Reviews

Coriolanus by William Shakespeare

bfrodermann's review against another edition

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challenging reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

sydniearielle's review

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challenging emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

ledlight's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

kirkdean547's review against another edition

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3.0

If the wars eat us not up, they (the rich) will; and there’s all the love they bear us.

mattinthebooks's review

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4.0

“Action is Eloquence” - Volumnia
Shakespeare writes the best of both monologue and dialogue. Wish I could have seen this performed in person in his day, but seeing Hiddleston as Coriolanus was also wonderfully done.

friendofmarlowe's review against another edition

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5.0

this play is everything to me.

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3/8/22: i don’t know what to say man i unironically loved this one on reread. literally don’t know why though.

gonna need to think about this one for a little bit but the language and extended use of images of the body to represent rome were really compelling.

thymenvb's review

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3.5

I prefer Shakespeare's more morally conflicted and soliloquizing protagonists. To me this play has too much focus on political events rather than their emotional resonance 

isabeldnnt's review

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dark reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

feistyflamingo's review against another edition

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dark funny tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No

4.0

tanemariacris's review against another edition

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4.0

I'm profoundly grateful to Josie Rourke who directed a gut-wrenching and honest stage performance of Coriolanus, reviving this old, yet timeless Shakespearean play that doesn't get the credit it deserves.

Were it not for her, I might not have come across this brilliant story that so grippingly and astutely reveals the discrepancies found inside a man who is a great soldier, yet a terrible politician with proto-fascist ideals; arrogant in his privileges and status, yet possessing an inner modesty; hot-tempered, His heart's his mouth, with only his mother's words to quench his fire; pure and stained all the same. With this man of contradictions in its center, always present, even when he doesn't directly takes part in a scene, the play reaffirms the importance of listenting to the people, to their needs and grievances, instead of undermining their voices, while holding tight to some individual comfort and rank.

With messages as relevant now as they were 400 years ago, Coriolanus is a treat both in terms of the depth and ideas conveyed, and through its capacity of being utterly enjoyable and exciting.