How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)
Quote #7
MARTIUS
All the contagion of the south light on you,
You shames of Rome! You herd of—Boils and
plagues
Plaster you o'er, that you may be abhorred
Further than seen and one infect another
Against the wind a mile! You souls of geese,
That bear the shapes of men, how have you run
From slaves that apes would beat! Pluto and hell!
All hurt behind. Backs red, and faces pale
With flight and agued fear! Mend and charge home,
Or, by the fires of heaven, I'll leave the foe
And make my wars on you. (1.4.41-52)
"Shames of Rome"? "Boils and plagues"? "Souls of geese"? (Add those to our list of insults for people who text while driving.) Here, Coriolanus berates his (plebian) soldiers and threatens to kill them himself if they don't start kicking some enemy soldier butt. Then he rushes into the gates of Corioles by himself and takes down a bunch of enemy soldiers, singlehandedly. This works great for the battlefield—but not so great back in Rome.
Quote #8
MARTIUS
O, let me clip [hug] you
In arms as sound as when I wooed, in heart
As merry as when our nuptial day was done
And tapers burnt bedward! (1.6.29-32)
When Coriolanus returns from battle, his friend Cominius gets all hot and bothered, saying that seeing Coriolanus is just as thrilling as his sexual relationship with his own wife. Ooh, steamy! In a war-like culture, the relationships forged between men in times of war are way more important than the relationship between man and wife.
Quote #9
COMINIUS
And from this time,
For what he did before Corioles, call him,
With all t' applause and clamor of the host,
Martius Caius Coriolanus! (1.8.68-72)
After defeating the city of Corioles, Martius earns himself a new nickname: Coriolanus. Rome obviously values the military exploits of its leaders above all else. Gee, there's nothing like being reminded of your mass slaughter every time someone calls your name, right?