Coriolanus

William ShakespeareProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.4

Word count: 161K words
Chapters: 17

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Coriolanus by William ShakespeareAuthor: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jul 1, 2000

Editor's review

Coriolanus is the most austere of Shakespeare's late Roman tragedies, centering on a general of great military renown who destroys himself through arrogance and political myopia. Its value lies not in a twisting plot but in its sharp dissection of the relationship between hero and people, honor and power: the protagonist's absolute courage in war contrasts starkly with his complete ineptitude in politics, while patricians, tribunes, and plebeians contend in a three-way struggle, and nearly every exchange reads like a verbatim record of political debate. The play makes extensive use of crowd scenes and impassioned speeches, making it well suited to observing how Shakespeare handles the conflict between collective emotion and individual will. As for reading context, it is especially rewarding as a follow-up and comparison to Julius Caesar, and equally suited to close textual reading by those interested in political philosophy, republican institutions, and populist questions. The Project Gutenberg edition is the original English text with basic publication information, convenient for annotating and citing as a public-domain text.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Shakespeare readers who have read Julius Caesar and want to go deeper into Roman tragedy
Readers interested in the clash between politics and human nature who are willing to read the English original
University students who need a public-domain Shakespeare play for teaching or textual analysis
English learners who enjoy speeches and debate and are willing to annotate the original text

Not a good fit for

Readers who rely entirely on modern Chinese translations and are uncomfortable reading English originals
Casual readers looking for light comedy or romantic love plots
Beginners with little patience for the ancient Roman political background and dense debate

Reading tips

Read through the whole play first to grasp the main line, then return to closely read the central scenes of the protagonist's banishment and final choice.
While reading, pay attention to the lines of the plebeians and tribunes and compare them with the protagonist's soliloquies to sort out both sides' positions.
Read alongside Julius Caesar to compare the different stages of Roman politics in Shakespeare's hands.
Annotate the speech passages as you read, and read them aloud to feel the rhythm of debate and the build-up of emotion.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Do I need to know ancient Roman history before reading this play?

You need not study the history systematically first. The play itself lays out the main conflict: a general of outstanding military merit is banished for arrogance and political missteps and turns to the enemy country. Some background helps in understanding the roles of the tribunes and the plebeians, but the core remains a dramatic presentation of honor, power, and public opinion, and you can start from the dialogue and character relationships.

Is this edition the original English text, and what level is it suited to?

According to the information provided, this is Shakespeare's work released by Project Gutenberg, with the language marked as English, and it is a public-domain English text. It suits readers with at least intermediate English reading ability who can use notes to understand early modern English; beginners may read a modern translation first and then compare it with the original.

How does this play differ from other Roman tragedies?

Unlike Julius Caesar, it does not build large-scale scenes around assassination and civil war but concentrates on one man's political confrontation with the entire city-state. The protagonist's tragedy stems from his inability to convert military thinking into political judgment, and the many crowd scenes and debates give the play a particularly strong political-analytical character.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

William Shakespeare Author · English · 1564–1616

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) was the greatest playwright, poet and actor of the English Renaissance. Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, he is known as the "Bard of Avon." He wrote roughly thirty-seven to thirty-nine plays, one hundred and fifty-four sonnets and narrative poems. His representative works include Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. His works span tragedy, comedy and history play, distinguished by rich, poetic language and profound characterization. His explorations of human nature, power, love and fate have had a lasting influence, and his works have been translated into many languages and circulated widely around the world.