Volumnia

Play

Coriolanus

Summary

Volumnia is Coriolanus's mother — the most formidable maternal figure in Shakespeare — who has shaped her son from birth to be a warrior and a Roman, prizing honour and military glory above all else, even his survival. She explicitly tells him she would rather see him return dead on a shield than yield to the enemy. The bitter irony of the play is that the qualities she instilled in him — absolute rigour, contempt for weakness, refusal to dissemble — make him impossible to govern politically. In Act V she journeys to the Volscian camp with his wife and son and delivers an extended, devastating appeal that finally breaks Coriolanus's resolve. Her triumph saves Rome and destroys her son, and she is received back in Rome as a hero.

Notable Quotations

"I sprang not more in joy at first hearing he was a man-child than now in first seeing he had proved himself a man." *(1.3)*

"Anger's my meat; I sup upon myself, / And so shall starve with feeding." *(4.2)*

"Thou hast never in thy life / Showed thy dear mother any courtesy, / When she — poor hen — fond of no second brood — / Has clucked thee to the wars and safely home." *(5.3)*

Cross-references