Volumnia's Love In The Play 'Coriolanus'

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In the play Coriolanus, Coriolanus ' mother Volumnia raises him to become this brave warrior of Rome. Volumnia is proud of who her son has become; however, she does not only think of Coriolanus as just her son, but a warrior that she has sexual desires for. Volumnia 's love and affection for Coriolanus in the play is incestuous due to her pondering the thought of having sex with Coriolanus as her husband, her over-excitement when she fantasizes about Coriolanus ' wounds, and the non-maternal indications of Coriolanus sucking on her breasts. This important to the play because Volumnia raised and taught Coriolanus to become this warrior that she fantasizes about. She uses these incestuous references to display how she really feels about her …show more content…

It more becomes a man/ Than gilt his trophy. the breasts of Hecuba/ When she did suckle Hector, looked not lovelier/ Than Hector 's forehead when it spit forth blood/ At Grecian sword contemning” (1.3, 36-40). Volumnia believes that Coriolanus being bloodied is more lovelier than a mother breastfeeding her child. This is an incestuous thought that Volumnia is fantasizing about. Just as she did before with thinking about Coriolanus as her husband, she is now saying that she would get more pleasure from seeing Coriolanus bloodied than him performing the action of sucking on her breasts. As she does say again later on: “Thy valiantness was mine: thou suck 'st it from me” (3.2.129). This implication of Coriolanus sucking on her breasts is not only of a maternal concept, it is of a sexual act. A mother who ponders the thought of having sex with a husband who is her son further implies that her feelings for Coriolanus are more than just what a mother would have for her son. Coriolanus being bloodied and injured in battle portrays him as this handsome and brave warrior; a picture that excites Volumnia sexually enough to compare it to her son “suckling” her. This incestuous perspective of the play is a reflection of Volumnia’s true desire towards Coriolanus as he is her dream warrior. She raised him in a way that fulfilled her fantasy of a

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