Virtue In Shakespeare's Coriolanus

Shakespeare’s Coriolanus asks, what does it mean to be virtuous. Today, Virtue means to be of high moral standards, but this definition is not culturally transferable. Virtue originally meant manliness, which at the time was the pinnacle of social achievement. Coriolanus was a Roman general born into a time of war, when men had to be brave and physically powerful. If manliness was seen as the highest achievement then femininity and juvenility were both viewed as failure. Even women, as shown by Volumnia and Valeria, possessed typically manly qualities. Volumnia, in training her son to be a man, forced Coriolanus into a mental regression manifesting in both a childlike state and one of hyper-masculinity. Coriolanus’s downfall is attributed

His hyper-masculine psyche has made him both hostile and immature. He shows many child-like proclivities that largely contribute to his doom. He presents the idea of self-importance and naive ignorance when mocking the plebeians. He believes he is above them and treats them as if they were pawns or insignificant beings who are only there to serve him. He does not realize that they hold the key to his becoming consul, and upon mocking them at the election, they run him out of town. He lacks the composure of Menenius, in dealing with these people. He believes he is above everyone and generally the idea that the world revolves around you is typically found in children. He displays other juvenile characteristics such as being temperamental, impulsive, and inflexible. Upon hearing that the people changed their vote and he would not be elected consul, he flies into a fit of anger. He is then exiled from Rome, and without hesitation, he joins the Volscians, his lifelong enemies. He is like a child who switches teams because he was insulted or upset. Finally when Menenius makes a speech to try to convince him to halt his attack on Rome, he just says “Away! Wife, mother child, I know not. My affairs / Are servented to others. Though I owe / My revenge properly, my Remission lies / In Volscian breasts. That we have been familiar, / Ingrate forgetfulness shall poison rather / Than pity not how much. Therefor

It is true that his end was brought on by his arrogance and impulsiveness, but his mental condition arose out of his childhood and development. His mother pushed to bring out his aggressive militant nature but in doing so pushed her child to the extreme. He was the soldier his mother dreamed he could be but he lacked any true character beyond combat. His peaceful and political personas took on the pugnacious mindset of combat, for that is all he knew. It was all he was born to know and his lack of composure and maturity can be attributed to his upbringing. Coriolanus was not a guilt-free human being, but when judging his character it is essential to examine his mother/