 3
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164-165) He is banished
so it is not actually his choice to turn his back
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He then
exclaims that he is search of something else
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Coriolanus realizes that from the beginning he was not fighting for Rome or his family,
but rather for honor and bravery for the sake of which
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The wounds from war are private and special to him and not something he
shares with others
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His choice of words as he says, “I am returned your soldier; No more infected with my
country’s love,” illustrates the severed ties with Rome and his role as a soldier
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6
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” This definition from the Oxford English Dictionary verifies that

Coriolanus felt that his morality and honor was more important that his role as a countryman,
son, husband, or father
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Tragedy ensues when a warrior leaves his place of
comfort
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During his first travel to Corioles, the Tribunes take time to
decide on a plan to rid the city of him for good
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In the end he feels to himself
that things worked out for the best but does not anticipate a similar event ending in his demise
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Coriolanus is searching for
safety because he, like many, believes that a home is such a place
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Throughout Shakespeare uses the broad practice
and definition of setting similar to what Edgar V
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Characters may be either helped or hurt by their surroundings, and they might fight about
possessions and goals
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Rome and Corioles are necessary to the transitions and placement of characters
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These physical settings, however important, do not hold the same purpose
as the mental locations that develop the characters to the point that Shakespeare created them
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”(Roberts 121)
The trouble with this in Coriolanus is that it is a play in which much of the description that

would normally lead to an understanding of mood is not present
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Coriolanus is a highly complex and difficult to
understand character who would not be such if not for his tangible and intangible surroundings
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" Oxford English Dictionary Online
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26 Nov
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com
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lib
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edu/view/Entry/95268?redirectedFrom=infected#ei
d>
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Roberts, Ch
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(Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson,
2012): 118, 121
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Mowat
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Simon & Schuster Pbk
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New
York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009
...




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Title: Coriolanus Search for Stability essay with citations
Description: This essay about the famous Shakespearean play illustrates a connection between Coriolanus' journey and his mindset of stability. This essay has a great option for a thesis that can be expanded on or argued against.

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