Coriolanus

by William Shakespeare

Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only

Written
c. 1608
Language
English
Length
Medium · 330 pp120 to 300 pages
Difficulty
Difficult4 of 5 for a first-year reader

We recommendCoriolanusFolger Shakespeare Library (Simon and Schuster), 2009The knotty late verse needs glossing, and the Folger does it line by line.

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Caius Martius, a Roman patrician and unmatched soldier, wins the surname Coriolanus by taking the Volscian city of Corioli almost single-handed. Put forward for consul, he cannot bring himself to flatter the common people whose votes he needs, and the tribunes provoke him into contempt that gets him banished. He joins his old enemy Aufidius and leads the Volscians against Rome. At the gates his mother Volumnia persuades him to spare the city; the Volscians kill him for it.

No reading guide yet

The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Coriolanus are verified against each program's published list.

What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.

Browse the 48 works that do have a guide →

The Tragedy of Coriolanus, Volumnia, Aufidius, Menenius, tribunes, Volscians, Corioli, plebeians, Virgilia, Shakspere, the Bard, the Bard of Avon