Coriolanus: Act 4, Scene 4 Summary & Analysis

Outside Aufidius’s house in Antium, Coriolanus is disguised in “mean apparel” with his face covered. He calls Antium a “goodly city,” but says that he is responsible for creating its widows. Therefore he has disguised himself, so that the wives and children of men he’s killed in war do not kill him. A citizen of Antiun enters, and Coriolanus asks if Aufidius is in Antium. The citizen responds that Aufidius is feasting with the Volscian nobles in his house that very night. When Coriolanus asks where Aufidius lives, the citizen points out that they are right outside his house. Coriolanus thanks the citizen, who then departs.

Alone, Coriolanus wonders at the “slippery turns” of the world, which turn the closest of friends, whose two bosoms seem to have one heart, into the bitterest enemies. Likewise, they will turn the greatest foes, whose hatred has kept them up dreaming of murdering each other, into dear friends. He now hates his birthplace and loves his former enemy town. He decides to enter, thinking that if Aufidius kills him it will be justice, and if Aufidius spares him he will fight alongside the Volscians.