chrissych 's review for:

Coriolanus by William Shakespeare

3.0

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A timeless hubric tragedy with two guilty parties and no real winners. The themes of the play ring true today and are reflected in the lives of all people ruled by military states, be they dictatorial or ostensibly democratic. That said, the strongly military and political nature of the play creates a divide between the modern Us and the prosaic world of Coriolanus, a gulf I feel was better bridged by the recent film adaptation than by Shakespeare's words alone, glorious as they are. There is a deep vulgarity and crudeness to the events of the play, tinted with MANLINESS and HONOUR at every turn, that I feel demand bloody and dire imagery to truly relay. I enjoyed reading the play as a sort of companion, to more closely follow the metaphors and allusions therein.