Essays
A common theme in Shakespearean drama is the influence of power on the lives of those who have it, seek it or abuse and lose it. Coriolanus is perhaps the most political of Shakespeare's plays and depicts the story of a man who is born with the potential for greatness yet is burdened with great weakness of excessive pride which leads to his eventual dishonor and death.
Coriolanus was a successful warrior but was politically unsophisticated. He attained power as a soldier but did not know how to transfer that power to the peace and prosperity of the people he ruled. He is burdened by the vanity of the Roman aristocracy which refused to accept the common people.
Coriolanus was thus crippled by his mother Volumnia whose distorted view of the world and her son's role in it created an emotionally maladjusted man who had no emotional life outside his relationship with her. Consequently he became isolated and withdrawn from normal human interaction. This lack of experience in socializing with his peers and mingling with a variety of individuals from all walks of life, prevented him from learning how to relate to the needs and emotions of others. While a strong and powerful man, Coriolanus remained an emotional boy who had never matured. He never learned how to love another except his mother in a relationship which depended upon Volumnia for his identity. His wife, a truly courageous character, cannot compete with the power of her mother-in-law for her husband. Coriolanus was continually manipulated by his mother and brainwashed with ideas of his superiority over all other men. Such was the product of Roman aristocratic ideals and Shakespeare used his drama to illustrate how the immoral behavior of the ruling class had a destructive effect on the peace and prosperity of all of society.
Like others in his class, there is no margin for compromise in Coriolanus's life because such concession would demonstrate weakness, whereas Coriolanus believed that he was entitled to a rule of absolutism. While Coriolanus might have remained the hero, his pride forced him to fail.
Shakespeare demonstrates this early in the play when a civil insurrection illustrates the political confrontation which existed between the classes. Instead of offering compromise and understanding, Coriolanus reacts with anger and inflexibility. His responses are always the overpowering responses of the military leader and he never becomes the benevolent politician.
This is partially due to his aberrant attachment to his mother and his willingness to risk everything rather than endure her rejection. He continually agrees to her demands, rather than considering the good of the common people.
Not satisfied with a successful soldier, she pushes him into politics. Despite his own misgivings, he does so and the result is the poorest match of man to career. He is doomed to failure. Ultimately when he is banished from Rome, he joins the enemy to win back his city, but Volumnia pleads with him not to attack Rome. Ever dependent upon her approval, he agrees and is left with only his dishonor and shame and ultimate death at the hands of his enemy Aufidius.
Coriolanus was a failure at wielding his political power because he did not have the capacity nor the emotional strength to learn how to surrender a bit of his position for the greater good and for the retention of power. His pride overwhelmed his sensibility and he responded out of ignorance to all situations involving his power. Like Meneius, whose "belly speech" reflects a disdain for the common man, Coriolanus rejected Brutus and others who might have helped him....
(This entire section contains 2173 words.)
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He refused to accept social cooperation because of his distorted sense of social reality. Without the burden of pride, Coriolanus might have achieved more success in fulfilling social order among his people.
Yet Coriolanus is not the tragic hero. He is more the failure because he is only faintly aware of his own conflicts and dilemmas. He believes despotism will be acceptable to the people since he is seeking total control. This is the only way he himself has been guided, through fearful submission to the control of his mother.
Ultimately he fails and is destroyed by his failure, a unfortunate man, destined to be a hero but unequipped to transfer that heroism to the government of people he sought to protect.
The three main characters in Antony and Cleopatra all display conflicts with wielding political power. Antony, the picture of courage in Julius Caesar is the ruler of half of the known world. He, like Coriolanus, is a warrior who is thrust into the world of politics by his success as a triumphant leader of men. After the death of Julius Caesar Antony has the potential of becoming the most powerful man in the world or at the least sharing that role with Octavius.
Antony, however, throws it all away for the love of Cleopatra and to indulge in his passion. The extraordinary power of his obsession with Cleopatra becomes his fatal weakness. He remains in Egypt with her and shirks his responsibilities as a leader and ruler. While Egypt represents the state of emotional satisfaction and freedom from responsibility, Roman is the reminder of Antony's heritage and obligations. Antony rejects his heritage and is the reluctant ruler, for he cannot surrender his pleasures for the good of his people. He cannot sacrifice gratification of his lust, for the peace and prosperity of his people.
Antony lacks social discipline and order and consequently he becomes weaker as the play progresses. Like Coriolanus, Antony is easily manipulated by Cleopatra and her all encompassing narcissism. He resists long enough to return to Rome for a politically motivated marriage to Octavia, one of the few honorable characters in the play.
Yet Antony succumbs to the challenges of Caesar and leads his men into a sea war which cannot be won. Ultimately he is deserted by Cleopatra's decision to withdraw her troops and he despairs of regaining his honor. The reluctant leader is defeated by his enemies and by himself. Despair leads Antony to attempt suicide only to fail and be killed by Caesar and become the romantic hero, vital and powerful among his soldiers but ruined by his passion and subjugation to Cleopatra.
Caesar, on the other hand is the single-minded leader. Not only is he a shrewd soldier, but he is also a clever politician. The nephew of Julius Caesar, who became his adopted son, he rises to the demands of a political leader. Unlike Antony who would perhaps choose a democracy, Caesar would select a monarchy with himself as head of state.
Caesar has no emotional attachments, he is driven to leadership and allows nothing to interfere with his goals. Consequently, his decisions are not clouded by emotion, but this give him none of the romantic dimensions of Antony. Caesar strives for the law and order that is embodied in Rome, while Antony seeks the extravagance and freedom that is Egypt. Antony's goals may present more pleasure, but they cannot save an empire.
Caesar is shrewd in his dealings with Cleopatra as well. He recognizes that he can defeat Antony's forces on sea rather than on land, so he entices Cleopatra to join her forces with Antony's in a naval engagement. He succeeds, as is clear from the play, in defeating and finally killing his enemy Antony. He succeeds in removing the Egyptian challenge as well, since Cleopatra prefers suicide to being displayed in Caesar's victorious march back to Rome. Caesar is the consummate politician, always aware of opportunities, never distracted from his goals. This is the source of his success.
Cleopatra, on the other hand, is clearly the antithesis of the Roman. She has no understanding for the Roman way of life and consequently has no sympathy for its demanding values. Although she has been Julius Caesar's mistress, she sees no conflict in her later relationships with Antony and Octavius. Although Cleopatra is condemned for using her sexual wiles to lure Antony from his responsibility, she is simply wielding her power in whatever manner serves her purpose.
While men may conquer foreign lands and kill countless soldiers, Cleopatra uses the weapons available to her for her own ends. The main difference among the three is that Caesar has focused on his goal of political power. Antony surrenders his in the face of love. Cleopatra's goal is pure egotistical power, conquering men for the sake of the prize. She is not as interested in extending the Egyptian control around the world, as she is in controlling the men who lead other nations and by extension controlling their nations. Cleopatra could best be described as a benevolent despot. She simply wants the power but doesn't want the responsibilities which will accompany it. If her people benefit from her rule and conquests, all well and good; however, if they lose, she will not concern herself with their losses. Thus, Cleopatra's pursuit of power is simply to gratify her ego, rather than serve any selfless goals.
In Macbeth, the main character of the same name fails to rise to the demands of his position because of a lack of underlying morality in his life. Macbeth does not succumb to love or to the influence of his mother. Rather he surrenders to the power of evil, both natural and supernatural in the world around him.
The influence of the witches, the conflict of Macbeth's political ambition, and his own unpredictable inclination to evil all serve to bring about his downfall. He desires to assume power but can only do so upon the death of Duncan. Driven by his desire to grasp this power, Macbeth will stop at nothing. His wife Lady Macbeth is controlled by this lust for power and urges her husband to perform whatever is necessary to achieve their goal.
Despite her influence on her husband, she is ultimately unable to accept or resist the presence of evil and she can retreat only through her own suicide. Even their own marital relationship is distorted by each partner's commitment to evil and subsequent distancing of his or her mate. Their marriage, which might have supported both, had they overcome temptation and worked together, is destroyed by each one's collapse in the face of evil.
Once Macbeth becomes driven by his lust for control, he cannot concentrate on any other aspect of his life. He is disgusted by his own actions and yet does not have the strength to resist his further decline.
Macbeth shows a remarkable similarity to the politicians of today. The explanation that "I did what had to be done," might easily be used by Macbeth. His spiralling decline might be compared to the conspiracies and deceit which have characterized many modern governments. Watergate and Iran Contra scandals are only two examples of political power gone awry. While the sensational murders and assassinations of Macbeth might not occur (or are not public information) the preoccupation with the goal of obtaining or retaining power and control and the subsequent loss of basic values make Macbeth a eerie image of modern politics.
Deceit and intrigue are frequently the characteristics of modern world politics embodied in KGB tactics, the activities of the CIA and countless emerging governments. Frequently, the good of the people is obscured in the lust for power.
The characters in these plays are all transformed by the lure of political control. Some know how to handle it. Some are corrupted by its proximity. Others are unable to reach inside themselves and find the compassion and human understanding as well as the humility and self-awareness to become great political leaders.
All three plays warn of this danger to the politician: be careful or in achieving your goal, you will lose your integrity, your humanity and your life. American politicians face these same risks. The belief that one can accomplish what others could not, distorts some men's view of reality. They cannot recognize the dishonesty of advisors and hear only what they want to.
They believe that they can solve the problems of a nation, yet do not listen to their conscience. Instead, they respond to the loudest or smoothest or most flattering voice from among those who seek to influence them.
The wisest politician is the humblest one, who listens to counsel and then carefully weighs the choices to seek the greatest good for the people. Coriolanus did not know how to do this. Antony tried and almost succeeded but could not rise above his obsession with Cleopatra. Macbeth perhaps had the greatest opportunity to achieve success as a politician, but faced the most formidable enemy—himself—and failed to overcome him.
Coriolanus is perhaps the most influential of the three plays today. It exemplifies a politician who has every opportunity to become great and successful, yet cannot rise above his sense of himself to attain his potential. Too many of our leaders today have this aristocratic attitude, and forget that their power comes from the people they lead. Without the people, they are nothing.
