Coriolanus: Act 2, Scene 1 Summary & Analysis

Menenius and the two Roman tribunes Brutus and Sicinius enter a public place in Rome. A soothsayer (seer) has told Menenius that news of the war is on its way. Menenius comments that the common people do not like Martius, saying that they want to “devour him.” The three men discuss whether Martius is more like a wolf or lamb or bear, and Menenius asks the tribunes what vice Martius has that the tribunes do not possess themselves. They claim he’s prideful, to which Menenius responds that the tribunes utterly lack self-awareness. Not only are they feeble and “infantlike” without the support of the common people, but they are also “unmeriting, proud, violent, testy magistrates,” and “fools.”

Sicinius says that Menenius is also notorious, but Menenius launches into a description of his own character: he is known as a whimsical patrician who loves wine, stays up late, and says exactly what he thinks. If he sips a drink he doesn’t like, it immediately shows on his face. Though he’ll be patient with anyone who calls the tribunes great or respected men, he’ll call them liars if they say the tribunes have good faces. Everything he thinks, he says, is visible on his face. He then asks the tribunes what harm they see in his completely transparent character.

When Brutus says he knows Menenius, Menenius responds that the tribunes don’t know him, themselves, or anything at all. They are only ambitious for the support of the people, and they are terrible at their jobs, allowing their personal whims to influence their decisions. They make peace between two parties, while calling both knaves. Brutus responds that people believe Menenius is more of a dinner-table wit than an important Roman statesman, but Menenius replies that even priests would make fun of the tribunes. He finds it ironic that they call Martius proud, since Martius is worth more than them and all of their combined ancestors since the “Flood.” He tells them goodnight, since any more conversation with them would “infect [his] brain.” Menenius begins to exit, but then Volumnia, Virgilia, and Valeria enter.

Menenius greets the ladies, and Volumnia reports that Martius is coming home. Menenius celebrates this news, and Volumnia says that there have been many letters from the battle front, including one for Menenius. Menenius jokes about his health and asks if Martius is wounded (which he thinks is preferable). Virgilia hopes he isn’t wounded, but Volumnia thanks the gods that he is wounded, as does Menenius (as long as Martius isn’t too wounded). For the third time, Volumnia says, Martius is returning with victory on his brows and an oaken garland.

Menenius wonders if Martius has fought with Aufidius, and Volumnia tells him that Lartius reported they fought indeed, but Aufidius escaped. Menenius remarks that he would not want to be treated like Martius would treat Aufidius (had he not escaped) for all the gold in the city of Corioles. Letters from Cominius have been delivered to the Roman Senate, and they say that Martius has outdone, and even doubled his former military triumphs. Menenius taunts the tribunes, saying that Martius is returning with even more reason to be proud, and he repeatedly asks where Martius has been wounded.

Volumnia says that Martius has been wounded in the shoulder and the left arm, noting that he will be able to show his large scars to the people when standing as a candidate for Consul. In the battle to expel Tarquin, he received seven wounds, and Menenius counts nine that he knows of. Volumnia produces the true number of wounds before the latest war: twenty-five. After the battle in Corioles, he has been wounded twenty-seven times. Menenius notes that “every gash was an enemy’s grave,” and trumpets sound in the distance heralding Martius, in whom Volumnia says death itself dwells.

Cominius arrives with Titus Lartius, captains, Roman soldiers, a Roman herald, and Coriolanus, who is crowned with an oaken garland. The herald announces to the city that Martius fought all alone within the gates of Corioles and won, both the battle and the addition of a new name “Coriolanus.” The crowd cheers, but Coriolanus says this offends his heart.

Coriolanus greets his mother, who he knows has been praying for his success. He kneels to her, but she tells him to rise and comments on his new name. When Volumnia mentions his wife, who is crying, Coriolanus lauds Virgilia as his “gracious silence,” and jokes that she would laugh if he came home in a coffin, since she cries now that he has come home in triumph. Her tears, he says, belong in the eyes of the new widows and mothers lacking sons in Corioles. He also excitedly greets Menenius and Valeria.

Volumnia welcomes everyone home from war, and Menenius echoes her sentiment, saying he could weep or laugh since he is so “light and heavy.” He notes that though there are some “old crab trees’ that might not be excited to see Cominius, Lartius, and Coriolanus, he believes the three men should be doted on by Rome.

Coriolanus takes the hands of his wife and mother and says that before he returns to his own home, he needs to visit the good patricians to thank them for the promotion he has received. Volumnia boasts that she has lived to see all her desires for him come true, excepting one thing (the Consulship for Coriolanus) that she is certain Rome will give him. Coriolanus reminds his mother that he would rather serve the patricians in his own way than in theirs. They all exit for the Capitol, leaving the two tribunes alone on stage.

Brutus laments how everyone is completely obsessed with Coriolanus, clamoring for the chance to even look at him, acting like he has become a god instead of human. Sicinius believes that Coriolanus will be named consul, which Brutus notes will make their positions as tribunes powerless. They take comfort, though, in the fact that they think Coriolanus cannot hold his new honors with good temperament and will surely lose them.

The tribunes say that the common people, too, will be quick to forget these new honors when they remember their longtime hostility towards Coriolanus, something Sicinius can spark by just asking Coriolanus about his pride. Coriolanus has sworn that he would not stand in public and show the people his wounds according to tradition, nor “beg their stinking breath” (voices, meaning votes). The tribunes decide that in order to preserve their power, they must destroy Coriolanus by reminding the common people that Coriolanus hates them, and that as consul he will restrict their freedoms. Setting the common people against him will be as easy as setting dogs on sheep, and it will permanently ruin his reputation.

A messenger enters, saying that the tribunes are called for at the Capitol. He reports that it’s thought Martius will be consul, and he has seen “the dumb men throng to see him, and the blind to hear him speak,” and everyone showering him with praise like he’s a god. They head to the Capitol to try and prevent Martius from becoming consul.