Coriolanus (play)
Overview
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
by William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
leader, Gaius Marcius Coriolanus.
- Caius Martius, later surnamed Coriolanus
- Menenius Agrippa, Senator of RomeRoman SenateThe Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
- Cominius, Titus Lartius, generals
- VolumniaVolumnia (Shakespeare)Volumnia is a character in William Shakespeare's play Coriolanus, the mother of Caius Martius Coriolanus'. She plays a large role in Coriolanus' life, encouraging him in his military success and urging him to seek political office...
, Coriolanus's mother - VirgiliaVirgiliaVirgilia is the wife of Coriolanus in William Shakespeare's play Coriolanus , in which same play Volumnia is his mother. With respect to the legendary figure Gaius Marcius Coriolanus, some accounts say that his wife's name was actually Volumnia, probably following the Roman historian Livy...
, Coriolanus's wife - Young Martius, Coriolanus's son
- Valeria, a lady of Rome
- Sicinius Velutus, Junius Brutus, tribunes of Rome
- Citizens of Rome
- Soldiers in the Roman Army
- Tullus Aufidius, general of the Volscian army
- Aufidius's Lieutenant
- Aufidius's Servingmen
- Conspirators with Aufidius
- Volscian Lords
- Volscian *A gentlewoman, an usher, Roman and Volscian senators and nobles, captains in the Roman army, officers, lictors
The play opens in Rome shortly after the expulsion of the Tarquin
Tarquin
Tarquin may refer to:* Tarquin , a chamber operaPeople with the given name Tarquin:* Tarquin the Elder , fifth of the seven legendary kings of Rome* Tarquin the Proud , last of the seven legendary kings of Rome...
kings.
