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Title: Coriolanus by William Shakespeare, Lee Bliss ISBN: 0-521-29402-9 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 09 March, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.9 (10 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Fine Edition of Interesting Play
Comment: This inexpensive volume is a fine edition with very readable text, good notes, and a nice introduction. Coriolanus is not one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, though it has its partisans. As with several of Shakespeare's best plays, it is an attempt to combine an investigation of the nature of power with a psychological portrait. The nature of power or kingship was one of Shakespeare's great themes, featured in some of the great tragedies like MacBeth or Lear, and this theme runs through many of his history plays. In Coriolanus, however, this theme is handled less well. It is interesting to speculate why Shakespeare, who dealt with this theme so well in many plays, doesn't do such a good job in Coriolanus. The action in Coriolanus is set in a republic, not a monarchy. The structure of republican politics is not one Shakespeare would have known well and the problems of politics and authority in a republican are different than those of a monarchy. Particularly for modern audiences, whose intrinsic understanding of republican politics is much greater than Shakespeare's, the clumsy handling of the tension between the aristocratic Coriolanus and the plebes rings false. In addition, the psychological portrait of Coriolanus is not nearly as rich as Shakespeare's analysis of quite a few of his other protagonists. Much of the language in Coriolanus is powerful but it lacks the dramatic movement and insight of his best work.
Rating: 4
Summary: The Final Tragedy
Comment: I never understood why this play is so unpopular. Coriolanus is a very striking figure. He is a brave and valiant soldier. Yet, he has contempt for the people he protects. In all honesty this is very common. Shakespeare never allows the intensity of this play to drop for a moment. At first Coriolanus fights to the extreme for Rome. Then he fights to the extreme against Rome. His reconciliation with his former enemy Aufidius in 4.5 is a very memorable scene. Only when he is confronted by his mother, wife, and son does he go through a crisis of conscience. It is interesting that because he begins to see the world in terms other than himself, his downfall becomes inevitable. To be sure, this play is not a masterpiece like "Julius Caesar," "Hamlet," "King Lear," or "Richard III." But it is A LOT BETTER than some of his popular plays like "Othello" or "Romeo and Juliet." I highly suggest it!
Rating: 2
Summary: a late tragedy--by no means a great one
Comment: Coriolanus seems to have the critical imprimatur as one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies. Yet, this must be a misprint. Latest? Certainly. Greatest? Hardly.
For one thing, anyone with any familiarity with Shakespeare's plays must immediately note the protagonist's lack of humanity. Coriolanus' heartlessness is his chief characteristic. All the things that make him so compelling on the battlefield only serve to dull his appeal as a civilian. Since Coriolanus spends the majority of the play as a civilian, this is bad news for the audience.
There may well be tragic events in Coriolanus. However, Coriolanus falls short of great Shakespearean tragedy. The lead is not exceptional (as are the rest of Shakespeare's tragic heroes). At best, Coriolanus is a dolt who becomes a savant on the battlefield. Shakespeare telegraphs, rather than foreshadows, the tragic events of Coriolanus. This, compounded with Coriolanus' inability to carry the play, makes for a rather frenzied mush of a drama.
I recommend Coriolanus only to the Shakespearean completist. It is not one of his better works.
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Title: Antony and Cleopatra (New Folger Library Shakespeare) by William Shakespeare, Barbara A. Mowatt, Paul Werstine, Barbara A. Mowat ISBN: 0671039164 Publisher: Washington Square Press Pub. Date: October, 1999 List Price(USD): $3.99 |
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Title: Cymbeline (Oxford World's Classics) by William Shakespeare, Roger Warren ISBN: 0192833502 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: November, 1998 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: MEASURE FOR MEASURE by William Shakespeare ISBN: 067172276X Publisher: Washington Square Press Pub. Date: 01 December, 1997 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
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Title: The Life and Death of King John (New Folger Library Shakespeare) by William Shakespeare, Barbara A. Mowat, Paul Werstine ISBN: 0671722735 Publisher: Washington Square Press Pub. Date: 28 November, 2000 List Price(USD): $3.99 |
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Title: The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare ISBN: 0671722972 Publisher: Washington Square Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 1998 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
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