Jan 2, 2010

Coriolanus | Themes

During our own age, Coriolanus has been the subject of critical commentary by scholars on both poles of the political spectrum. It has been scored alternatively as the conservative Shakespeare's defense of autocracy by critics on the left and the liberal Bard's endorsement of revolution against dictatorship, mass democracy, and, in fact, a communist economic system by critics on the right. The debate over Shakespeare's true political disposition continues to this day. It pivots on a tension in his plays between the characterization of evil tyrants, on the one hand, and strong...