Coriolanus

Throughout the play, many characters urge Coriolanus to set aside the inclinations of his temperament whenever such traits prove detrimental to his advancement. Coriolanus is portrayed as a man who is naturally imperious due to his own noble birth, but who also nurses aggression and a quick temper. Coriolanus often struggles with whether or not he should try to suppress his natural inclinations for the sake of political gain, ultimately finding the idea too repellant to try. Through Coriolanus's rise and fall, the play probes the role of personality in influencing an individual’s behavior for better or worse. 

Both Coriolanus’s allies and enemies are aware of Coriolanus’s nature as a proud and quick-tempered soldier. Coriolanus’s friend Menenius often uses the idea of innate personality as an excuse for Coriolanus’s bad behavior, reminding the people that Coriolanus only speaks rudely to them because of his intrinsic military temperament. While some of the common people view Coriolanus’s mannerisms as prideful arrogance, other citizens remark, “What he cannot help in his nature you / account a vice in him” (1.1.41-42, emphasis added). Similarly, Aufidius recognizes that Coriolanus has claimed power in his army and reduced his authority over the Volsces because of his natural inclination towards ruling over others. He compares Coriolanus to a bird of prey, instinctively driven to hunt fish. Therefore, he concludes that Coriolanus has not subverted his power through any malice, saying, “Yet his nature / In that’s no changeling, and I must excuse / What cannot be amended” (4.7.11-13).

While Coriolanus rationally knows that his tempestuous personality is damaging his political career, he is reluctant to change his behavior, seeing any form of restraint as deceptive and dishonorable. He frames acting contrary to his character as paradoxical and therefore impossible. When Menenius and Volumnia tell him to be milder in his speech to the plebeians, he asks them, “Why did you wish me milder? Would you have me / False to my nature? Rather say I play / The man I am” (3.2.16-18). Using the metaphor of theatre allows Shakespeare a moment of metafictional commentary on the genre of drama itself. While an actor is literally pretending to be the character of Coriolanus on stage, the words of the play call into question if anyone can truly act in a way that is contrary to their nature. While all of society requires some degree of performance, Coriolanus suggests that the only role that he can truly play is himself.

By the end of the play, Coriolanus resolves to set aside his nature and he fails. When his mother pleads with him to make peace between Rome and the Volsces, he attempts to overcome his natural feelings of filial duty towards her, saying, “But out, affection! / All bond and privilege of nature, break! / Let it be virtuous to be obstinate” (5.3.27-29). Despite his intentions, he is unable to resist when he sees his mother kneeling before him, agreeing to her plan despite the fact that he knows it may doom him. This final failure to resist his nature leads to the tragic ending of the play: Coriolanus dies at the hands of the Volsces because of his own intrinsic qualities, rather than simply the unfounded betrayal of Aufidius.