52 pages 1 hour read

William Shakespeare

Coriolanus

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1608

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Important Quotes

Quotation Mark Icon

“For the dearth

The gods, not the patricians, make it, and

Your knees to them, not arms, must help.”


(Act I, Scene 1, Lines 74-76)

Menenius diffuses the anger of the plebeians by convincing them that the gods, not the patricians, are to blame for the food shortages. His words use a figure of speech called a synecdoche, where a term for a part of something refers to a broader concept. In this synecdoche, Menenius refers to parts of the body associated with practices, rather than the practices themselves, using the knees to suggest the idea of prayer and the arm to suggest the concept of a riot.

Quotation Mark Icon

“Who deserves greatness

Deserves your hate.”


(Act I, Scene 1, Lines 187-188)

Coriolanus insults the plebeians through a paradoxical statement, one that seems contradictory or impossible. By using repetition, telling the people that those who deserve greatness also deserve to be hated by them, he implies that their judgement is totally opposite from moral truth. If a person who is genuinely great will always be hated by the commoners of Rome, he argues, then the will of the plebeians should be disregarded by the senate and they should have no power in the Roman government. Coriolanus’s arrogance helps to fuel The Dangers of Internal Political Conflict in the play.

Related Titles

By William Shakespeare

Study Guide

logo

All's Well That Ends Well

William Shakespeare

All's Well That Ends Well

William Shakespeare

STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE

logo

A Midsummer Night's Dream

William Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night's Dream

William Shakespeare

Study Guide

logo

Antony and Cleopatra

William Shakespeare

Antony and Cleopatra

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary

logo

Cymbeline

William Shakespeare

Cymbeline

William Shakespeare

Study Guide

logo

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

Study Guide

logo

Henry IV, Part 1

William Shakespeare

Henry IV, Part 1

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary

logo

Henry IV, Part 2

William Shakespeare

Henry IV, Part 2

William Shakespeare

Study Guide

logo

Henry V

William Shakespeare

Henry V

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary

logo

Henry VIII

William Shakespeare

Henry VIII

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary

logo

Henry VI, Part 1

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part 1

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary

logo

Henry VI, Part 3

William Shakespeare

Henry VI, Part 3

William Shakespeare

Plot Summary

logo

King John

William Shakespeare

King John

William Shakespeare

Study Guide

logo

Love's Labour's Lost

William Shakespeare

Love's Labour's Lost

William Shakespeare

Study Guide

logo

Measure For Measure

William Shakespeare

Measure For Measure

William Shakespeare

Study Guide

logo

Othello

William Shakespeare

Othello

William Shakespeare